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AMERICAN FORESTRY
THE MAGAZINE OF
THE AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION
VOLUME XVIII—1912
THE AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION
PUBLISHERS
WASHINGTON, D. C.
&
CONTENTS OF VOLUME XVUl
INDEX OF AUTHORS
Page
Allen, E. T., article by-------------- 635-662
Baker, Hugh P., article by-------------- 267
Baker, J. Albert, article by------------- OM
Baldwin, Simeon E., article by---------- 336
Bass, Robert P., article by------------ 75-190
Bentley, Jr., John, article by----------- 716
Besley, F. W., article by---------------- 446
Blanchard, C. J., article by------------- 156
Borghesani, Dr. A. R. Guido, article by-- 147
Briscoe, John M., article by----------- 25-731
Brown, Nelson C., article by----------- 777
Brown, W. R., article by-------- 275-531-757
tutler, Jefferson, article by------------- 402
tutterwick, A. J., article by------------ 528
Cammann, J. B., poem by-------------- 417
Caparn, Harold A., article by----------- 557
Carey, Hon. Joseph M., article by------ 132
Cary, Austin, article by--------- ------ 82
Chandler, B. A., article by-------- i 32 320
Chapman, Herman H., article by----- 510-527
Chedel, George A., article by------------ 460
Cheyney, E. G., article by-------------- 783
Clarke, Robert E., article by----------- 28
Clothier, George LL, article by---------- 234
Pare oe. Sele BVo---—=-_-— =—---— 666
Cornwall, George M., article by--------- 617
Cox, William T., article by_-.---------- 549
Dewi ie Py BPUCIG Dysteso5.- ==. -— 34
Donovan, J. J., article by--.-.--------- 467
UAE gs Co (a) ae a 675
Eberhart, Adolph .O,,article by-------- 196
Elliott, Henry W., artide by_--.:------ 702
Ellis, Don Carlos, article by.-:-_! Leann 709
Fairchild, Fred R., ‘afticle by_-_--_--_-_- 653
Felt, E. P., article om ee SM eee 394
Fernow, B. E., article by_._.__.--______ 613
Ferguson, J. A., article by----.--.._._- 407
Foster, J. H., article a) Sees Seer oe 470
Fullerton, Robert, article by...._______- 728
Gaylord, F. A., article by_...________399-685
G vadby, Arthur, article by.....________ 663
Goetz, C. H., article by-._......_______. 281
Graves, Henry S., address by________ 189-805
Gray, Adiola, article by......._________ 933
Greeley, W. B., article by_...._________ 277
ureen Thorton A., article Bye ek Oe BER
Griff th, I M.. article by BEER OS |
Page
Hageboeck, A. E., article by------------ 517
Hall, William L., article by------------ 192
Hardtner, Henry E., article by---------- 644
‘Hays, Willet M., article! by=22--—-—=———e 188
Hollick, Arthur, article by------------- 431
Holmes, J. S., article by------------- 272-384
Holt, Willard E., article by------------ 228
Hopkins, A. D., article by----------- 195-221
Howard, Dr. L. O., article ‘by-----====5 165
Jackson, A. G., poem by---------------- 797
Johnson, Bolling Arthur, article by----- 130
Johnson, Burt W., article by--------.-- 594
Kanehira, R., article by. _2- = —e—————— 485
Kegley, Howard C., poem by_---------- 615
Kehr, George W.,; article by_---=2eaeeee 276
Keim, Mrs. DeB. Randolph, article by-- 193
Kieter, Francis, article by-222-ee=e= 520
Knapp, sh) Beyarticle: by222- =. 406
Lazenby, Prof. Wm. R., article by------ 343
Lee, Wilhs| T., article by_----_3a=eeeee 357
Leighton, M: 0., article by. iS
Lyman, Chester W., article by_22-2aee=— 118
Maddox, Rufus A., article by_.{- 2a 167
Mast, William H., article by----------- 325
Miller, Watren H., article by. Sea 14-493
Morrill, Walter J., article by___2es 393
Page, Thomas Nelson, article by_------- 39
Peters, J..G., article by. 533
Pinchot, Gifford, report by..__-. === 51
Pratt, M. B., article by_____|_ sar
Proctor, John T., article by2_22 302
Rane, F. W., extract from paper__----- 123
Reynolds, Harris A., article by ae 800
Richards, Edward C. M., article by_---- 587
Ridsdale, Percival S., article by_-178-211-313
Schock, Oliver ID} atticle bye. = 575
Sheip, Jerome ite article Be J ae 650
Smith, Arthur, article by___ __. Se 739
Sterling, Ernest A., article by-186-421-627-711
Sweet, C. B., article by
= ~---------------- 668
lemann, Harry D., article by SS 737
Underhill, Frederick S., article by = 656
Watson, Max, article by... 435
Wheeler, N.iPS article by=2 (20a 710
Wilson, Elwood, article by________ 293-769
Woolsey, Jr., Theodore, article yal wo 244
Wyman, Thomas B., article by
CONTENTS iii
GENERAL INDEX
Page
Action by the Irrigation Congress_____- 104
Adirondack problem, The—Gifford Pin-
CHOLM ewer Se eee 51
Advancing Values of Lumber and
Stumpage on the Conservation of
our Forest Resources, The Effect
of—Robert Fullerton —---22-22-- 728
Afforestation in South America__-----_- 701
AttnicawHobestny in. Southi==-s=aeee==—— 319
Attemithes bark Borer. 2: lee 201
Agricultural Soil—What of the Balance,
Sixty-five per cent—Thomas B.
Wrinan. ......- eae 404
AidineiOOds —._.- ieee eS 413
Alaskan Fur Seal Herd, Salvation of the
——Henry W. Elliot) --_2-. 702
Alumni, Reunion of *¥alee --222----___ 46
Ambitious [ree these ee 417
American Desert, The Great—C. J.
Blanchard) eee eee 156
American Forestry—Jerome H. Sheip__ 650
American Forestry Association :
Directors Meeting---_- 396-452-525-742
indorsed, ==. Saas a 544-657
Resolutions: - sae 133
Annual Meetinggem=---_ 2221 -. 820
INOtice aan Se 67
Programme ee ert 67
American Mental Attitude on Conserva-
tion and its Growth — Bolling
Aria ohnsonmecs. == 22 130
Ann Arbor, Prof. Roth to Remain At-- 415
Annual Comyentionihess- 2222 os 105
Another Wood Waste Eliminated______ 544
Appalachian Work, The—William L. Hall 192
Apply Forestry? Why Do Lumbermen
Not—B. E:” Femiow4..-..-. 613
Appointed as Forestemaeee 90 2 542
Appointments) at oyiacksemeen anes 543
Appreciation, “Ans 2 5oaiiee 232 744
Appropriation, Forest Service__________ 585
Appropriation, The $sdjoggeeees 347
Approval, An—Adolph O. Eberhart____ 196
Approve a’ National Forestogaamee 346
Arbor Day. Pamphlet onleaeameeeness. ! 416
Arboretums, Two Private Forest_______ 274
Are there too many Forest Schools—F.
PO Gaylord... ____ _. aaa 399
EEousing Forest interest... 2 eases 414
Arousing School Children____.-.2222_.. 408
Assignment, A Lucky Chance—Walter
piterriii 202s eee 393
Associations: See Conventions
Page
mamtcormell University. 220 ee 815
Atrention, Lumbermen 22ll22 403
ANIShEallarsp limpottations ee ee ee 756
Barge Construction, Economic Materials
For Boat and—A. EF. Hageboeck__ 517
Bark Borer, Hickory—E. P. Felt_______ 324
Better Boresh Schools 222 2 142
Biltmore: Boyse With thes02 2404 2 655
Biltmore: @lassw lessees 351
Biltmore (Doampse as em se 543
Biltmore: Forest. Schoolee 2: a2) eee. 480
Biltmore Students, 8202s 0 nage er 142
BlackwBeetle' Invastons.3 20. eo) es 670
Blight Commission Instruction—Hugh
Peale re 5 ean ee eg 267
Blight Commission, The Chestnut Tree__ 136
Blight, Fighting The Chestnut Tree—
Oliver Ds Sekock22 oi! > tee 575
Blight Warning, Chestnut______________ 473
Boat and Barge Construction, Economic
Materials for—A. E. Hageboeck____ 517
Boom: in: Daniering: Ai 7) 580
Borer, Hickory Bark—E. P. Felt_______ 324
Boston's ree JPlanting= 4. ale 514
Bouspboresttyi@ampe ie! 0c 29 (Uh ks yc 603
Boys scouts Aiding: t20. Min oso thy 541
Boy ecouts: in Michigan: 2420) 2) oe, 581
Boy Scouts) Pinchot sto these tena 469
Boviscouts: to yPlant Trees. aan. sae 626
Boy, Seauts to Save -Preese. 220. 542
Branch Organizations 10.68 Te 413
Breeding Fur-Bearing Animals________ 793
British Columbia Forest Act__________ 477
Burma, Shooting in—A. J. Butterwick__. 528
Burr Oak, Splendid Specimen—Photo-
eR APMEN ee ee Ue ll a IN a 466
Busy Ranger, The (poem)—Apache Na-
tional Forest “News Letter”______ 227
@alivostia; Mire vie ees Leet! OA yuu Sk, 68
Campaigning, Method of Forestry—E. T.
eM CGS ope ay Sli cae SES A Ae oc a 635
Canada. Mahogany fomece so) i). yas 741
Canada, Paper Mills and Forestry in—
Elwoedun\Walsone 2a 769
Canada’s Forestry Problem___2________- 68
Canadian Forestry Association_________ 541
Canadian Forestry Association, Meeting
Oi— EWA noteniings = 26) 186
Canadian Forestry Convention_________ 66
Canadian Forestry Meeting_____________ 591
Canadian Wilds, Through—Elwood Wil-
SO ti Wate ee OE era ee gw 293
CONTENTS
Cannon Ball Tree, The----- bie
Carcless Campers Caught---------------
Cattle Tick Burning Hurts Forests----- 673
Central Park, New York: A Work of
Art—Harold A. Caparn---------- :
Champlain Realty Company in Lumber-
ing and Forestry, Work of—
George A. Chedel----------------
Chances for Several States------------
Chestnut Blight Campaign, The—P. S.
Ridsdale ..----------------------
Chestnut Blight Warning---------------
Chestnut Tree Blight Commission, The_
Chestnut Tree Blight, Fighting the—
Oliver D. Schock----------------
Chestnut Tree Disease_----------------
Chestnut Trees Going, of iy | cere eae
Chestnut Trees, Relation of Insects to
the Death of—A. D. Hopkins----
Chile, Forests in...-------------------
China's Most Valuable Wood----------
Chinese Forestry.----..----------------
Chinese Forestry Students--------------
Christmas Trees, Lack of--------------
City Forester Named
City Owns Tree Farm
Cleverly Advertising Birch.------------
College of Forestry at Syracuse Uni-
versity, The New York State
olorade School Sells Land
‘
Commission, The Chestnut Tree Blight--
Commuttees of Experts Investigate
‘
(
2
a
‘oming Mectings._--
6 ee ES ©
onditions in Western North Carolina,
Forest = SDSL See ae ee
Conference in the White Mountains,
Forestry = ¥
Conference, Southern Forestry-----__--
Congress, Action by the Irrigation______
Conservation and Its Growth, The
American Mental Attitude on—
Bolling Arthur Johnson
Conservation, A N
Conservation Realized in Massachu-
Harris A. Reynolds________ 800
Lonseervation Through Legislation Mrs.
deB. Randolph Keim_-
een Ee 1.4 . ,
erving Alabama's Forests
. Oppose State
Reforestation
Control of Forest
+ une
North Carolina Forestry
A eenat . i
\ssocjation J » Holmes, For-
este
National Exposition on- :
Convention of Foresters---------------- 129
Conventions and Associations—See Na-
tional Irrigation Congress ; Rivers
and Harbors Congress; Canadian
Forestry | Convention; Annual
Meeting, A. F. A.; Convention of
Foresters; English Forestry Asso-
ciation; Canadian Forestry Asso-
ciation; Vermont; North Caro-
lina Forestry Association; Cana-
dian Forestry Meeting; Empire
State Forest Products Associa-
tion; Western Forestry and Con-
servation Association.
Consumptives on Forest Reserve------- 732
Co-operate, Lumbermen and Foresters_ 721
Cornell, Forestry at ------------------- 287
Cornell to Have $100,000 Forestry Build-
Wg ee 415
Cornell University, Forest Planting at—
Jou Bentley,.jr.2=-==-=———- == — 716
Gognty s) Ambitionye\=-=—-- = 141
Gomnseinwionestiyay Nese ees 203
Crater, National) Rorest====-- ———— cic een 200
Current Literature____ 69, 143, 205, 289, 352
418, 481, 545, 608, 682, 752, 816
Damaging Spruce Trees in Maine, In-
sect—John M. Briscoe_-.------_-- Wau
Danger to the National Forest Policy—
Blenty,o7 Gravess=- == ses === oe 805
Dean Miller Resions@-22-= ===) === ae 415
Dean) ‘Loumey:se VilewSaess= == a 287
Deer on Forest Preserves, Raising—
Percival “S.. Ridsdale._-- aes 313
Deer, Raising lk cand-=:2)-2 =) sae 443
Definite State Forest Policy, A—E. A.
Sterling = seca! Ie kee we eee een nee 421
Demonstration: Forest Ase se 444
Development of Timber Resources__--__ 48
Devoted His Lite to: Forestry aes = 47
Directors’ Meeting, American Forestry
: Association§e=— 2 -. 396, 452, 545, 742
Disappearing, South’s Timber—Henry
Bilardiner ~_-..jammammenens cae 0) 644
Disease; Chestnut Tree. eee 286
Dismal Swamp of Virginia, The_-____ 431
Do We Encourage Forest Fires?______ 416
Drainage, The National Aspect of
Swamp-—M. O. Leighton
Driving, River—W. R. Brown_____-_-_- 757
Dynamiting Stumps and Tree Holes____ 254
Each as Oiicer <sieeee tees) keegan 203
Early Conservation Ideas
Early Lumbering
CONTENTS :
Page
Bice Hicht WomePorest../_......_-._... 592
Bite Bichtersaa000: Farest___._-_..._+ 579
Fire Fighting Cost, Reducing_---------- 68
Mireminm@alinoniidess = 5 23. 68
Hiresbines Despite the Law 2.222 -=_ 768
Hire @yosses in) Washington____------_— 678
BinembosseswevWashington s__ 22222 see 68
Banewwotices to Teachers____-_<-_2=2---. 752
DineminreyentiOnN= 2... 2-22 eee 634
ice nei = Se 413
Fire Protection, Improving Forest—M.
Bemeratt: =--_2 se eee Som
ineserotection in Albertas===== =) ———— 500
Fire Protection on the Ozark National
BeTest— Tancise ener 520
Fire Season on the National Forests,
aive’Present j2aeaee ee es 534
Fire Sufferers, Money, for=—2=-==2=--~—- 286
Fires, Sportsmen and Forest—Hon. Jef-
ferson Butle;y =a ae eee 402
First Annual Report of the State For-
ester of Minnesota—FE. G. Chey-
ney 2) 28s eee ee a 783
First Purchase of White Mountain
Lands Under the Weeks Law_-___ 440
First Purchase Under the Weeks Law_-- 48
Five States Unite to Save Forests___--- 43
Hloodgand forests! eee 347
Flood Prevention, Forests and____------ 395
PloodsaeAtdi nase eee) 413
Floods#eio: (Study eres 746
Forest, A@Demonstration= = 2 === 12. 444
Forest Arboretums, Two’ Private--____ 274
Forest Area Largely Increased___------- 736
Forest Conditions in New York, Study-
1nigr Spee epee ees oe oF 537
Forest Conditions in Western North
Carolina—J. S. Holmes____--_--- 384
Forest Conservation, Wood Preservation
as a Factor in—E. A. Sterling_-__ 627
Forest Eliminations Ordered_--________ 287
Forest Engineers, New Firm of__--___- 286
Forest; E:xperiments_o22 sense 2s 479
Forest Fire Conditions, Northwestern___ 595
Forest Fire Protection, Improving—
MB. Pratt.. 2 5 eee ae 337
Forest Fires and Forestry in the South-
ern States—Herman H. Chapman_ 510
Forest Fires, Sportsmen and—Hon. Jef-
fecsonkebutler,=——_ | eae 402
Forest Insects, Investigating—Dr. L. O.
elieinratcdg == ie. eg 165
Forest Lands, Inventory of--------_____ 540
Porestw@wsiers.) Private_2_. 2... 22342 -_ 195
Page
Economic Materials for Boat and Barge
Construction__A. E. Hageboeck__ 517
Editorial 279
Educational Notes (department of maga-
zine) 63, 142, 203, 287, 351
415, 480, 543, 603
Effect of Advancing Values of Lumber
and Stumpage on the Conserva-
tion of Our Forest Resources—
robert, Hullerton 22%. 222 ut 728
Eliminations Ordered, Forest_____-___-- 287
Hik in Wyoming, Protecting#{12__ = 580
Empire State Forest Products Associa-
fon) Meetings 325-22 eS Ee ees 794
Encouraging Tree Growth2:22- 32.222. = 413
Endorsed, American Forestry Associa-
HON 2 = eee eee 544
Enforcing Plant; Quarantine...2~.*-2-. 606
Engineer in the Pacific Northwest, The
Logging—By A Logging Engineer_ 377
Engineering, Logging—George M. Corn-
| es a Eee er 617
England’s Vanished Forests.____-____-- 403
English Forestry Association___-------- 142
Eric Outlook System—F. B. Knapp---- 406
Erosion Model for Schools, A Work-
me— Don Carlos IIe le | 709
Estimating, Instructions in Timber—Ed-
wards Cas Meakichards=usmeee snes 587
Eucalyptus, The—Harry D. Tiemann_-- 737
Experimental Farm, Long-Bell—C. B.
SWieetes aes ae as sees Ba 668
Experiments in Wisconsin____--.------- 285
Explanation Ane ee et ee 434
‘axponts. Our duimber 232! 22-3. ous oat 626
Exposition on Conservation, A National__345
Exposition, Wood Products=--—--=2-==- 286
Extensive German Forests, The______-- 335
Extinct Volcanoes of Northeast New
NMexaCo—VWalLISiMi an le cease ence 357
Famine, Forest Waste Causes—John T.
Procter oes paea GC cee eS 302
amos (OldijireeypNee so. 22 ee 341
aMOlusw eine Gone=s ste sek Soe see 604
Fast Growing Kucalyptuss.+--....--.-- 479
Favorable to White Mountains________-_ 441
Ferguson Returns to Penn State, Prof.. 751
Bight ont reesPests: ptates2 2.255. 2 383
Fighting the) Beetle: 32ssss st 2 e 479
Fighting the Chestnut Tree Blight—
Oliver HDy Schorke 4 sos hes 2 575
Fire Bug and the East Wind, The
(Poen))— Sh yea Allens eee
Bire: Damage small aa= ses ste= ween ee
CONTENTS
vi
Page
Forest Product Statistics--------------- 439
Forest Patrol Men.-------------------~ 413
Forest Planting at Cornell University—
716
John Bentley, Jr.----------------
Forest Policy, A Definite State—E. A.
Sterhtg = 421
Forest Preserves, Raising Deer on—
Percival S. Ridsdale-------------- 313
Forest Products Association Meeting,
Empire State ------------------—~ 794
Forest Products, The Price of—Fred-
erick S. Underhill --------------- 656
Forests, Protecting New Hampshire---- 365
Forest Protective Association, The
Northern—Thornton A. Green_-- 558
Forest Ranger, The (poem)—A. G.
Jackson ----------------------=-~ 797
Forest Roads and Trails—Ernest W ohl-
OO DOR SSS r a tee seer eee oo 501
Forest Reserve Receipts---------------- 414
Forest Reserve Transfer--------------- 680
Forest Reserves, New------------------ 815
Forest Resources of New York—F. A.
Gaylord ------------------------ 685
Forest Schools? Are There Too, Many
—F. A. Gaylord_-.-------------- 399
Forest Schools, Better------------------- 142
Forest Schools: Individual Institutions :
Ohio State University------------ 261
University of Idaho-------------- 181
University of Maine------------- 25
University of Washington_------- 333
Wyman’s School of the Woods-- 191
Forest Schools of the United States,
Series:
University of Maine—John M.
oe MR la ded Son ek eed Oe 95
Wyman’s Echool of the Woods—
Thomas B. Wyman------------ 191
Ohio State University—C. H.
Coie ee em St eee OBL
University UE, See 181
University of Washington_------- 333
Forest Service After Fruit Pest--____-- 740
Forest Service Appropriation_____._____ 585
Forest Service to Aid_-_---_-__-_______ 142
Forest that Pays $40 an Acre Yearly, A
George W. Kehr____-..____ Ger: 276
Forest, The Harvard—Theodore Wool-
cy, Jr ie okra
Forest, $20,000,000 Yearly from One____ 597
Forest Waste Causes Famine—John T.
ON gs lie RE et 26S Cote «SR 309
Forester App inted as ie ans Fay
Page
Forester Hirst’s Views----------------- 285
Forester Opposes Engineer------------- 414
Foresters, Convention of--------------- 129
Foresters, | Opportunities for—Austin
Caryn ae een ae 82
Forestry Association, English----------- 142
Forestry Department for University of
WidahO: soos a 134
Forestry in Wisconsin, The Progress of
—E. M. Griffith------------------ 107
Forestry School, Site for--------------- 142
Forestry, Some Notes on German—War-
ren H. Miller-------------------- 14
Forestry, The Present Situation in—
Henry §. Graves ---------------- 95
Forestry, The Progress oi Robert P.
Bass” oe Eee "5
Forestry, Two Features of -F. W. Rane_ 123
Forests and Flood Prevention---------- 395
Forests as an Investment—Hon. Simeon
EO Baldwin 22832 336
Forests for Wyoming—Hon. Joseph M.
Carey --------------------------- 132
Forests, Flood and_-------------------- 347
onestsuin@ hindi eee 541
Forests, Oppose State Control of------ 346
Forests, The Extensive German-------- 335
Forestry, American—Jerome H. Sheip-- 650
Forestry and Forest Resources of New
Work—b Aj: Gaylord 685
Forestry and the State Legislature—W. .
B: Greeley. {220 a aie eee Q2r7
Forestry Association Convention, North
Carolina—J. S. Holmes, Secretary. 272
Forestry Association Endorsed, Ameri-
CART ote eet A 544, 657
Borestry. at; Corelli see 287
Forestry at the University of Washing-
FCG) u Wea pa se Sat ee ae See eS ae 332
Forestry Campaigning, Method of—E. T.
Allen! \ 23 car ro Pky saat aes 635
Forestry Conference in the White
Mo tinitainish = = ss 408, 445
Forestry. ‘Conference ‘Plan’ 22 ae seees= 347
Forestry Conference, Southern--------- 253
Borestry, ton Childrens. aaa eee 203
Forestry in Formosa—R. Kanehira__-_ 485
Forestry in New England (Review)—
Ralph C. Hawley and Austin
Blawg) as ea ee ene ee 480
Forestry in SonthyAiricas-282 2s ee 319
Forestry in the Southern States, Forest
Fires and—Herman H. Chapman_ 510
CONTENTS vii
Page
Forestry, Lumbering and—George H.
Chedelieammeeens == st ee 460
Forestry, Lumbermen and_---..--_~---- 268
Forestry, Municipal—Nelson C. Brown. 777
Forestry, Notes on German—Prof. W.
Peeemem ye. 5—— _ ----- oa 343
Forestry of France. The—Warren H.
COL) bp. (A a i rae ne 493
Forestry Practice, Paper Company’s—B.
mommnatidler ci... see 320
Forestry, The Present Situation of—
eury S.. Graves: - 9.2 Sea 735
Forestry, Timberland Owners and—W.
Re UO BrOW nN ..2i2- 2 eae ee 275
Forestry Without Politi¢s.2---_--_.---- 286
Forestry Work at Southern Commercial
Coneress See 303
Forestry Work, Massachusetts_--------- 567
Formosa, Forestry in—R. Kanehira_-_~ 485
France, The Forestry of—Warren H.
Miller 22.2 oe 493
From Red Lake to Rainy River—W. T.
Cox ti. i ee a 549
Frontispiece :
January—View of Western Shore
of Lake Drummond, Dismal
Swamp.
February—Governor Bass.
March—Royal Superior Institute
of Forestry, Vallombrosa, Italy.
April—War on Predatory Animals.
Future Supply of bisekory=-2—2-- 22 = 799
German Forestry, Notes on—W. R.
Lazenby) see err 98 2S 343
German Forestry, Some Notes on—War-
ren Hig Malle roa i 14
German Forests, The Extensive________- 335
Gerimatiys HorestyAnease semana snes 741
Gifts to Yale Forestry School... - 142
Going, The Chestnut Trees__.._______-- 457
Government Sale, Ae es 141
Graves Report) Mires eee ee 140
Great American Desert, The—C. J.
Blanchard, 2222 22a eee 156
Great Loss From Yukon Forest Fires. 574
Green at State College, George R._____ 720
Growing a Woodlot From Seed—J. A.
Bereuson— =. .—_.. 2 eee 407
Hamilton’s New Position, Dr.-__._.____ 815
Hanging Forest Fire Starters2_ 22 -— 479
Harvard Forest, The—Theodore Wool-
S675 he ae 244
Hickory Bark Borer—E. P. Felt--_____ 324
Page
Micemey drees: Killed... 222¢s222 0.2225 541
Higher Prices Will Conserve Forests—
NY HCCIET 222 a2 710
Hills of Oregon, In the—J. Albert
IBAKC hn eine oe ee he 726
His Wisdom (poem)—Howard C. Keg-
VEGT aol 2 20s Spe es a ele nT 615
Historic Washington Tree ----------~- 465
Idaho, Forest School of the University
Cf pe ere a ee ee 181
Idaho, Forestry Department for Uni-
VEESIEY Of sees a asa ek RS 134
Iflinois’ Lumber’ Plants 222222) 222 680
Important Meeting of Directors, A. F. A. 742
Improving Forest Fire Protection—M.
Bip Pratt:| Sse 2a feed eee ete 337
In the Hills of Oregon—J. Albert Baker_ 726
In the White Mountains, Directors_---- 525
Incteased) Porest)Agea Largely - 7242-22 736
Tantas, Great, Botestsis.ee 2 Ae 756
Insect Damaging Spruce Trees in Maine
Jong at. Briseee= -- ool sah .e = Tak
Inspection of Plantations and Nurseries_ 396
Instruction, Blight Commission—Hugh
TEI BE ch ee ee eee ee 267
Insteucttonin Forestrys=s22> 2-2 22. b 63
Irrigation Congress, Action by the------ 104
Instructions in Timber Estimating—Ed-
mard) Caeivic sichards= = see 587
Tavstaeretoms Tails | eo 2 ir ea ee 287
International Paper Company in Lum-
bering and Forestry, Work of
—George A. Chedel_-.--___--___- 460
Inventony of sHorest, Wandsesees seen. 540
Investigating Forest Insects—Dr. L. O.
IRS lee ee a eee NT lly 165
Investigations by Committees of Ex-
PELtS Py se fe Ser Se ee Bee 721
Investment, Forests as an—Hon. Simeon
TENS USI ah oh a gedit bey Se ee 336
Irrigation Congress, Action by the______ 104
frucation ‘for South Wales2. 28 7 591
Irrigation in Turkestan—A. P. Davis_. 34
Is Lumber a Crime?—George H. Holt__ 647
Italian Forest Policy, New—Dr. Guido
2A. Re BO romes a aimuee ok resi 272) 147
Jamidica’s, Borest Wealth a. 2 2250 738
Japan’ is- Years Aheadse ee 605
Japse Supplyethe: Chinese 22 684
Kentiucky:Sh statemnonestetss ose eee 634
Kalling, thempugs= ieee sit a oh ee 347
ack. (or Christmas recesses ss de 807
marge PurchasempAs=-.veeser Cel 503
aroe) SaleniAe weet exer nt ool A 286
viii
Page
Large Sale of Timber-.----------------~ 676
Largest Live Oak, The_-.-------------~ 478
Largest Sassafras Tree, The—Adiola
Gray ...--------------------"-"" 233
Laudable Effort, A wnn--<-----9--5---7 202
Law, Fire Lines Despite the...-.------- 768
Legislation, Conservation Through—
Mrs. deB. Randolph Keim-------- 193
Legislation, Reforestation ------------- 63
Legislation, The Present State of For-
est Tax—Fred R. Fairchild__---- 653
Legislature, Forestry and the State—W.
B. Greeley ---------------------- 277
Leopard Moth, ness. ae. 22 S-= 286
Lightning Hits All Trees-------------- 680
Logged Off Lands, The Problem of
Our—J. J. Donovan-------------- 467
Logging Congress, Pacific ------------- 606
Logging Engineer in the Pacific North-
west, The—By A Logging Engi-
Oe Oe ee 377
Logging Engineering—Geo. M. Cornwall 617
Long-Bell Experimental Farm—C. B.
e.g tt PE EERE Si ALE Sea 668
tom prices fof 1 rtes_—......-.---_---- 202
Lucky Chance Assignment, A—Walter J.
POT gt acento Ha ia aa ee rd 393
Lumber a Crime? Is—George H. Holt- 647
Lumber and Stumpage on the Conserva-
tion of Our Forest Resources, The
Effect of Advancing Values of—
Robert Fullerton ----------_____- 728
Lumber Associations Interested_-_--_--- 603
Lumber Industry, Wood Preserving and
J |). Saat ce te ee ien ee mney | |)
Lumber Life, The Social Side of—P. F.
SE eetenietippietieteetae eer O06
Lumber Manufacturers Meet —__----___ 398
SR SORE ee 596
Lumbering in Russia—Consul W. F.
ny RAR RAE 28 ie talc ie ie 675
Lumbermen and Foresters Co-operate__ 721
Lumbermen and Forestry—Address by
py Se et oa a ae 268
Lumbermen and Forestry......._..____ 9285
Lumbermen, Attention _.......... | 403
Lumbermen Help Foresters jd atts Fede is, 3 439
Lumbermen Not Apply Forestry? Why
Do—Dr. B. E. Fernow__-_______ . 613
erat and Forestry George A.
Chedel
MacMillan Inspecting _._ eats i
Maly gany for Canada_____ ee ee
CONTENTS
Page
Mail Patrol, Rural—J. G. Peterste2=-= 533
Maine, Forestry Department, University
pa leis chika Vie Mews a nrS 2S Beno 25
Manufacturers Meet, Lumber---------- 398
Manuring of Forest Trees, The—Arthur
Smith = see eee ee ee 739
Maryland, State Forest Problems in—F.
W. Besley -------------=-------- 446
Massachusetts, Conservation Realized
in—Harris A. Reynolds---------- 800
Massachusetts Forestry Work-_--------- 556
Massachusetts Showing ~--------------- 684
Materials for Boat and Barge Construc-
tion, Economic—A. E. Hageboeck- 517
May Form Forest Protective Association 542
Meeting, American Forestry Association
DinectOnS esos 452
Meeting of the Canadian Forestry Asso-
ciation» Ac oLerin ga aa 186
Method of Forestry Campaigning—E. T.
AN eric, eee ae eect ee en 635
Michigan, Boy Scouts of--------------- 581
Miller esiotis: Deano. = = =e eee 415
Mine Timbers, Preservation of-------- 540
Minnesota, The First Annual Report of
the State Forester of —E. G. Chey-
BEY, cores eek ee eee 783
Minnesota’s Good Work__-------------- 141
Missouri University, At-2-22-5—5) === 203
Money tor, Fire Suiterers=-= = -2- === 286
Mont Alto: (Graduatess=s 2-2 eee 565
Moody to Head Ranger School, F. B.-- 814
More: and tor Reserves === en 526
Moth’ Pest -Bogey. hes---"--_ =) see se= 201
Moth; Cheyeeopande. === eee 286
Mountains, Favorable to White_______- 441
Moving Forest in Wales, A-----______ > 680
Municipal Forest, San Diego’s—Max
Watsons ss aaa aie tee eee 435
Municipal Forestry—Nelson C. Brown__ 777
Munson-Whitaker Open Chicago Office. 473
National Aspect of Swamp Drainage,
The—M. ©: Leightone-2 222 3
National Exposition on Conservation___ 345
National Forest, Approve a_-___--_--__ 346
National Forest Changes_____-._--____ 605
National Forest Policy, Danger to the—
Henry. S.) Graves 20a nm ee ae: 805
National Forest Reserve in West Vir-
ginia—J. A. Viquesney___________ 803
National Forests, The Present Fire Sea-
SOR. /On" theses cee eee 534
CONTENTS ix
Page
National Lumber Manufacturers’ Asso-
Glationseiesolupion ©2--2=—- =. 22-5 403
Nebraska Sand Hills, Progress in For-
estryprancingean thé... +. 174
iNew Woneiaseopruce, A_—..__._-..2.=- 542
New England Trees in Winter__-_--___- 65
New Firm of Forest Engineers___----- 286
INewshonestrys Department. .--222 22s 203
New Hampshire Forests, Protecting_---_ 365
New Hampshire State Work—W. R.
ROW 22 SS a ee 531
New Hampshire, Taxation of Forest
Property in—J. H. Foster__-_+__- 470
New Head for Forest School_-------_- 351
New Italian Forest Policy—Dr. Guido
nee: Borghesatitees ee =s—-— 2 147
New Mexico, Extinct Volcanoes of
Northeast—Willis T. Lee-------- 357
New Mexico, The Underground Waters
Of — Willard eEaehiGl sess 228
New Plan of Seed Extraction From Pine
Cones) 52 =e ee ek 738
New Process for the Protection and
Preservation of Standing Tele-
graph and Telephone Poles—E. A.
Sterne. =.= eepemeeyen oe Eo 711
New? Ranger (Coursesp = tt 8 351
New South Wales, Irrigation for----_- 591
New. Surrender gine wANe ee ee 605
New York’s Lumber Industry__----..-- 615
New Yorks pellingtimeesess2228) 5 2-3. 679
New York, Studying Forest Conditions
1p eee me EY Rs 537
New Yorks) Oldest Pree. 22. - ==. 542
New York State College of Forestry at
Syracuse Umimersity=: 2/5 2-5) 453
Newly Found Timber Area, A____------ 744
News and Notes (department of maga-
Zine) eee 63, 140, 200, 285, 347, 413
477, 541, 604, 679, 815
Nicaragua, Pine Wagdsvare == 2-2. 598
Notes on German Forestry—Prof. W. R.
Lazenby | 22 See ae 343
Northern Forest Protective Association,
The—Thornton A. Green________- 658
North Carolina, Forest Conditions in
Western _..-- 52) eee 384
North Carolina Forestry Association
Convention—J. S. Holmes, Secre-
tary
Northwestern Forest Fire Conditions___ 595
Nurseries, Inspection of Plantations and 396
Nursery and Planting Tools—William
Pe Masi oe 2. 222. ae 325
Page
Ofimmeat tor. Apples: 222% a1. tee 509
Ofimalawnecostitions.8: 2 oo: 141
Ohiomsratistics, Some. = 2-2 678
@idesaewine Dhmgs.../ 252-22) 597
Olmsted Withdraws From Firm__-_----- 802
(meu@ettagw! Trees. 8 ee 202
One Hundred and Sixty Thousand Acres
SeCiipe dipreee ess Pe 201
OpenwiGhicagos Oince2= 2 eee 473
Opportunities for Foresters—Prof. Aus-
iti Caitgy geen ee ante et 82
Oppose State Control of Forests____--- 346
Oregon, in the Hills of—J. Albert Baker 726
Our National Timberlands Threatened—
ermany He Chapmanlass8 25s. =s 527
Our Timber. Exports#i224125.0 20s ae 626
Outlook System, Eric—F. B. Knapp-_--- 406
Ozark National Forest, Fire Protection
on the—Francis Kiefer_-______--- 520
Racioc Logging. Coneress:: = toss 606
Pack, (@liarles Thathrope.-s2b. 2 to. 724
Pamphlet onvArbor .Day.i-2 24222222) 1. 416
Paper Company’s Forestry Practice—
iB tad Ghorn 01 C0 | ors ayaa ae eevee ee 320
Paper Making in the United States, Un-
limited Raw Material for—Ches-
her: Wis igang ee os ah 8S 118
Paper Mills and Forestry in Canada—
Blwoods Wilsons. eet 3S 5 769
Patriarch, A—Thomas Nelson Page-_---- 39
Patrol, Rural Mail—J. G. Peters__--_--- 533
Pays $40 an Acre Yearly, A Forest That
George Wi. Kelir-2 2-352 8 = 276
Rego, Appointed) Ee, Gx 522 i eee 643
Pennsylvania Railroad Tree Planting_-_ 479
Benpseivamias: ltades sea. 2 tile t 634
People Helping the Foresters—Henry S.
(Graves og sete Bs ee: L 189
Pest, Forest Service After Fruit--.-—.- 740
Rests, siate Fisht. on) Bree_. 28253) 383
Philippine’ Forests}. Thes.2 2.222222 202, 414
Rinehot Prizey pe tse res es 3 ee 403
Pinchot to the Boy Scouts’ =. 2324. 469
Pine Cones, New Plan of Seed Extrac-
tion: frome set lie 738
Pine Landsiof Nicaragua va 22020 sou 598
Plint Pests) Barrediaast 202 < 2 2 toi 679
Plant Quarantine, Enforcing__.-___---_ 606
Planting at Cornell University, Forest—
John, “Bentley fins ot 716
Planting Neéw Pine—Prees=.--..-_-.-.. 519
Planting Tools, Nursery and—William
DeTessViia's bq ee! ae soencareie SE. ee 325
Plantations and Nurseries, Inspection of_ 396
CONTENTS
Page
Plumas National Forest, Timber Sale on
—Rufus A. Maddox------------- 167
A New Process for the Protec-
tion and Preservation of Stand-
ing Telegraph and Telephone—E.
A. Sterling---------------------- le:
Policy, A Definite Forest—E. A. Ster-
ling
Policy, Danger to the National Forest—
Henry S. Graves---------------- 805
Popular Interest in Forestry----------- 66
Position, Mr. Start’s-------------------- 352
Prairie Dog Must Go—Robert E. Clarke 28
Predatory Animals, The War on—Per-
Poles,
421
cival S. Ridsdale----------------- 211
Present Fire Season on the National
Forests, The -------------------- 534
Present Situation in Forestry, The—
Henry S. Graves_--------------- 95
Present Situation of Forestry, The—
Henry S. Graves------------------ 735
Present State of Forest Tax Legisla-
tion—Fred R. Fairchild_----------- 653
Preservation as a Factor in Forest Con-
servation, Wood—E. A. Sterling. 627
Preservation of Mine Timbers_--------- 540
Preservation of Standing Telegraph and
Telephone Poles, A New Process
for the Protection and—E. A.
ROMO bie ala
Preserving and the Lumber Industry,
CE EE ne eae Ce oe ee 409
Preventing Forest Fires__------------- 201
Price of Forest Products—Frederick S.
RUIMUPETIN We eee ee 656
Prices Will Conserve Forests, Higher—
oer; WHOSE sooo e ee 710
Private Forest Arboretums, Two------ 274
Private Forest Owners—A. D. Hopkins. 195
Prizes for Canadian Seed Growers_---- 602
Problem of Our Logged-Off Lands, The
1 POR RR eG CRS Se ee 467
Proceedings Society American Foresters
(Review), Vol. vi, No. 2--.___--- 281
Products, The Price of Forest—Fred-
Se & Uncen. 656
Professor Roth to Remain at Ann Arbor 415
Progress in Forestry Planting in the Ne-
braska Sand Hills
Progress of Forestry in
The—F
Vrogere
Wisconsin,
Bes Cotas ot 107
{ Forestry, The—Hon. Robt.
’ Bass
ee ee RAL |.
Page
Protecting Elk in Wyoming------------ 580
Protecting New Hampshire Forests_--- 365
Protecting the Forests----------------- 285
Protection, Improving Forest Fire—M. B.
Pratt oc a ea 337
Protection on the Ozark National For-
est, Fire—Francis Kiefer-------- 520
Protection, Watershed ---------------- 64
Protective Association Active---------- 413
Protective Association, The Northern
Forest—Thornton A. Green_----- 658
Protest, A Vigorous------------------- 173
Proud Boast of Memphis, The---------- 603
Public School Instruction-------------- 287
Put Your Camp Fire Out !—Thornton A.
(Creeny none eee 658
Quarantine, Enforcing Plant----------- 606
Quebec’s Lumber Resources------------ 649
Questions and Answers (Department of
Magazine) ---------------------- 135
204, 243, 417, 474, 599, 745, 809.
Railroad Reforesting ------------------ 606
Railway Regulation to Prevent Forest
Bites + ete Nee SALE eso eee 603
Railway Ties -.------=-----=--25=-—=-=- 202
Rainy River, From Red Lake to—Wil-
liamtL. SCox 2 see e eee eeeeee 549
Raising Big Tree Seedlings------------ 479
Raising Deer on Forest Preserves—Per-
Gival) 'S, WRidsdale-= 322s s2223aem 313
Raising whi and” Deer=o2- sense 443
Rane ‘Going’ Abroad? =2-—- 5222 seeee 500
Ranger Course, A New <2-2=2.2useecee 351
Ranger ‘Course (Closés-=- === "2 Seen 352
Ranger School, To Head a___--------- 814
Raw Material for Paper Making in the
United States, Unlimited—Chester
Wie ymen 22 cei eee 118
Receipt for a Ranger (Poem)—J. B.
Cammann’ 2222S ee ae 416
ReEcoenittonen © ficial ae ee een 141
Red Lake to Rainy River, From—Wil-
ham. TCox2 2 ae eee 549
Reduced "Forest ‘Fires #/2.205) ee ee = 612
Reducing Fire Fighting Cost----------- 68
Reforestation at the Capital_..-_.------- 542
Reforestation Legislation) 222--225.44_5 5 163
Reforesting Cut Over Pine Lands_-___. 674
Reforesting -Pike’ssheakcemsna sv pene 348
Relation of Insects to the Death of
Chestnut Trees—A. D. Hopkins__ 221
Remarkable [reese mesecn oe eee ae 604
Report on Forest Fire Losses, A_-____ 796
CONTENTS xi
Page
Report of the State Forester of Min-
nesota, the First Annual—E. G.
Cheney) eee os--------~—--.--~— 783
Resolution, National Lumber Manufac-
turers’) Association..~.-----.2--- 403
Resolutions, American Forestry Asso-
cain, 133
Resolutions, Some Forceful __---------- 49
Resolutions to the Senators ----------- 536
Restoring Elk to the Forests.....-.._-. 677
Returning Land to Idaho--~--.--2.+-.- 430
eamon of Yale Alummni-2) 2222)" 2- 45
Reviews, Book:
Proceedings Society American For-
esters, Vol. vi, Nee ceeee- ee ee—— 281
Forestry in New England—Ralph
C. Hawley and Austin F. Hawes 480
Forstaesthetik—Henrich von Sal-
ASeh ( ---—- Soo een ns 600
Forestry—H. H. Chapman_---_-_-- 601
Identification of the Economic
Woods of the United States—
Saniiel \). mecontees neon 601
Rhodes’ New Position, John E.-------- 776
River Driving—W. R. Brown----------- 757
Rivers and Harbors Congress-......--- 66
Roads and Trails, Forest—Ernest Wohl-
Chl 0 ee a 501
Roth) ager eee on 203
Roth to Remain at Ann Arbor, Prof.---- 415
Rural Mail Patrol—J. G. Peters_------- 533
Russia, Lumbering in—Consul W. F.
Doty! See ae one ee 675
Dale; A’ Largemas eae st 286
Salvation of the Alaskan Fur Seal Herd
—Henry Wee Eliott ---.-=.---. 702
San Diego’s Municipal Forest — Max
Watson pear oe 435
Sassafras Tree, The Largest—Adiola
Gray 12-- 22s 233
Save Forests, Five States Unite to__-_-- 43
Saving New York’s Elm Trees__----_- 500
Schenck, New Book by Dr. C. A._----- 793
School Children, Arousingl22222_______ 408
Schools? Are There Too Many Forest—
Pew, Gaylord_.___. Sea 399
Scouts binchot to the Boy=.=2=s2saas 469
Seoutsto Llant Drees, Boy.2a2aaae 626
Seal Herd, Salvation of the Alaskan
Fur—Henry W. Elliott------____ 702
Seewred’20.000) Acres. __._.._._ 2 uae 64
Securing State Forest Lands—W. M.
Bleue 2 a 188
Page
Seed Extraction from Pine Cones, A
19g kg i le a OO a 738
Seed, Growing a Woodlot From—J. A.
SMSC Perse eee ge te 407
Seediine Distribution=.._.---22.-.2--u<— 414
Scekine German Bugs-..-_-...---sacnae 605
Deckinee Intonation: 2.222.) 6 288
Senators, Resolutions to the-_----______ 536
Sequciss toreh lems. = ee 414
Sequoia Sempervirens...-....__._...___ 605
MEMOUS \Siatione we tase. 201
BeWwall: in” Maitietesns emer Sees so 541
Sewallis Activities: Mirissmee eee 602
Shooting in Burma—A. J. Butterwick_-_ 528
wite tor morestty pchooli 2-2. e 142
Sixty-five Per Cent Agricultural Soil—
What of the Balance ?—Thomas B.
9 2 0 pa a SpE Acs ME etd ids Soe 404
Social Side of Lumber Life, The—P. F.
Coie red maar os eae se At 666
Some Forceful Resolutions .._._..______ 49
Some Notes on German Forestry—War-
FSS gE i DL A] 6 cpa no IR 14
Some Olnot Statistics (Stee 678
Pome lau Napts 22 bs eh | 63
South pAtrica., Porestry in. 830 319
South Sea Islands, E. T. Allen Visits... 548
Southern Commercial Congress, For-
estty) WV onl: ‘at 22 <a 305
Southern Forestry Conference
Southern States, Forest Fires and For-
estry in the—Herman H. Chapman 510
South’s Timber Disappearing—Henry E.
NlGh a (enV ch ik cs aac iS tall ee De Ra 644
Sportsmen and Forest Fires—Hon. Jef-
Remon pitlenyocns ee ees 402
spring Goes to Cornell, Prof.....__._-_ 481
Standards for State Forestry, Uniform__ 743
tame OSITtON, Wit ane sc hr 352
State Control of Forests, Oppose_-_____ 346
State Micht on,Tree: Pests: <2... 050 383
State Forest Academy Graduating Class 565
State Forest Lands, Securing—W.° M.
Tlays: SoC eee 188
"State Forest Policy, A Definite—E. A.
Biker lim pee eae a de 421
State Forest Problems in Maryland—F,
Wi) Besleya eases Se pe Ae Tea 446
State Forestry, Uniform Standards for__ 743
Staten land's bmi cosy ammeter, Ve TNT) Me 201
State Legislature, Forestry and the—W.
Ba Greeters cree ee PRR Ps 277
State
state
State
CONTENTS
Page
News (Department of Magazine) 60
137, 197, 348, 410, 475, 538,
607, 681, 747, 810.
Work, New Hampshire—W. R.
282,
Brown ...----------------------" 531
Work
Alabama -------------------- 748, 811
Arkansas ~-------------------- 61, 137
California _---------------------- 62
68, 138, 198, 282, 349, 412, 538,
540, 751, 813.
Colorado ------------------------ 1
137, 199, 283, 411, 475, 538.
Gomechcnt 2. .-——-——-— 137, 284, 748
Diomiie 140, 198, 284, 608
6 S| ANG ee ee a ee ee 350
YON Sa eS ee ee 62
138, 140, 199, 284, 392, 411, 750.
DS ae aie en ere 283
INN a) See Se 61
139, 199, 283, 411, 476, 539, 607,
750, 810.
DT pet A La a el 682
ea ets eae 60, 349, 475, 810
Maryland -_-----.- 61, 65, 283, 748, 812
pameeencnisetis.422-20 25. 2h 22s. 60
137, 200, 349, 350, 392, 412, 413,
476, 567, 607, 608, 681, 749, 810.
ROT ae Si a Sob ee aay ES 198
282, 350, 395, 412, 477, 749, 812.
PTR MO MN cag eb os 8 Oe oh Fed 138
141, 198, 282, 410, 476, 538, 681.
Eg | ener eo Sane ae 475
Montana ~.____--.68, 139, 199, 477, 750
Rew BUAIOANIT Oe ee oe 60
198, 283, 350, 392, 410, 412.
New Lf) pe CAE Ter eee 139
197, 350, 475, 540, 681, 751.
Peer Oise: fete” oe iy 61
139, 197, 284, 413, 476, 538, 539,
608, 681, 749.
enn. Seon 2 OS
197, 272, 349, 747, 810.
Ohio -......62, 138, 199, 283, 607, 813.
Oklahoma ee ee oe 138
Oregon Roe ee ee 62
139, 199, 284, 349, 412, 477, 608, 812
Pennsylvania cee es gt
139, 197, 282, 350, 410, 539, 648,
S51, 810
Rhode Island Re AY ae,
South Dakota -...._________984, 538
Tennessee --....._.____. 199, 476, 750
Texas <= -<a~a—--==~--.539, 608, 681
Page
RGA oon Ds ks eines Aa 349, 410
Vermont ~----------------------- 66
138, 262, 411, 476, 538, 747, 813.
Washington: = 2=2-2= 68, 199, 348, 607
Wrest Wirginia-= sees ae 137, 198
VIS CONSIN i ee 198
282, 348, 410, 477, 681, 813.
State Work in New Hampshire—W. R.
IBrOwil) sees sees eee 531
States, Chances for Several___---_----- 288
Statistics, Forest. Product. -==—-=_--_ 22 439
Sterling s Change) 2s eee ee 201
Student's, Experiences -seee= = es 288
Students: inv the Porest====— = 543
Studying Forest Conditions in New York 537
Studying Lumbering Industry_-------- 680
Stumps and Tree Holes, Dynamiting____ 254
Summer (Course, Ase === eee 204
Sunken’ Forest Uncovered2o2-222222-25— 478
Supervisors, Meet) 2-2) Se 200
Swamp Drainage, The National Aspect
of— MeO} Beichton==aee ae 3
Swamp of Virginia, The Dismal—Arthur
lolli ck 222 eo 2S eee eee 431
Syracuse University, The New York
State College of Forestry at_____- 453
‘Tallest ‘trees,7 Wheso. 2: eo eee 598
Tax Legislation, The Present State of
Forest—Fred R. Fairchild_______ 653
Tax Problem, Two Solutions of the For-
estry—Arthur Goadby ~---------_ 663
Taxation of Forest Property in New
Hampshire—J. H. Foster________ 470
Teaching Forestry to Children__________ 776
Telegraph and Telephone Poles, A New
Process for the Protection and
Preservation of Standing—E. A.
Dterlitng Nes oe he oe ae 711
Threatened, Our National Timberlands—
Herman H. Chapman____________ 527
Through Canadian Wilds—Elwood Wil-
SON) Sane ee SS Lg 2 Se ee TE 293
Tick Burning Hurts Forests, Cattle____ 673
Timber: Conservation. ssa 820
Timber Disappearing, South’s—Henry E.
Hatdiner >... «fee eny aviWaee coat 644
Timber Estimating, Instructions in—Ed-
ward C. M. Richards___-________ 587
Timber Exports, Gig seens ay leas chy hy 626
Timber Resources, Development of_____ 48
Timber Sale, A Government eb eae AS 141
dox
CONTENTS
Page
Timberland Owners and Forestry—W. R.
Browne eee kL} 275
Timberlands Threatened, Our National—
Elenmanmieeehapman=——-___ 527
To Head aemaneer- ochool_____________ 814
Po Studuploedse-=——* ~~. _..-..--.=-=5 746
‘Noolu@achesmine the! Horests_----=- == s25 478
Trails, Forest Roads and—Ernest Wohl-
iD 501
Transplanting in Washington_--------- 612
trees A—Burt W. Johnson-222===---—- 594
SapecereN Famous Old_.-22238eee ee 341
ficee Barm, City Ownseeeeee 64
bree Growth) Pncolraciwe === 413
Tree Holes, Dynamiting Stumps and_-_ 254
Tree ‘Pests, State Hight ome ===) 383
Trees, ack oi Christmassee=e-—-s——— 807
Airecs aebhes lallest_- =e 598
Trees to Check: Floods_- see eee = 604
Turkestan, Irrigation in—A. P. Davis--- 34
Turning Wornout Land into a Forest__ 478
Twenty Million Dollars Yearly From
One. Forest |, 2) Sue 597
Two Features of Forestry—F. W. Rane_ 123
Two Private Forest Arboretums_------- 274
Two Solutions of the Forestry Tax
Problem—Arthur Goadby
Underground Waters of New Mexico,
The—Willagcd: 3 bralt. _. 228
Uniform Standards for State Forestry__ 743
University of Idaho, Forestry Depart-
ment: £01 ee 134
Unlimited Raw Material for Paper Mak-
ing in the United States—Chester
W.. Lyman) aa 118
Valuable Wood, China’s Most_-------_- 445
Viermont:s Mecetino=====aeenn ee 262
Vigorous Protest; (Ama 173
Virginia, The Dismal Swamp of-_-_-----_- 431
Volcanoes of Northeast New Mexico,
Extinct—Willis T. Lee__--__-___- 357
Want Fire Protection[=gee 201
War on Predatory Animals, The—Per-
cival S. Ridsdale=s=aaae 211
Waring, Chestnut Blight=azeuee es > 470
Wiashineton, Fire Losses__-2===ee = 678
Washington, Forestry at the University
Of 2=220..-._____.._._ eae 332
Wrashineton shire Iosses__2 aaa 68
Watelme for Forest Fires__.22-222e.— 604
Watensued) Protection... ._._.--25- 222 64
Xiil
Page
Weeks Law, First Purchase of White
Mountain Lands Under the__-_-_- 440
Weeks Law, First Purchase Under_____ 48
West Virginia, National Forest Reserve
ios Viquesney_- ==... 45 803
Western Forestry and Conservation As-
Seciation Meeting. .2 2255.3 = 802
White Mountain Lands Under the Weeks
Bawsebiese: Punchase of.—.2 22. 440
White Motuntamn, Reserves-—- == = oe 348
White Mountains, Favorable to -------- 441
White Mountains, Forestry Conference
treble toe ae wa a ees 408, 445
Wihitem lo cuntatnss knee tine see ea 526
Why Do Lumbermen Not Apply For-
estry?’—Dr. B. E. Fernow-----~-- 613
WildenicnAtnticles Minses =n = es eee 405
e\Viisouge in the: Borests. 242) ee 679
Windbreaks: Their Influence and Value
=—Georpe: i, (Clothier. 2246-2. so 234
Wireless im plorests 22 20s ea 541
Wisconsin, Experiments in_______-____~ 285
Wisconsin, The Progress of Forestry in
oe Mia Are ith ese a 107
Wisdom, His (Poem)—Howard C. Keg-
| EN age” SERA aan Re i, Seer 615
RiVisewmeHionms j An eet ebes be ye 202
Withsthe, Biltmore Boyss. 2. 2.222022 25 655
Woman Trée :Cliopper,, A == 465
Wroonshores (Fire Hight]. 222 eae os = 592
Woodm Dp rstillation==2) ss senses 680
Woodlot From Seed, Growing A—J. A. ©
Berets ori ie =a ne seg a Bia Boe 407
Wood Preservation as a Factor in For-
est Conservation—E. A. Sterling. 627
Wood Products: Exposition... 2 286
Wood Preserving and the Lumber In-
MUS tigy tk eee 2A 3 Lae 409
Wood Waste Eliminated, Another_____ 544
Work of the Association—Robert P.
eas Sis 2S 2 oe ee ed 190
Working Erosion Model for Schools, A
= Don ‘Cantos, Wiltge Ss. ie 790
Wyman’s School of the Woods—Thomas
IBS VWiyinane = een eens ae 191
Wyoming, Forests for—Hon. Jos. M.
Rare yy (tem iee ee 132
Wyoming; Protecting Elle in_--_ —___ 580
YalewAlumni, Wreumion, -ofeq 222.2220. = 46
Naley Buys) Harestss2 sae 473
Yale Forestry School, Gifts to___.______- 142
Yukon Forest Fires, Great Loss From__ 574
{ew Chrar’s fQesulution
for Quecu (ember
jel [ol |e
Resolved:
i) in 1912 9 pledge
muself to secure at
least one new member,
to the end that our membership
may be doubled, our influence
| extended, our power for good
increased, and the importance
of the work the Association fs
dotng be more deeply im-
pressed upon the minds of
the great American public.
;
¥
DRUMMOND, DISMAL SWAMP
+
4
STERN SHORE OF LAKI
1 WE
THI
VIEW OF
American Forestry
VOL. XVIII JANUARY, 1912 No. 1
THE NATIONAL ASPECT OF SWAMP DRAINAGE’
By M. O. LEIGHTON,
CHIEF HyproGRAPHER UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
HAT which I have to suggest is based on two fundamental principles;
first, that natural laws are superior to man-made ones, and when the two
kinds are opposed, as they sometimes are, man is very foolish to handicap
himself by trying to sustain those of his own make; second that government
is merely a means to an end, that end being to enable the people to satisfy
their needs and desires in the wisest way. I hold that these two principles
do not admit of argument.
Some parts of the earth are not, in their natural condition, well suited
to man’s occupancy. Man has therefore seen fit to readjust the face of nature
to suit his particular needs. In the course of this readjustment he has
changed rural conditions into urban ones, has diverted the course of rivers
to make the arid places productive, has tunneled mountains, bridged chasms,
leveled hills, and even diked off the ocean itself. These and a thousand things
more has man performed because nature has not arranged and constructed
to his liking. But though nature has shown a cheerful disposition to submit
to such changes, she has always insisted that they be made in certain ways.
Whosoever violates her laws must finally fail of his purposes. Do you know
of any exception to this rule?
This great Congress, of notable record and honorable achievement, typifies
the discontent of man with certain of nature’s desert conditions. To remedy
these, this Congress has advocated the diversion of waters from their natural
courses in order that arid land may be made to produce. It is fitting that,
having seen this proposition gaining headway at every milestone, with ulti-
mate success as inevitable as the round of the seasons, this Congress should
now, with that helpfulness and altruism that has marked its every act,
lend a part of its energy toward the conversion of another great natural
blot into a place of American homes and fertile fields so that the East and
the West, the North and the South may unite in that inspiring demand of
the Irrigation Congress, ‘““Make homes on the land.”
*From address delivered at Irrigation Congress in Chicago, in December.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
The natural blot of which I speak is made up of the swamp lands of the
United States. As a nation we require the riches that lie disguised in them,
As a people we can not feel that our full duty has been performed until we
have made these swamp lands centers of prosperity and comfort for ourselves
and those who shall come after. To do this we must again change the face
of nature and we must make that change in accordance with nature’s laws.
THE CHARACTER OF A SWAMP
What is a swamp? It is merely an area of land which because of
some adverse natural conditions, has been deprived of or denied a suitable
outlet for its surplus water. That water therefore accumulates in or upon
the ground and renders the area too wet for man’s comfortable occupation.
It also prevents the entrance of air into the ground. Now, air, or the oxygen
contained in air, is as essential at the plant roots as it is at the plant leaves,
and so it is that in swamps we have a dense wet soil generally stagnant, on
which nothing of a very useful character will grow except certain kinds of
timber. Food crops, on which we depend for sustenance, can not grow in
such soil.
In the case of naturally well drained land nature has provided suitable
water outlets at proper grade. In the case of the swamp she has left this
undone and the whole function of man in reclaiming swamp lands is to supply
that which nature has neglected. In supplying that need, in remedying that
defect, we must be governed by precisely the same laws that nature followed
with respect to lands that receive here complete attention. Look at any well-
drained river basin, you will find that the main stream and its tributaries
are harmoniously adjusted to each other with respect to width, depth, and
slope. That portion of the channel in the lower valley has a capacity sufficient
to safely carry off the water that may come from the entire drainage area.
The small creeks high up on the divide are taken into account in adjusting
that capacity. Where one part of a river system joins another part the
channel below the junction of the two streams is of the right size to carry
the waters of both. There is harmony and unity and an undeviating fitness
of all things in the basin.
Supposing, now, it should occur that the upper part of the basin did not
harmonize with the lower part? Supposing, for example, that the upper part
were well drained and the lower part poorly drained—what would occur?
A proper answer to this question is furnished by the great Mississippi Valley
itself. Much of its upper portion is well drained, while its lower part is a
flat delta region. The result is a great overflowed and swampy country from
Cape Girardeau to the Gulf. Look at the Kankakee basin over in Indiana.
oe eon after the sleep of centuries. Look at that enormous
wheat area in the valley of the Red River of the North, and that vast rich
ee of the Tombigbee in Mississippi and Alabama. These are the very
conditions that we are trying to correct by artificial drainage. Yet, in many
of our drainage schemes we are endeavoring to perpetuate the very procedure
Which in nature resulted in swamp conditions
THE NATIONAL ASPECT OF SWAMP DRAINAGE 5
In numerous places we are draining the upper portions of swamps with-
out providing suitable outlets for water in the lower portions. This process
not only makes the drainage works less effectual than they would otherwise
be, but it also accentuates the swamp conditions in the lands below.
THE PROBLEM OF DRAINAGE
Artificial drainage creates new conditions. In its natural state a
swamp gives up its water slowly. If that were not so, the land would not
be swamp land. The rivers draining that swamp are accustomed to receive
the water only at the rate at which the swamp gives it up, therefore those
rivers have through long ages become habituated to receive water at that
rate and at no greater rate. Therefore, when we drain wet land, it can not
be sufficient to dig ditches through a great area and discharge the water into
streams that are not adapted to that increased rate of flow. In rational
drainage it is necessary to consider the whole basin—the hill land as well
as the low land, and the drainage system must be fashioned with due regard
for every part. The necessities differ in no essential degree from those of a
sewerage system of any city. No one would think of building the upper end
of the system without regard to the lower end, nor of dividing the problem
up into districts to conform, for example with city ward lines, and construc-
ing each without regard to the other. In laying out a city sewerage system
we must at the outset design each portion, from outlet to highest point, so
that when the whole is eventually completed it will become an harmonious
drainage work. The same plan is demanded in swamp drainage. Whether
the swamp be one mile or one thousand miles long, it must, if included within
a single river system, eventually be reclaimed as a unit. Of course this does
not apply to coastal marshes like those of Louisiana, where the logical process
is to dike off lands and to pump the surplus water into canals that discharge
directly into the ocean. It applies, however, to by far the greater area of
our swamps, where the reclamation must be accomplished by gravity drainage
into natural streams already established. In such cases those natural streams
must be enlarged and adjusted as far down their courses as is necessary, and
even at times to their ultimate reaches.
That is the way Nature drains—that is the way we must do it. The
laws governing drainage differ widely from those governing irrigation. In
the latter we must decide how much land can be irrigated with a certain
amount of water. We can conduct the water on the land we designate and
can leave neighboring lands out of consideration if we choose to do so. This
can not be done in drainage work. In a swamp the water is already there.
We take it out by digging gravity canals and lowering the water table. We
can not define offhand the extent of land that is to be benefited by that canal.
The extent of the benefit depends on natural soil conditions, and the influence
exerted by a drainage canal may be narrow or it may be wide. If a drainage
district, for example, recognizing that it must provide a suitable outlet for
the surplus water that it discharges from the district, enlarges the natural
channel or digs a new one beyond the district boundaries far down to a remote
point at which a suitable outlet is provided, that channel will benefit by
6 AMERICAN FORESTRY
drainage all the country that it passes through, whether the district author-
ities like the result or not. Such a benefit to the lower region must be paid
for by the people of the district. In other words, they must be assessed for
benefits to lands in which they have no immediate interest.
We might illustrate a score or more of conditions of similar purport,
all of which prove substantially that logically, ethically, and financially, the
drainage of a swamp should comprise all the lands in a particular basin.
There should be participation in the expense by every land owner, or there
will be an inequitable distribution of expense. Is it not evident, then, that
drainage is a big affair, to be planned and executed on a broad basis and to
be financed in a way that will ensure success? Drainage is no “peanut-stand”
proposition, and it is just as absurd, just as foolish, to try to divide a great
swamp up into unrelated districts as it would be to divide a great trunk
railway system into a collection of unrelated county or municipal units. But
up to the present time our drainage work has largely been on a “peanut-
stand” basis and many of the propositions for future development are con-
ceived with no more breadth of view.
There is only one drainage project from Cape Girardeau to the Gulf;
only one in the valley of the Red River of the North; one in the Tombigbee
valley; one on the Apalachicola; one on the Kankakee of Indiana; and one
on the Suwannee of Florida. I know that good men say that such a con-
ception is too large and impracticable, but I am persuaded that this can
not be true. It is my opinion that the problems involved in the drainage
of all the swamp lands in the United States combined do not encounter the
real difficulties and the untried engineering questions that are comprised in
the construction of the Catskill water-supply tunnel of New York, or the
installation of the new water supply of the city of Los Angeles.
THE SCOPE OF A DRAINAGE SYSTEM
| have suggested in a brief and incomplete way that which seems to me
to be the necessary scope of a drainage system, and have tried to show that
there are certain immutable laws of nature that must govern every drainage
operation. Of course it is not intended to imply that every drainage scheme
must at the outset provide for the immediate reclamation of every part of a
swamp area, however great. That which is insisted upon without any reser-
vation whatsoever is, that no drainage scheme should be carried forward
without study of the entire basin within which lies the part immediately to
be drained, and that every piece of work done, both interior and exterior
must be fashioned with due regard for the necessities of every other part of
the basin. While it may be necessary or expedient in certain cases to drain
ae by reclamation in small progressive units, the tendency should ever
toward the larger and more comprehensive work ing i i
end for which every one should a is ma eee all Bane
In one region at least, of which I have personal
: the people, having started out on a broad and comprehensive basis
are now inclined to divide up the original area into several independent
districts, That is real retrogression, and I can conceive of no greater drain-
within any river basin.
know ledge,
age folly.
STACKING ALFALFA ON RECLAIMED SWAMPLANDS OF SACRAMENTO VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.
WMOL ‘ALNQNOO ‘TTOUAVS
—_—— + oe >
er oe =
SS me cters
NI HMv’I ASOOD ONINIVUd HOLIG
THE NATIONAL ASPECT OF SWAMP DRAINAGE 9
In the light of the foregoing conception of drainage let us look at some
of our swamps. Beginning with the most famous, the Dismal Swamp.
We find that it occupies parts of Virginia and North Carolina. A little
farther south, there are those areas lying on both sides of the North and
South Carolina State lines. The northern part naturally drains to the
southern part. The Savannah River on the northern border, and the Apa-
lachicola on the southwestern border of Georgia, have great swamp and over-
flow areas in South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida. In southern Georgia,
too, there are the Okefinokee swamps which, if drained, must have their out-
lets across the State of Florida. The Tombigbee Valley in Mississippi lies
above the same valley in Alabama. The Pearl River bottoms occupy parts
of Mississippi and Louisiana. The St. Francis basin lies in Missouri and
Arkansas; while the swamp areas of the Red River of the North occupy
Minnesota and North Dakota. Instances like this could be multiplied greatly.
Wherever we look we find swamp conditions that cover land in two or more
contiguous states. In other words, the greater part of our swamp drainage
problems are interstate.
INTERSTATE PROBLEM OF DRAINAGH
What are state boundaries? They are lines established by man t?
mark off separate legal jurisdictions. They are placed where they are by
virtue of conquest, discovery, agreement, or otherwise. Except when they
occupy the crest of a drainage divide, they do not conform to any natural
division, and natural problems and necessities are in no wise changed when
state lines cross any particular basin or swamp. The natural laws governing
the drainage of swamps were established long centuries before such things
as state lines were conceived by man. Can it be believed that the drainage
necessities in the St. Francis basin, for example, are altered in the slightest
degree by the fact that the people have thrown the Arkansas-Missouri
boundary across this basin? Of course such an assumption is preposterous.
And yet, on the two sides of that boundary line there are separate jurisdic-
tions, different laws and processes, and there is not even a remote probability
that under present conditions there can be any unity of action on the two
sides to comply with the unalterable nature requirements. Missourians, with
commendable enterprise, have drained large areas of their land. The people
of Arkansas must tax themselves to take care of that surplus water. When
they reclaim their portion of the St. Francis basin, a part of their cost will
be for the proper disposal of the water which the people of Missouri have
thrown down upon them. Is it not clear that the logical and the just way
to have handled the St. Francis problem would have been to drain that basin
as a unit, each owner, without respect to local jurisdiction, paying his share
of the whole system cost?
When we assess benefits for a city sewerage system we do not charge
the owner of land located near the outlet a larger price than the one located
at the head of the system, merely because the sewer in the street adjoining
the lower land is larger and laid deeper than that serving the upper lands.
We assess the owner at the upper end for his proportionate share of the cost
10 AMERICAN FORESTRY
of that large outlet sewer. The principle is precisely the same in the St.
Francis problem—and so it is in all other interstate Swamps. —
How ean the matter be adjusted under two separate jurisdictions? Some
one may say that the States can unite for the common purpose and to carry
ent the work under mutual agreement. Possibly this may be done; but we
have yet to see a successful example of it. There are many who believe, as
a result of observation of interstate matters, that the logical and wise way
and the only surely successful one is the intervention of a common authority.
And what is the established common authority as between states in this
country? It is the Federal Government.
I believe most thoroughly in providing every orderly safeguard that may
be necessary to preserve the integrity of local government. There can be no
virtue in any proposition that would needlessly deprive any locality or any
State of its perogatives and transfer them to the nation. On the other hand,
it appears to be a matter of simple logic and plain common sense that where
the established requirements of an artifically divided jurisdiction in any place
are inevitably opposed to the fundamental laws of nature that require com-
mon jurisdiction in that place, the requirements of the former must give
way to the necessities of the latter in so far as may be necessary to accom-
plish the ultimate purpose. The simple fact is that we have in the drainage
of interstate swamps a condition into which our much revered governmental
precedents will not fit. We are confronting a new problem which requires
the adjustment of our governmental ideas. It is a testimonial of our progress
and an indication of our economic needs that we are so confronted, and it is
inconceivable that the American people will fail to adjust themselves to any
condition that forces itself upon them as a result of their enterprise and
foresight.
FEDERAL CONTROL IS NECESSARY
ut the national aspects of swamp reclamation are not confined to those
of engineering necessities. Other aspects of economic necessity are truly
Federal in fact, if not in law. Moreover, these aspects are by no means
confined to interstate swamps. Seventy-four million acres of swamp land
lying in almost every State in the Union constitute of themselves a sufficiently
important issue to make them a matter of general welfare.
First and foremost, our Swamps are the greatest single menace that now
remains to public health. This Republic has from its beginning and in com-
mon with the rest of the world been subject to an enormous drain by reason
of disease. Men of science have pursued these diseases, and, by hazardous
labor, have brought out of obscurity fact after fact concerning them and the
ee their prevention. Some diseases have not yet been run to earth
ut others are fully exposed, and we are reapino i ;
tion. Swamp lands harbor the agents be ick apa eye
diseases are spread abroad. Malaria and yellow fever are transmitted by the
mosquito, and in no other way. Time at my disposal does not admit of a
discussion of the mosquito agency in these two diseases and it will be suffi-
SMALL CYPRESS AND GROUP OF KNEES IN ST. FRANCIS RIVER, ARKANSAS.
KY.
NIONTOWN,
U
ES,
)
ALSO THE KNE
IN SLOUGH,
CYPRESS
AR
NE
"S SWAMP,
SECK
?
HOLL]
DITCH,
4
S
THE NATIONAL ASPECT OF SWAMP DRAINAGE 13
cient to state that such an agency is an established fact. Malaria has always
been a silent, but persistent scourge. Yellow fever has come repeatedly upon
us, scattering terror like a horde of savages and leaving in its wake broken
households, sorrowing communities, deserted markets, and financial loss.
Malaria is still with us. Yellow fever will surely come again, and the pity
of it is that we fail to use the means that have been placed in our hands to
stamp it out forever. Is not this a Federal matter? Consider a moment.
Yellow fever visited New Orleans in 1905. In the dire emergency of that
time it was considered a wise and proper use of Federal authority to send
national experts and Federal money there to conquer the epidemic. Would
it not be wise and proper also for the Nation to prevent the evil as well?
It is a wise statesman who responds to an emergency. It is a wiser one who
foresees that emergency and makes ready for it.
Another national aspect of swamp drainage is that of home making.
In their present condition the swamps of the country are a source of weakness
in our national economy. They are now unproductive; they can be made
sources of great national wealth. They are now practically vacant; they can
be made to produce citizens. In other words, they can become the sustenance
of the very element of which this country is made up. Seventy-four million
acres of drained swamps can be made to support at least 7,000,000 people in
agricultural pursuits. Is not this a national matter? Does it not enter into
every element of production, trade, and finance? Does it not become an
essential feature of national stability, national progress and national defense?
And if all these matters are not truly Federal, why then has the Federal
Government entered so largely into them in the past? The facts are that an
issue so big and broad and inclusive as the reclamation of 74,000,000 acres
of land must be a national matter, whether we would have it so or not.
I have not come here in advocacy of any particular measure. My whole
function is to emphasize, as well as I may, the facts concerning a particular
necessity. In the adjustment of State and Federal relations there is no
necessary complication, no permanent relinquishment of State sovereignty is
required, nor any permanent expansion of Federal authority. From a prac-
tical standpoint I can see no difficulty in securing constructive cooperation
by all parties concerned. To reclaim these interstate swamps there is re-
quired a broader jurisdiction than is possessed by any one State and a more
extensive credit than is possessed by any individual to whom settlement upon
agricultural lands is attractive. There are many who will be opposed be-
cause the plan violates legal precedent, and many more will oppose it because
of what they believe to be constitutional limitations. Whether or not there
be any such limitations I am incompetent to determine, but as one who
believes that government is the means and not the end, I am unable to see
any insuperable obstacle. And when they who oppose rise up and cry “The
Law” it appears as though the proper and comprehensive reply must be
“The Necessity.” In days like these one can hardly find himself justified in
refusing to do a necessary thing because that thing was not foreseen by our
forefathers.
SOME NOTES ON GERMAN FORESTRY
By WARREN H. MILLER, M. F.
Eprror oF Firetp & STREAM.
N the summer of 1911 it was my privilege to review on a large scale
forestry studies undertaken twenty years ago in Saxony, and also to
compare in a general way the practical forestry of Germany with that of
France, to which I recently devoted the better part of two year’s study. Start-
ing with the countless kiefer or sylvester pine forests of North Germany, con-
tinuing through the mountain fir and spruce forests of Thuringia and Saxony,
and ending with the oak and beech forests on the clayey soils of Rheinland
and Westphalia, I saw over two hundred German forests, many by rail and
not a few by leisurely inspection, on foot. For the trained forester, such a
trip was of the keenest delight, and crowded with helpful hints and practical
kinks adaptable to our own practice; and a brief description of the more
salient points which came under my observation may be of interest to the
fraternity of foresters here in America.
Without exception these German forests were all under full management
and yielding paying dividends that enabled them to hold their own against
surrounding agriculture, and among the conifers only three out of about 150
forests were by natural reproduction, by seeding cuts, as in France. All
the rest were planted, the experience of the German foresters being that the
uniformly straight trees resulting from planting gave a market for all sizes
of thinnings which would otherwise be a source of embarrassment as it now
is with us.
KIEFER (SYLVESTER PINE)
Probably the most interesting study of all was the growth and disposal
of the immense forests of kiefer or sylvester pine which cover Prussia. From
Hamburg to Berlin, dozens of these forests are passed, and in every direction
from Berlin, westward as far as Magdeburg, eastward through Prussia to
Ost-Preussen, and southwards well into Saxony, they number hundreds, from
small tracts of forty or fifty acres up to areas of several thousand. The
natural soil is all poor and sandy, scantily mixed with loam, and will grow
only potatoes and cabbages, with a little pasturage, so that forestry pays
almost as well as agriculture, ranking therefore as one of the principal in-
dustries. This immense sandy plain covers a large per cent of the total area
of Germany, and the country seems to have grown up with the kiefer pine
as a national institution, for the influence of this tree upon the life and
architecture of the people is one of the most logical instances of cause and
effect to be met with in observing the fundamental characteristics of a nation.
To provide a market for the six-inch kiefer thinnings there is the typical
14
SOME NOTES ON GERMAN FORESTRY 15
German peasant cottage, which our architects are wont to smile at as a crude
but costly manifestation of peasant architecture, and a quaint instance of
waste of good lumber. If we were to set out to build such a house we would
floor it with 2x10 and 2x8 hemlock joist, frame it with 2x4 (sawed out of
2x12), stucco it, and then nail on outside a 7%” dressed imitation, “beam” of
expensive white pine so that it will not warp and expose the sham. The
German, on the contrary, takes his six-inch kiefer thinnings, for which we
would have no other market than cord wood, squares it four-sided to a 4x4
stick dressed on one side, and frames his cottage with this otherwise worthless
forest product. Who then has built the most logical house; who has wasted
the less of his forest growth, and who has put the least labor on his forest
product to make it commercially valuable;—the German who plants and
grows straight kiefer whose thinnings only require dressing, or the American
who cuts down a wild sixteen-inch hemlock to rip it up into 2x4 studs?
The three, four, and five-inch thinnings are all used for cellulose. As I
passed section after section of thinned three-inch twenty-year growth and
noted the neat piles of three-foot sawed and barked poles, I thought that it
was thrifty of them to get off the bark for tanning, but it made rather ex-
pensive cord wood of it. But later the mystery was solved in the immense
cellulose works in south Germany, principally around Dresden and Pirna
where millions of feet of these same short cord-wood piles were in evidence,
representing a steady market for all the three, four and five-inch trees; with
even a lot of six-inch, showing over-demand. These had all been brought up
the Elbe by canal boats, from the kiefer forests neighboring the course of
the river until it empties into the sea at Hamburg.
Much of the eight-inch goes to Westphalia for mine timbering, though
a lot of it is sawn up for door and sash trim, which is almost exclusively,
of this wood. Around Duisburg, in the heart of the coal and iron districts
along the Rhine and the Ruhr, you will see great yards of short eight-inch
lengths of kiefer for mine tunnels, and much of it is sawn into short 2x8 slabs
for roofing and sheathing the mine shafts. The ten, twelve, and fourteen-
inch kiefer is sawn into board lumber, beams, and timbers. The bark is all
used for some purpose I could not discover in the limited time available,
possibly for tan. All the rough boards are shipped just as sawn without
attempting to square the edges. As nothing in Europe is wasted they
probably prefer to saw the tare and sell it on the spot for kindling in prefer-
ence to leaving it in the forest as waste.
In noting the sylvicultural handling I was surprised at two things ;—
the shortness of the revolution, and the close spacing of the initial planting.
I never saw a forest of kiefer set out over thirty inches to one metre apart,
and they are left on this spacing until about fifteen years old. They clear
themselves nicely at this spacing, and the first thinning gives you a great
quantity of straight three-inch poles about 20-ft. high. It takes about two-
thirds of the stand, leaving the balance on five foot centers, which are again
thinned to twelve foot centers fifteen years later. The entire revolution is
not over sixty years, by which time the entire stand is of dominant twelve-
inch and second-stage ten-inch trees, with here and there a more successful
16 AMERICAN FORESTRY
ene of fourteen inches. The taper is very slight, the twelve-inch diameter
continuing up to about 25 ft. or well up onto the reddish part of the trunk,
after which it suddenly tumbles in and branches to the crown limbs. Total
height about forty feet, of which all but about twelve feet of crown is saw
lumber. The branches of the crown, down to about an inch, are sold for
firewood, and, if no faggot-gatherers are at hand, the rest is piled in rectangular
piles, some six by ten feet by seventy feet high. I did not see any being burnt.
They could easily shovel in sand layers in the pile and allow the whole to
reduce itself to compost for planting operations. I did not have the oppor-
tunity to examine the interior of a pile, and, as it was not the planting season,
nothing was being done with them.
METHOD OF PLANTING KIEFER
One of the objects of my tour was to see whether the method of planting
of Baron Manteuffel, extensively used in Saxony during his administration.
as chief forester, had extended itself to Prussia and Hesse, or was being still
used in Saxony. It consists essentially in surrounding the roots of each small
plant with a little hill of compost, and covering this with a cone of sod, made
of two crescents of turf lapping to a cone with the grass side in. It is a
splendid, if costly method, as it surrounds the roots of the young plant with
the nutritious vapors from the compost and the sod, engendered by the heat
of the sun upon the outside of the cone. It was highly successful with spruce:
during the Baron’s time, as it not only raised the young tree above the
surrounding vegetation, but also kept it free from sogginess and cold.
However, I saw no kiefer planted that way. The invariable method was:
to plant in holes, with the root collet level with the prevailing soil, and com-
post around the roots. I saw no trees planted under three years old, and
this seems a good thing when we reflect how subject to fungus diseases, such
as roussi, pine is during its early years in the nursery. It is well to have it
where if can be watched and guarded during the earliest years, and doubt-
less the expense of another year in the nursery more than offsets the extra
cost of the Manteuffel method of planting for young plants which would other-
wise be advisable in the field.
The majority of the cuttings were in long strips, a mile or so long by,
say, four hundred feet wide; though one occasionally met square or irregular:
sections. As a rule the stumps were pulled and sold before replanting,
though now and then you saw a section with the young trees missing, the-
stumps of the former stand. Virtually the only pine forest I saw with
natural reproduction was a big tract of eight or nine hundred acres near
Mannheim, which forest appeared to be all natural reproduction. Its newly
regenerated sections contained a thick furr of young pines, with seed trees
on about 200 feet centers still standing, but the trees on the 20 and 30-year:
stands were not nearly so straight as with the planted sections of the majority
of the German kiefer forests.
The physical characteristics of kiefer are much the same as the sylvester
pine of France. It will reach 70 to 80 feet high and 18 to 20 inches diameter
if allowed an 80-year revolution; all the upper third of it has a sort of reddish--
SOME NOTES ON GERMAN FORESTRY 17
orange ragged bark, giving it its American name of Red Pine; it has two
needles only to the sheaf,—I never saw a sheath of three needles, though I
believe this is so of sylvester pine elsewhere. The lower bark is rugged,
gray, with reddish edges. If shaved down to allow a ring of tar, such as is
seen in whole forests of it where an insect epidemic is feared, the inner bark
is the same reddish-orange as the bark further up. Like all sandy-soil species,
it has an immense spread of shallow roots. The seeding cut, if natural
reproduction, is very clear, seeders on 150 feet to 200-feet centers.
FIRE PROTECTION
All through East Prussia the railroad fire protection appears to be
uniform and required by law wherever a forest abuts on a railroad. The
right of way extends some 25 feet beyond the outer rails. Along its edge
extends a shallow four-foot road of clean sand, sunken six inches below the
soil level, and a similar road runs parallel to it thirty feet further back.
These two trenches are joined by three-foot cross paths every ninety feet,
forming rectangles along the railroad which are either kept entirely bare,
only grass being allowed to grow, or else planted with white birch or locust,
forming a tall border of hardwoods in which a falling cinder can do no harm.
The forest abuts on the second path or road, while a third similar one with
cross trenches can be discerned running along parallel inside the forest as
a second line of defense, though this third trench is not universal. The
arrangement is however obligatory, the only variation being in what kind of
tree is planted in the protective rectangles. Occasionally they are used for
vegetables or nursery beds, but the general favorite is locust. I tried to
photograph some of these fire borders from the car window, but the negatives
resulted in a blur, with shutter at 1/100 second.
Crossing over into Saxony, this protective border is replaced by an
absolutely bare strip, 100 feet wide, running along the right of way, usually
with its forest edge having a wagon road fifteen feet wide running along
it and connecting with all the fire and logging lanes. In Hesse and West-
phalia still another fire regulation is in force, there being twenty feet of
clear grass along the right of way, next a 25-foot strip of birch or locust
and finally a 12-foot road forming the edge of the forest. In all these types
of fire borders the law was rigidly enforced of cleaning the younger trees and
young sections of all lower limbs up to six feet from the ground, except in
the case of very young sections, of course.
The fire Janes were spaced from 250 to 400 feet apart, of a width approxi-
mately the height of the trees in the section. In young plantations the ten-
foot fire lane is quite common and thirty feet is usual with mature stands
of kiefer and spruce in Saxony. Along the railroad these lanes are perpen-
dicular to the road or nearly so, depending upon the lines of planting, to
which they are always parallel. On hillsides they run up and down hill,
notably in the big forests of 25-year spruce near Fulda, with 10-feet fire lanes
every 250 feet.
SPRUCE AND FIR
Going from Prussia into Saxony, the character of the soil changes and
18 AMERICAN FORESTRY
with it the forests. The kiefer becomes less frequent as more fertile and
mountainous soils are encountered, and big spruce and fir stands with some
hardwood become frequent. Near Breda, between Berlin and Dresden, I
encountered the first stand of oak growing under sylvester pine, evidently
the same method of reclamation of the heather (Callina Vulgaris) moors
into hardwood stands as in France. A little farther on, two miles from the
town of Elm, is an interesting forest of fir, bordered with larch. This larch
border, both for spruce and fir, I was to encounter very frequently there-
after. There is a considerable market for larch in Germany, and as it is a
hardy, intolerant mountain tree over there, the best way to grow it is as a
wide forty-foot border around a spruce or fir stand. The fresh yearly growths,
yellow-green in September, of the twig-ends of European larch are catkins
of needles five to seven inches long (the catkins, not the needles) which later
diyide up into the characteristic little tassels of ten or twelve needles sessile
on the twig.
At Dresden I again revisited the forests of the Dresdener Haide and the
Neiderwald in the Saxon Switzerland. Much young spruce is now being
grown on kiefer soil in the Haide and seems to be coming along admirably.
In the mountains both spruce and fir, properly thinned on selection forest
methods, were reaching 16 inches diameter on 65-years growth, and were
being logged on 70 and 80 year revolutions,—an encouraging advance over
the usual 100-year revolution, and due entirely to judicious thinning. All
regeneration was by planting, usually on the hole system, as I saw but one
forest on the hillock system of Baron Manteuffel. The larch border is here
a good deal in evidence. The photographs hereto of the forest operations in
the mountains will give one a better idea of spruce and fir culture than any
words of mine. In general, standard forest on slopes up to 45°; steeper than
this, selection forest.
Leaving the Dresden district our route lay through Thuringia and into
Hesse. After Leipsic this entire country becomes mountainous with spruce
predominating,—the spruce which has made the Saxon foresters famous. The
hills and plains were coyered with it, always with the bare 100-foot strip
along the railroad right of way characteristic of the Saxon fire protection
regulations. The spacing at planting was almost as narrow as kiefer,—from
one metre to four feet setting out, and left so up to fifteen years, by which
time the lower reaches of the forest would be black with suppressed branches.
As with young kiefer, all the eight to fifteen-year growth was trimmed up to
six feet from the ground of its dead cleaning branches for at least the first
section back from the railroad. I saw no young spruce set out under three
years old, and the forests held sections of every conceivable age up to the
end of the revolution, which was about 70 years. All the first thinning spruce
finds its way to the wood pulp industries, in which this part of Germany
abounds, being in a measure the chemical center of Germany. The four-inch
stuff of the 20-year thinnings is used in a large measure for scaffolding poles
in building construction, the poles being lashed with rope and taken down
after the mason work, stucco, ete., is finished on the building. This method
of scalfolding is also becoming quite common with our own contractors,
31BY
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SOME NOTES ON GERMAN FORESTRY 21
replacing in a large measure the old expensive style of using hemlock stud-
ding. It is universal in building construction in Germany. A large quantity
of this small spruce goes for the masts and spars of the extensive inland
water-way commerce of the Fatherland, as every old canal boat and lugger
owns a collapsible mast of some kind, besides a full complement of poling
spars. All the larger thinnings go for ship and derrick masts, trim, boards,
beams and the like. The boards are shipped untrimmed, the log being peeled
in the forest and sawn forthwith into planks which are shipped direct to
the cities in canal boats without any edge trimming. One sees in Berlin,
Frankfort, and the big industrial cities along the lower Rhine any quantity
of such boards being unloaded from the canal boats. The planing mill has
use for all their trimmings for kindling, etc., and the city can absorb such
forest waste at a far greater profit than if trimmed before shipment.
THE HARDWOOD DISTRICTS
Approaching Frankfort, the clayey nature of the Rhinish soils begins to
be manifest in hardwood stands, beginning with the big stand of pure oak
with some spruce sections near Hanau. From here on mixed forests become
the rule; not mixtures, but forests in which there will be a number of sec-
tions of oak, then spruce, then fir, then beech, etc. The hardwood regenera-
tion is almost entirely by seeding cut, as in France,—lI have no note of a
single planted beech forest and only one of oak. The stands are uniform
and the young sections thickly furred. There is of course not the necessity
nor the natural inclination towards absolutely straight trees as with the
conifers.
In the lower Rhine districts where marl and clays form the soil, the
hardwood forests are very numerous, almost always with planted spruce
sections included. The higher spots in Westphalia, however, are left in kiefer
almost exclusively, probably from the scarcity of water as the soil is a good
loam capable of growing oak. Between Cologne and Dusseldorf I noted a
hardwood forest with a broad larch border of full-grown trees, showing that
that method of raising larch is at least eighty years in use. I never read
any great mention of it in German forest text books.
Near Duisburg is a characteristic mixed forest which I had the pleasure
of examining on foot. First came a young oak stand of about thirty-five
year trees, all natural regeneration and all somewhat crooked. Next a number
of sections of hornbeam (characteristic of the north of France, not far from
here) ; and then there was considerable high ground devoted to a dozen sec-
tions of kiefer, all planted. The soil was a rich sandy loam and the under-
lying strata of clay in the lower parts doubtless made the selection of oak
and hornbeam logical.
About three kilometers beyond Duisburg is another of these mixed forests.
First is about 200 acres of pure beech, a thirty-year stand; then beech mixed
with larch, the latter doing well in spite of having such a poor neighbor as
beech; then oak and spruce, the spruce being very poor, and finally forty
acres of kiefer on sandy soil. A locust border and the forest logging lanes
protected this forest where the railroad ran through Le:
22 AMERICAN FORESTRY
The further one gets towards Belgium the more clayey and richer the soil.
Near Aix-la-Chapelle, about fifteen miles west of Cologne, is a fine stand
of mature pure beech, then a small stand of spruce, and finally oak, all
doing well on a clayey-sand soil, the spruce being planted. A short distance
further on one passes a big planted spruce forest of 25-year trees abutting
for half a mile on the railroad with ten and twenty-foot fire lanes perpen-
dicular to the track every three-hundred feet. A bare open strip one hundred
feet wide, protected this forest from the locomotive fires. Speaking of fire
protection, I would like to note here that though this was near the end of
one of the most severe drouths Germany has known, no rain having fallen for
over nine weeks, I did not see a single forest fire except one down in the
Bohemian Switzerland, beyond the Saxon border, where a big one was rolling
acres of smoke up over the mountains near Tetschen-Bodenbach. But in all
Germany, though one could see for twenty miles each side of the track, not
a forest fire was in evidence. There was plenty of grass burns in the pro-
tective strips, but the lanes and trenches seemed to have automatically stopped
them from getting into the forests.
IN BELGIUM
Just outside of Aix-la-Chapelle there are large spruce and oak forests,
and shortly beyond you cross the border at Veviers into Belgium and prac-
tical forestry ends as suddenly as if one were transported to America. The
usual wild neglected forest, so familiar along the right of way at home began
to appear. Trees of all sizes and shapes and species rambled along together,
mostly crooked and worthless commercially, and giving no sort of yield
sylviculturally. About fifteen thousand feet to the acre would be about the
value of the cutting, whereas the German forests I had just passed would
run nearer sixty thousand, and ninety thousand is not at all uncommon.
During the whole of seven hundred miles of travel in Germany, never
did I see a single tract of woodland neglected or one that was allowed to
exist without yielding up a revenue up to the full bearing power of the soil.
[ saw hundreds of examples of German forestry, with practically all the
species represented except maritime pine ;—the kiefer of the great sandy plains
of Prussia, the spruce and fir of Saxony, and the hardwoods of the Rhine,
but never a single acre of wasted forest land. And the fact that much of
it was on the railroad, with each its siding for swift and cheap transportation
spoke well for a quick and profitable market, with but little expense inter-
vening between the ripe tree and the lumber mill. It was easy to realize
how Germany, with a total forest area of only thirty-five million acres, gets
an annual yield of four-and-a-half billion board feet, and no less remarkable,
to my mind, is the adaption of house building practice and of the industries
of Germany to the needs of its forestry so that nothing is wasted. It would
seem that, in the course of centuries of tree crops, the foresters and the
architects had gotten together to agree on the best way to use all the wood
that is grown on the soil.
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DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY, UNIVERSITY OF
MAINE
By JOHN M. BRISCOE.
HE Department of Forestry at the University of Maine was established
C) in 1903 and is the oldest undergraduate school of forestry in con-
tinuous existence in the United States. In the State of Maine, where
the lumber and pulp interests are so great, the need of such a department was
early recognized. The object of the department is to promote forestry through-
out the State, and to provide a body of men suitably trained for the in-
telligent handling of forests, and also to serve as a preparatory school for
those who intend to make forestry their profession.
Besides extension work and the general propagation of information on
forestry subjects throughout the State the department strives to reach two
classes of students:
1. Agricultural students who must have some knowledge of forestry
for the conservative handling of their wood lots; and
2. Students who intend to make forestry their profession.
For the first a 36-hour course of lectures on genera) forestry is given
in the spring semester each year. This course is required of agricultural
students and it may be supplemented by electing any other forestry course
for which the student has had sufficient preparation.
For the second a complete curriculum for the entire four years has been
arranged and is required of all students majoring in forestry.
THE EQUIPMENT
The forest is the largest and best laboratory. The main office, class rooms,
drawing rooms, and other laboratories are located in Winslow Hall, the
largest and most modern building on the campus. The ground plan of this
building measures 63 feet by 100 feet, and it contains over 40 rooms. It is
built of brick, concrete and slate, of Tudor style of architecture, and has
four floors including a well lighted basement in which the department has
a large wood storage room and lockers. On the second floor are the offices
and lecture rooms of the department. The third floor is occupied by a large
lecture room and two drawing rooms separated from the larger room by
folding doors, so that the three rooms can be thrown into a large auditorium
at any time.
The interior finish and furniture are in a dark stain, and the building is
equipped with electric light, elevator, hot and cold water, gas, and high pres-
sure steam for laboratory work. Besides the laboratories and lecture rooms,
in the basement there is a dark room for photographic work as well as
lavatories and shower baths.
25
26 AMERICAN FORESTRY
The department has a large electrical stereopticon and reflectroscope
which is frequently used to illustrate the lectures, and there is a large supply
of lantern slides and photographs illustrating every phase of forestry work.
The equipment of forestry instruments of both American and German make
is very complete. Most of this equipment is entirely new, and all is of the
best quality obtainable. It is provided and added to yearly by the State as
the necessity arises.
A forest nursery has been started in connected with the department, and
young forest trees are grown for the purpose of experimental planting.
THE CURRICULUM
A complete undergraduate curriculum is arranged which will serve as
the basis not only of practical work in forestry, but also of a liberal education.
During the first two years much attention is given to biology and civil en-
gineering, both of which are very important fundamentals upon which are
built the more technical forestry courses. A knowledge of the principles of
forestry in its different branches is given to the student, and considerable
practical work is done in the forest. The woodlands belonging to the uni-
versity, together with adjacent lands covered by young forest, furnish a field
for the study of many forest problems. Field trips are made and demonstra-
tion thinnings and plantations made at various places throughout the State.
Particular attention is given to the collection and presentation of statistical
data in report form.
Detailed descriptions of the courses as well as of scholarships and prizes
offered by the university may be found in a special catalog of the Forestry
Department which will be mailed to any one upon request.
The instruction in this department consists of lectures, recitations, labora-
tory and field work, the latter consuming a considerable portion of the sched-
uled time during the Junior and Senior years. The instruction in technical
forestry subjects is given by the professor in charge of the department, and
a field assistant. This is supplemented by work given in other departments
under fifteen different professors and their assistants. Five recitations hours
a week of successful work for one semester entitle a student to one credit.
The minimum is seventeen hours a week (exclusive of physical training and
military science), leading to three and two-fifths credits. A total of thirty
eredits or 150 semester hours is required for graduation. At graduation
the student receives the degree of Bachelor of Science in Forestry.
“tudents who complete the curriculum are admitted to advanced stand-
ing in the graduate schools of forestry and are thus able to shorten the time
required to obtain a Master’s degree. Graduates are, however, prepared to
go directly into practical work, and up to the present time there has been
no difficulty in placing them in permanent positions.
‘There are good openings for students to obtain work in the maine woods
during the summer vacations, and many take advantage of the opportunity to
get practical experience, and at the same time aid in defraying the expense of
their university course.
There are now 44 students majoring in forestry, beside some 50 others
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY, UNIVERSITY OF MAINE 27
taking one or more courses in the Forestry Department. Graduates of the
school are in the employ of the United States Forest Service, and in charge of
important State and private forestry work. Some of these are alreay em-
ploying students during the summer vacation and assisting them in securing
permanent positions after graduation.
OBJECT OF THE CURRICULUM
The object is to give the student the best possible preparation for his
future work, either in actual forest management or in the further pursuit of
the subject at one of the graduate schools of forestry.
The forestry curriculum is not an easy one, and is suitable only for
students who have good health and a strong constitution and are moreover
able and willing to stand considerable physical as well as mental exertion.
It is meant to prepare men for the requirements of the actual work that
they will have to do after they have completed their college education, and
it is by no means a sanitarium for those who simply desire to lead an out
door life.
Owing to the fact that the timber was stripped from the mountains in its
vicinity in so reckless a manner that there is now nothing but a spare second
growth, a large powder plant of the Dupont Company at Wapwallopen, Penn-
sylvania, will be abandoned January Ist, the stripping the timber from the
mountains having decreased the water supply so greatly that it is of no further
practical service.
Mr. Albert Lewis, one of the lwnber kings of the northeastern section of
Pennsylwania, has spent over $100,000 in building beautiful roads through his
large lumber tracts in the vicinity of Bear Creek, Pennsylvania.
Title to about 5,000,000 feet of hemlock and hardwood in the vicinity
of Warren, Pennsylvania, has bee: secured by the Poverty Lumber Company,
and in addition is included enough timber to make about 5,000 ties. The tim-
ber tract embraces three hundred acres and is located at Brown Run.
Mr. 8. T. Starrett, of California, has been appointed to fill the new office
of Marketing Superintendent for the Hawaiian Territory. Mr. Starrett has
made a preliminary trip over a considerable portion of the territory and in his
report has made a number of valuable suggestions.
The experiment station at Wagon Wheel Gap, Colorado, established for
the purpose of making an exhaustive study of the effect of forests upon climate
and streamflow, is now upon a firm basis and a series of experiments has been
made during the last eight months.
“It is generally thought that timber is fast disappearing from the hills
and valleys of West Virginia, and in a sense this is true; but there is still
plenty of timber in the state,’ says Charles L. McSuade, of Greenbrier County,
West Virginia. “West Virginia now has laws protecting timber and if the
laws are enforced it will be many years before the lands are shorn of their
valuable forests.”
THE PRAIRIE DOG MUST GO
By ROBERT E. CLARK,
Deputy Supervisor, LEADVILLE NATIONAL Forest.
compelled to wage war on other animals whose existence has run counter
to his interests. Always he has killed off or driven out the beasts that
have interfered with him or his property. The rattlesnake and the wolf are now
unknown in many parts of the country, though the typhoid fly and the familiar
but consuming mouse still abound. From the saber-tooth tiger of primitive
times to the plague-infested rat or the destructive San Jose scale, the fight
has gone on. Had the killing been confined to such as these, the record
would be better, for man has exterminated many kinds of animals which are
not only harmless but useful. Just now he is after a most interesting little
animal, but one that is doing immeasurable harm throughout the cattle and
sheep ranges of the West.
Since prairie dog and white man were first introduced to one another,
each has doubtless considered the other an undesirable citizen. With the
entrance of the pioneers came the loss of horses and cattle through broken
legs as the result of stepping into prairie dog holes. Also man himself often
suffered broken bones as a result of being thrown from a horse which had
the misfortune to step into a dog burrow. Then came the stock-raising in-
dustry, and the sufferings and losses experienced by this industry has made
it evident that an infestation of prairie dogs on any portion of the range is a
decided hindrance to perfect handling of stock.
Not only do the owners suffer direct loss from the necessity of shooting
stock that have broken limbs, but yearly they suffer a considerable loss due
to cattle being light in weight. Cattle fall off in weight either from lack
of feed or from being required to move about considerably to find the feed.
Every prairie dog hole or town on the range causes a considerable area to
‘oy make the earth habitable for himself, man, throughout history, has been
become bare of grass or other forage, and it is but a few years after the dogs
come in before large tracts are worthless to stock. The feeding capacity of
the range is reduced not only by the area included in the dog towns, but also
for a considerable distance surrounding these tracts, for their feeding grounds
must be included in the range that the dogs destroy. Like other rodents,
they have inereased with the advent of man. The rapid increase in their
number has become so pronounced that steps have been taken by the Biological
Survey of the Department of Agriculture, by the Forest Sevice, and by private
individuals to accomplish their extermination. ;
oe
ao
A- found V5 Yj
B-Fonnel-shaped enTrance Je burrow
C-Plain passage 4he"dhra, 15’ long
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PLAN OF THE BURROW OF A
PRAIRIE DOG.
SCATTERING THE POISON FOR PRAIRIE DOGS ON A BADLY DEVASTATED AREA,
WHERE ALL THE FORAGE HAS BEEN DESTROYED.
SON TO POISON GRAIN FOR EXTERMINATION OF PRAIRIE DOGS.
ik POISONED GI
rAIN
THE PRAIRIE DOG MUST GO 31
These animals are gregarious and, through a dislike of solitude or a
esire for protection, live in “prairie dog towns.” These towns look not
nlike a group of miniature volcanoes, of which the mouth of each burrow
losely resembles the crater. The mound of closely packed earth serves two
urposes; it prevents water from running into the burrow, and at the same
ime furnishes a lookout station for the occupant. As one approaches a town
e will observe, while still some distance away, a number of little upright
gures, erect and motionless as statues, on top of several of these little
1ounds. Upon close approach these figures emit a series of sharp cries and,
ith a flip of their tails, disappear like a flash. These are the sentinel dogs
tationed on the outskirts of the town. As soon as the warning is given,
1ere follows a rapid scurrying of the other inhabitants and a like disap-
earance into the ground. One marvels at the quickness of the whole per-
yrmance. When a number of these sentinel dogs are in such a position as
» be silhouetted against the sky, their upright position, warning cry, and
apid disappearance remind one of the stationary animal target, the shot,
nd the drop of the target familiar in shooting galleries.
%
THE HABITS OF THE DOGS
The prairie dog is herbivorous and roams about at a short distance from
1e burrow, feeding on grass blades and stems. Their drinking water is
10ught by some people to be obtained from their burrows, or, in other words,
1e theory has been repeatedly advanced that these little fellows burrow down
» water. This is incredible; Dr. C. Hart Merriam points out that in some
gions where these animals live the nearest veins of water are 1,000 feet
elow the surface. Presumably they can live without drinking, or at least
ith no more water than is afforded by the vegetation itself, or by the dews
pon it.
Little is commonly known about the underground plans of their burrows,
nce it is almost impossible to unearth them without damage. This has been
one, however, notably by Mr. W. H. Osgood of the Biological Survey, and
1e diagrammatic illustration gives a good idea of the construction. The
ound at the entrance is conical in shape, and almost invariably compact
1 its formation. As the construction of. a new burrow advances, the fresh
arth which is excavated is gradually shaped and packed into this hard conical
ass by the builders, using their noses as tamping bars and shovels. Packed
s it is, it resists erosion by rain and wind. The burrows may be as much
s 15 feet deep, though the average depth is nearer 8 or 10 feet.
The indications are that prairie dogs have but one litter in a season,
ith from three to eight young born at a time. This accounts for the spread-
ig out of their towns, as new families set up for themselves.
They are extremely interesting little animals and very “cute,” even to
lose who are familiar with the harm they do. It is true, too, that their
ttle “chirp-chirp” lessens the monotony of the prairie to the lone traveler,
ut these redeeming points are not sufficient to make a balance in their favor,
r to prevent urgent efforts for their extermination.
29 AMERICAN FORESTRY
METHODS OF EXTERMINATION
The United States Biological Survey has for several years past tried
various methods of exterminating the prairie dog. It has decided that the
most effective and economical methods to employ are poisoning with barley
roots soaked in strychnine, and suffocating through the introduction of bi-
sulphide of carbon into the burrows. About one-half teaspoonful of the
poisoned bait scattered on the hard ground at the mouth of a burrow is
sufficient. When the bisulphide of carbon is used it is placed upon some
absorptive material and thrust as far into the burrow as possible and then
the entrance of the burrow is closed. If the bulk of the animals are de-
stroyed by poisoning with strychnine in spring or winter when food is scarce,
and the remaining animls subsequently treated with bisulphide of carbon,
whole towns can be destroped at a cost of not more than 16 or 17 cents per
acre, probably less. Other baits that may be used are green alfalfa, green
stems of young wheat or barley, and green corn stalks.
Besides the extensive efforts of the Biological Survey, the praires dogs
are fought by the Forest Service. Large areas of natural cattle range are
within National Forests, and every effort is being made to put these ranges
in perfect condition; hence efforts are made to get rid of both prairie dogs
and predatory animals. Some persons believe that the decrease in the number
of wolves and coyotes has caused an increase in the number of prairie dogs,
a nice balance of nature haying been destroyed. It is true that the most
inveterate enemies of the prairie dog are the wolf, the coyote, the badger, and
the rattlesnake. This list would make one want to take the side of the prairie
dog if one could choose between him and his enemies. But the prairie dog is
always the eaten, never the eater.
Not much has been done as yet; there is not money enough to pay for
the material and labor required. However, the work of locating the towns
is complete, and this is one of the most important steps in the work. Such
work as the Forest Service has been able to do has been slow but sure. The
poisoned grain method has been used almost invariably.
Following is the formula perfected and recommended by the Biological
Survey:
STARCH-STRYCHNINE FORMULA FOR COATING GRAIN
Barley, clean grain, free from other seeds........................ 20 quarts
Strychnia sulphate (ground or powdered). va aU. dose ee 1 ounce
EEN Du! gia nage Molen ete) eo ae 1 teaspoonful
Gloss starch (ordinary laundry REAECH), coc steh cst cunt oem 14 teaspoonful
W ater BRR mi Sn hts oi nd wiaie Sere wre oS Stns o cieyasee SS yp ea 11% pints
Dissolve the starch in a little cold water and add 114 pints of boiling
Water, making a rather thick solution. While hot, stir in the strychnine and
mix until free from lumps; then add the Saccharine and beat thoroughly. Now
pour the poisoned starch over the barley and stir rapidly until the poison is
evenly distributed; then allow the rain t i i i
nitely without deterioration. OO ee ee
For ordinary quantities a galvanized-iron washtub is an excellent re-
THE PRAIRIE DOG MUST GO Bi)
ceptacle in which to mix the grain with the poisoned starch; but when large
quantities are needed the mixing may be done in a water trough with a shovel
and hoe.
DISTRIBUTING THE POISONED GRAIN
In distributing the grain each man has a sack slung over his shoulder
and walks across country, covering a strip about 75 feet wide, and putting
about 14 teaspoonful of the grain at each hole. The bait is placed about
18 inches from the mouth of the burrow, as experience has shown that if the
grain be placed in or down the hole it is either trampled underfoot or thrown
out. At times it can be distributed from the back of a horse, but where the
holes are close together this method has proved to be unsatisfactory. The
distribution takes place just as early in the spring as weather conditions
will permit. The dogs are then hungry and will eat almost anything. As
soon as the green grass comes, they are not so likely to eat the bait. Clear
weather is desirable, as repeated rains or snows will tend to leach out the
poison. One bushel of grain makes approximately 4,000 baits, and one man
can easily distribute 6,000 baits, or 114 bushels, a day.
After the poisoning, one does not see all the dead dogs about, and at
first the work is likely to be thought a comparative failure. This is not the
case, however, for in some instances the dogs back into their burrows and
die underground. Examination of the treated areas also proves that few, if
any, birds are killed by the poison. Sometimes coyotes and foxes: have de-
voured the carcasses. This results in an indirect poisoning, but that is no
great loss. Shooting prairie dogs has never resulted in any marked success,
as one can not approach within reasonable shooting distance, and since they
usually fall back into their holes when shot one can not be sure of the success
of his aim. Drowning out has been tried, but it is too slow a process.
Though the work is slow, continued operations will tell in time. The
Forest Service has treated only areas within the National Forests. Now,
however, the Biological Survey is to take up the work both within and with-
out the Forests. Cooperation with stockraisers is the next step, and the
people who use the range see the importance of the work and are aiding it
as much as possible.
Manufacturers, foresters, scientists and timber holders will be interested
in the announcement that the St. Louis Lumberman has just issued in pamphlet
form two important papers on the Utilization of Wood Waste by Walter B.
Harper, M.S., and Prof. G. B. Frankforter, of the School of Chemistry of the
University of Minnesota.
A description of the chestnut blight with blanks to be filled in giving in-
formaton as to the presence or absence of the disease has been sent to all parts
of the state by the New York State Conservation Department. In this way @
very satisfactory and helpful location map has been prepared.
The School of Forestry of Washington has added a course in logging engi-
neering this year. It is practically planned to meet the needs of men preparing
for careers as lumbermcn.
IRRIGATION IN TURKESTAN
By A. P. DAVIS,
Curer ENGINEER, UNITED Srates RECLAMATION SERVICE.
ESTERN Turkestan is a portion of the Russian Empire and comprises
(1) the southwestern part of Asiatic Russia. Within its limits are the
provinces of Sir Daria, Ferghana, Samarkand and Trans Caspia. These
are Russian provinces entirely under the jurisdiction of the Empire. They
have a total area of 1,680,000 square miles, and a population of about 9,000,000.
The same general area also includes the provinces of Khiva and Bokhara,
which are nominally independent principalities, but are under the protection
of Russia.
Nearly all of the drainage of Turkestan is into the Aral Sea, a body of
water about 200 miles long and 150 miles wide. It is only about 60 feet above
sea level. The eastern and southern portions of Turkestan are traversed by
lofty mountain ranges, upon which the precipitation is very great, and is
mostly in the form of snow. These mountains are drained by numerous
streams, most of which lose their waters in the great sandy deserts of
Central Turkestan, but the largest two of which reach the Aral Sea.
Most of the streams are used more or less for irrigation, the total irrigated
area in Turkestan being nearly 6,000,000 acres, of which over one-third or
2,000,000 acres is in Ferghana Province, and 3,000,000 are irrigated in Samar-
kand and Sir Daria Provinces, and the rest scattered through the other
provinces.
Russian Turkestan is a region of very great historic interest. It
abounds in ruins of buildings, forts and irrigation systems, some of them
prehistoric. The celebrated expediti J
Turkestan as far as Khoghent, ie at pee a ae pee
: S y his men may
still be seen.
Kills, whose debeoniants reigned bver Taken ee
of them, Tamerlane, made oe ae na eee ia xa
magnificent Saleen daa ae fee pe pan i Senarend ae aan
ea accents vine Bet ea S antial character and great archi
es : é mosaic. The usual native architecture
is of adobe, like that of New Mexico.
Turkestan was conquer :
efforts to colonize it te eae . ys ie pk he
mixture of Europeans, Mongols Deiesien a i population is a complicatec
AE a I mea si » Tur omen and various other peoples
Suits are their chief occupations, and their stat
b
of civilization is similar to that of Mexico and Central America
Plowing
34
Photo by A. P. Davis.
BRUSH PLANTED NEAR FAROB, TURKESTAN, TO PREVENT SAND DUNES FROM
DRIFTING ONTO RAILROAD.
Photo by A. P. Davis.
PACKING CAMELS AT BYRAMALIT.
Photo by A. P. Davis.
VILLAGE OF GOLODNIA STEPPE, TURKESTAN.
; Photo by A. P Davi
PI . m) > "TD we e ft . avis.
ANTS FOR J RANSPLANTING TO SAND DUNES TO KEEP
NURSERY OF DESERT
riiiEM FROM DRIFTING OVER RAILROAD
IRRIGATION IN TURKESTAN 37
is done with a forked stick shod with iron, drawn by oxen or horses. Camels
are extensively used as beasts of burden, and the donkey is also much in
evidence.
The climate is of the most pronounced continental type, very cold in
winter and hot in summer. The precipitation in the valley regions is from
5 to 10 inches per annum, but in the lofty mountains is very great, and is
mostly in the form of snow.
The largest river in Turkestan is the Amou Daria or Oxus, which rises in
the high mountains of the Hindu-Kush and Kuen Lun. It is nearly 2,000
miles in length, 800 miles of which are the valley portions of the main stream
from the junction of the Panj and Vach, its principal tributaries, to the,
Aral Sea. Innumerable small diversions for irrigation are made from this
stream and its tributaries in the rude way characteristic of primitive peoples.
There is still a very large unappropriated flow of water, but the small declivity
of the river and the undesirable character of the land outside of its immediate
valley have so far not attracted the investment of capital.
The valley of the Amou Daria for a width of over 60 miles is occupied
mainly by sand dunes almost bare of vegetation and constantly shifting under
the action of the wind which prevails from April to September, inclusive.
In the winter months it blows more from other directions. It is said that
twelve years ago trains passing through this region averaged less than two
miles per hour on account of sand obstruction, and had to carry a crew of
laborers to shovel sand off the track. During the last twelve years efforts
have been made to cover a zone along the track with vegetation to break the
force of the wind and hold the sand in place. An Experiment Station was
established at Farob and in 1898 the propagation of native plants was begun.
Seeds of the native desert shrubbery were planted in a nursery, where the
sand was covered with brush and staked down to keep it from blowing away.
The young shrubs were transplanted from the nursery to a zone one thousand
feet wide on the west side of the railroad track and five hundred feet oni
the east side. About 15 to 20 per cent of the plants grew and spread by
natural seeding. The vegetated area is now more than one thousand feet
wide on each side of the track for a part of the distance, and great benefit,
has resulted. The work is still in progress.
The plant most successful for first use is Alhalla Kamolorum, which
grows most easily and abundantly. After a good stand of this is obtained
Salsola is introduced, which grows first as a parasite on others and finally
crowds them out, growing larger and being thus more effective.
The most important and best constructed irrigation system in Turkestan
is on the Estate of the Czar, on the Murgab River, with headquarters at the
historic town of Byram Ali.
The first recorded irrigation construction in the Murgab Valley was under
the authority of the Sultan Sanjar in the Twelfth Century, who built a dam
about 60 miles above Byram Ali and irrigated over 50,000 acres. The location
was at the very head of the Valley, where the sand dunes begin to encroach
upon the river.
98 AMERICAN FORESTRY
This ancient canal system was destroyed by Ghengis Kahn and the valley
was consequently depopulated. It was rebuilt by a grandson of Tamerlane
i » Fi h Century.
a na Se ania ae rebuilt was destroyed by the Emir of Bokhara,
and the valley was again depopulated and reverted to desert.
After the conquest of Turkestan by the Russian Government, the valley
was added to the Emperor’s Estate and in the years 1887, 1888 and 1889, the
dam at Sultan Bend was rebuilt for the Emperor by the eReiecr: Kosel-
Poklevsky, a Polish revolutionist, who had been banished to Siberia, served
his term and came to Byram Ali. He made brick and hydraulic lime on the
ground, of which he built the dam, upon a foundation of loess, which was
recognized as unsuitable for a high dam.
To guard against accident, he built three dams so situated as each to
stand one-third of the head. The lower two had no gates; the upper one had
gates. All these dams were built in the dry, at one side of the river.
After their completion, a dam was built in the river channel of fascenes,
earth and rock, and the water accumulated behind during the low water
season. As it was closed, the bank was cut above the three dams to allow it
to pass through the gates therein provided, but instead of doing so, it cut a
new channel leaving the dams high and dry.
In 1895, an engineer named Andreyeff was employed by the Estate to
build a dam at Hindu-Kush where a power plant is located, which uses for
power the water that runs down the river to Merv, to satisfy prior rights.
The power is transmitted to Byram Ali, and used for lighting and running
the cotton machinery. The capacity of this reservoir is 10,000 acre feet. There
are three valley reservoirs with a combined capacity of 23,000 acre feet.
The canal system from the Hindu-Kush Reservoir was built by Von-
Valueff. The main canal was 17 miles in length and is called the Tzar
Canal. It has a capacity of 500 cubic feet per second and irrigates 5,000
acres of cotton and 7,000 acres of wheat and barley.
In April and May, 1903, came great floods which filled the Hindu-Kush
Reservoir with sediment.
: aes You Valueff built the Sultan Bend and Yolatan Reservoir. These
= hate pate oe Reservoir holds 55,000 acre feet and backs water
the original pal tae ‘ eae 2 sel Hs es velleys "a me ptt a
al di xy the Sultan Sanjar in the Twelfth Century.
Most of the structures are built of brick and are very heavy and sub-
stantial.
Sultan Bend Reservoir b
c k y °
ia acks water 40 versts and has a capacity of 55,000
The total storage capacity on the E
mperor’s E i
acre feet, but this will rapidly peror’s Estate is about 140,000
decrease with accretion of sediment.
loe ama Sultan Yab leads from Sultan Bend Reservoir and is on the same
ocation as the oldest known canal. It has a capacity of 800 zl
second. ry cubic feet per
The total diversion capacity of the s
st i ;
second, and serves about 60,000 acres vm er tay! SSNS rer
of land.
A PATRIARCH . 39
Cotton, wheat and barley, alfalfa and fruit, are the chief products in
the order named.
The next largest stream in Turkestan is the Sir Daria which is, in
general, about half the size of the Amou Daria and has a minimum flow of
more than 15,000 cubic feet per second. The Sir Daria and the Amou Daria
are the only streams in Turkestan which reach the Aral Sea, the rest being
lost in the desert or consumed in irrigation.
A large number of small canals have been diverted from the Sir Daria
in Ferghana, Samarkand and Sir Daria Provinces. These are used for
irrigating temperate zone crops, including grains and forage plants, some
fruit trees, a large amount of cotton. A large canal taking water from this
river was built as a private enterprise by the Russian Emperor, Nicholas
I, which, taking advantage of a series of islands, diverted about 300 cubic
feet of water per second into a canal with a length of about 28 miles on the
river bottom, and an equal distance over the desert on the bench to the west
of the river, all in the province of Samarkand. This system, however, was
built on too flat a grade. Its diversion point is unfavorable and unreliable,
and the entire canal is located on low ground in such way that it is difficult
to carry the water to the fields to be irrigated. The ill success of this
system has led to an enterprise on the part of the Russian Government to
supersede the existing canal system by means of another heading further
up the river and built on a heavier grade, which will command the same
lands and a little more. This canal is now under construction and the main
canals of the old system will be in the final plans used for drainage.
It appears to be feasible to divert the Sir Daria into a very large canal
near the town of Khojend on the left bank and carry the same in a course
practically westward to irrigate the vast plain known as the Golodnaya
Steppe, where nearly a million acres of very fine land can be found, which is
smooth, has an excellent soil, and slope favorable for irrigation. It is
probable that the water supply is not sufficient to irrigate this entire tract,
but this must depend upon complete adjudication of prior claims to the waters
of the Sir Daria.
A PATRIARCH
By THOMAS NELSON PAGE.
R. HUNTER McGUIRE once related to the writer that having performed
1) an operation on the eyes of a boy, who had been born blind, and given
him sight, he asked the lad what was the most beautiful thing in the
world, and he answered instantly, “A tree.”
This verdict will be endorsed by all except those who have not received
their sight. And in their memory will generally stand forth prominent some
one tree which excels all others of its kind. It may be some hoary cypress
like those of Santa Cruz, bearing on its scarred trunk the marks of centuries;
it may be a New England elm, lifting its head to the sunlight in perfect
symmetry; it may be a live oak spreading afar its branches to the ground
as though to seek with its leaves the moisture about its far-sent roots. Or
it may be some mighty oak, towering above its fellows in stupendous majesty.
au AMERTOAN BORTAPTEY
Hweh wa te E know, A white oak of vant proportion and Liapoptige
wafeaty, On an okt Vigeiita plantation fy Hanover County HH omtande out
iy & Meld, a patelaveh of The fopost, avprounidod by He progeny the offapetinge
of (he later year Gtitled hy them Tike an anelent ehtefaln miprounded
ty Wie Dove grnaint, FO etinitay one of Che Tae wollen of the primeval fovoata of
Panton Vigetinta, whore glony awed Che (it Anglo Saxon sectlore when (hey
eae fo Cite eligi Tend,
he onletnal aueway of Chie Tand: for Walia Nolwon bamed on the King's
Warrrante fe fi (he welfare pomewion, Carry tig ae niany dene or tg a land?
iy the “forks of Panuikey 2? Lvl between (he Lite River and the News
fownd River and (6 hae alwaye alice been tn the portomaton of the family,
Prom Witham Nelson (he land wlth Gite Ghee, already noted, came down to
Proms Neher a algner of Che Declaration of Thdependenoe, Revolutlonary
War Governor of Vingivia, and GQommander of Vingintata forces, Tere he
died at Che age of fortvaitine, and Chia oak once ahaded the frat atablewand
of the plantation, No Craee of the atable romaine; eave Chit majeatte moni
went whieh haw auevived weveral ware and many generationa, One of lta
erwiitanghters, How Aibety veane old, remember fo have heant the oldeat
won of General Neheon, fo whom thik estate descended, aay that he would
wever eve The free down Deownmte hie father admitoed ftaa, Mia the thee war
ty (he peline several generations ago, and Totapatamot ehildpen miuat have
plavet beneath (he alettering arms, Today at a foot from the ground tt te
wot how Chan elt feet fy diameter, and eannot be leas (han five feet at any
helwht below the Deanehes Ut wet shade at least a aint of an aere and
hotewth (te Doves Che eattle Mind Chely favorite refuge alike from the aummer
heat or the winter Daate,
Th Wy Youth The great free xtood alone fy ite majesty in an open fleld,
& Wostel of The genus from whose endurance came the term that atnee the
Dulin of Rome has stood for robust strength, ‘The deld when laat oulth
vatest wee tefl, Tike so veh of our Virginia land, tn corm-beda and along
Treoweh Che SMe wrew up fr piers Dut above thik parvenne growth towered
over The “Rig O&k” and when ten years ago the writer cleared the fleld agatn,
he Nowe Phat the ott tree Nad surrounded tiself with a numerous propeny,
TT stoest Ty The maiist of & dense thicket of young whiteoaks ranged in Hner
Some Detweon Che ows where the acorns had polled and aprouted, thore
Wearwat The Doll Dole apindling and weak, white those on the outer edge of
the olrele are vigorous and robust,
OM The sowth wide alone The oaks are supplanted largely by eedara, alow
WE Where Tho Dire sought the comparative shelter of the south alde of the
Tree vel dropped (he seed, Glanciag down the rows Hite vistas lead to the
great trek Dat viewed from the aida the RYove is Tpenetrable,
T Dave Deon advised dy Oriends to (hin out the grove about the old
PAUPIATOR, DUT we be is Twaty and rodust, and has suevived alike the opowd ing
wt Dis earlior gemorations and ihe solitanimess of his later Hite, and as he har
~ Aeon WH Drom man reproduced for Nigell in his old age a hundved children,
T whall Jet hiv atone to enjoy in Ais own Way his glory, and to testify to
PORNNNNTING omOrAtIONE The majestic grandeur of the Virginia oak
His MAIHETY, THE OLD OAK
A CLOSER VIEW OF THE OLD OAK.
FIVE STATES UNITE TO SAVE FORESTS
NE hundred and forty of the leading loggers, lumber manufacturers and
forest conservation experts of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington
and California met at Portland, Oregon, early in December to attend
the forest fire conference of the Western Forestry and Conservation Asso-
ciation. The best methods of forest fire protection, conservation of the forests
and reforestation formed the central thought of the convention.
After two days devoted to hearing many excellent addresses and spirited
and valuable discussions the convention adopted resolutions urging co-opera-
tion by Federal and State Governments and local forestry and conservation
associations for the conservation of forests of the Pacific Coast and Pacific
Northwest, through proper and adequate means of prevention of forest fires,
and urging each forested county to contribute its share of the expense of
fire patrol and fire fighting. Appreciation was also expressed of the Federal
Forest Fire Service.
E. F. C. Van Dissel, of Spokane, G. M. Cornwall, of Portland, and F. G.
Greggs, of Tacoma, were appointed members of a committee to take the mat-
ter of securing the use of troops for preventing and fighting forest fires up
with the secretary of war, and if existing laws do not permit the head of the
war department to comply with the request, then the committee is to under-
take securing proper legislation to provide for this need.
The best means for regulating the destruction of debris and minimizing
the danger from fire loss was discussed at length. J. L. Bridge, of the Wash-
ington Forest Fire Association, favored burning slashings in the fall instead
of the spring, because of the ever-present danger that smouldering fires usually
remain only to be fanned into a dangerous conflagration at the beginning of
the dry season. He urged the necessity of assistance and co-operation between
logging operators and timber owners to reduce fire risks.
W. D. Humiston, of the Potlatch Timber Protection Association, argued
that it was best to burn slashings as the logging progressed whenever that
course was practicable.
F. A. Elliott, State Forester of Oregon, agreed that local conditions de-
termined in a large measure the proper time to burn slashings, although he
deemed it better to do this work in the fall.
Better organization, both individual and associate, was recommended by
A. BE. Adelsperger, of the Coos County Fire Patrol Association, to the log-
gers if the danger of fire from their operations would be reduced. He main-
tained that responsibility for all fires resulting from logging operations should
be fixed in all cases. Too frequently, he said, the foreman of the logging camp
43
44 AMERICAN FORESTRY
in his anxiety to make a new record in the output of his camp became care-
less and neglected the necessary precautions to prevent fires.
A. W. Laird, of the Potlatch Timber Protective Association, charged that
carelessness on the part of the foreman of the logging camp, the indiscriminate
smoking by workmen and inadequate spark arresters were the most serious
menaces to timber. Oil-burning equipment in the woods, he said, was desirable,
but he predicted that the demands of safety and economy eventually would
force the application of electrical power in all big logging enterprises.
In the discussion of this subject, which was general, one speaker proposed
that all cigarette smokers be denied employment in logging camps. Although
the suggestion was admitted to have merit, the association took no formal
action. Another logger proposed that employers supply their operatives in
the woods with patented cigar-lighters, on the theory that many of the forest
fires result from discarded cigarette or cigar stumps or the careless throwing
of an unextinguished match into inflammable debris.
Taking up the subject of railroad fires, F. A. Silcox, of the United States
Forest Service, made the assertion that 40 per cent of the forest fires in the
country could be charged to the railroads. Three means of combatting the
danger of fires from this source were recommended, as follows: Safeguarding
railroad engines by the use of adequate spark arresters and equipping fire-
boxes with a mechanical contrivance for preventing the scattering of cinders,
clearing right of way under supervision of forestry officials and patrolling
the tracks.
Earnest co-operation of the railroad officials in his district, reported
E. O. Hawksett, of the Pend d’Oreille Timber Protective Association, had
been supplied with the result that the number of fires resulting from railroad
engines had been reduced to a minimum.
State Forester Elliott, of Oregon, made the announcement that only 5
per cent of the forest fires reported to his office this year were charged to
the responsibility of the railroads. “The other 95 per cent,” said he, “were
caused by the carelessness of logging camp operators.”
George A. Day, personal representative of Governor Hawley, of Idaho, a
state with 400,000 acres of timber lands, told of the interest the people of his
state had in the subject of forest conservation. The last Idaho Legislature,
explained Mr. Day, appropriated $30,000 for the protection of the forests of
the state, which for the year had been thoroughly and efficiently patrolled at
a cost of only 3 cents an acre.
George S. Long, of Tacoma, president of the Washington Forest Fire
Hteetinn Ot Giseussed public and private co-operation as the only direct and
means ‘ombatting forest fires and conserving the forest wealth
of the West.
a Pi site nuded has every cause for felicitation as a result
ciations and yaiboaas in ae ne . me Gonemient, ate forest ite Tite
from forest fires,” faid M. oe oe oe eounces by providing protection
8; Said Mr. Long.
are ha se nce aac Mountains we have a priceless treasure. In that
J9,000,000,000 feet of timber, amounting to 50 per cent of the
THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS 45
total standing timber in the United States. This will be sufficient to supply
all demands for the next 100 years at the present rate of cutting. Fully 80
per cent of the revenue from this resource remains in the several states for
labor in cost of manufacturing and marketing the product.”
Taking up the subject of reforestation, which Mr. Long declared was
equaled in importance only by the need for applying every preventive measure
against loss from forest fires, the speaker declared that 75 per cent of the area
west of the Rocky Mountains was suited for nothing better than for growing
other forests.
George M. Cornwall, secretary of the association, read a comprehensive
paper emphasizing the need for education of the public to the importance of
the lumber industry as the primary essential towards cultivating their in-
terest and support of legislation essential to the further conservation and
protection of this industry.
THE NATIONAL IRRIGATION CONGRESS
LMOST a thousand delegates attended the National Irrigation Congress
A at Chicago the week of December 5 and spent several days in discussing
irrigation projects, swamp drainage and forest and stream conservation.
Governor Charles S. Deneen, of Illinois, welcomed the delegates and many
prominent men addressed the convention. President Benjamin A. Fowler
advocated amendments to the national irrigation act and urged the reclama-
tion of swamp lands as two of the most important matters to be discussed
by the congress. He laid particular emphasis upon the necessity of draining
the swamp lands. It was stated that Illinois has 2,500,000 acres of drainable
swamp land which could be converted into highly profitable farming property.
R. P. Tello, of the United States Census Bureau, presented statistics
showing that there are 5,636,394 acres available for irrigation on which there
are no settlers.
State Senator Fred Whiteside, of Montana, spoke on Government Irri-
gation in Montana and on Tuesday evening C. J. Blanchard, statistician of
the United States Reclamation Service, lectured on “Making the Wilderness
Blossom.”
Wednesday morning the principal topic was drainage. W. L. Park, first
vice-president of the Illinois Central Railroad, spoke of drainage as a basis
for development; J. C. Longstreet, of Missouri, state aspect of drainage; Dr.
W. A. Evans, former health commissioner of Chicago, stream pollution;
Prof. Gardner Williams, of Michigan, the uses of the Great Lakes. A special
feature was an illustrated lecture by M. O. Leighton, chief of the hydrographic
branch of the United States Geological Survey, his subject being the national
aspect of drainage.
On Wednesday afternoon representatives of Salvador, Canada, Germany,
Peru and British Columbia made addresses, and Arthur P. Davis, chief
engineer of the reclamation service, told of irrigation in Western Asia, illus-
trating his talk with recently taken photographs .
46 AMERICAN FORESTRY
ation in general was discussed Thursday morning by representatives
of the Department of Agriculture. Prof. Samuel Fortier, in charge of irriga-
tion investigations, spoke on the present stage of development and made a
forecast of the future. There were also addresses by Milo B. Williams,
irrigation engineer of the Department of Agriculture; J udge Geo. H. Hutton,
of California, and Col. A. R. Lawton.
Other addresses at the various sessions were by Dr. W. J. McGee, of the
Bureau of Soils; Norman E. Webster, Jr., of New York; Dr. John A. Widtsoe,
president Utah Agricultural College; Hon. Gifford Pinchot, president National
Conservation Association; T. W. Taylor, professor of Civil Engineering at the
University of Texas; Willard E. Holt, of New Mexico; E. J. Watson, Com-
missioner of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry of South Carolina; Hon.
Dwight B. Heard, of Arizona; Horace G. Clark, of Colorado; M. O. Leighton,
of the United States Geological Survey; Dr. W. A. Evans, of Chicago, and
Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, Chief Bureau of Chemistry, Department of Agriculture.
REUNION OF YALE ALUMNI
ALE Forest School graduates to the number of nearly one hundred met
in New Haven December 20 and 21 for a reunion. It is little more
than a decade since the school was founded, and about three hundred
men have been graduated. They have returned to New Haven from all parts
of the country, and since graduation have been occupied in Federal, State
and private forestry, or in educational lines of the profession. The program
of events included the following:
Wednesday, December 20—
9.30 A. M.—Registration and informed reception at Marsh Hall.
11.00 A. M.—Class business meetings.
2.00 P. M.—Program at Marsh Hall.
6.00 P. M.—Class suppers.
8.50 P. M.—General smoker.
Thursday, December 21—
8.30 A. M—Excursion to Maltby Park.
2.00 P. M.—Program at Marsh Hall.
8.00 P. M.—Banquet. :
At the first formal meeting, on the afternoon of December 20, President
Hadley, of Yale, and Director Toumey, of the Forest School, gave brief
addresses of welcome. The program dealt with what the alumni have been
doing since graduation. It consisted of a half dozen ten minutes talks by men
“mesma different lines of forestry. Among those who spoke were State
‘orester Hawes, of Vermont: Profess x i
College; Professor Fisher, ee oye scent of See
> aja Maa partment of Forestry, and
Mr. = S. Woolsey, Jr., of the United States Forest Service.
The smoker in the evening gave men, of different classes, an opportunity
to renew friendships and make new acquaintances. The discussion of various
forestry problems was a feature of this occasion. Dr. Hadley presided at the
banquet and responses were made by several well known foresters.
Irrig
DEVOTED HIS LIFE TO FORESTRY 47
The field excursion to Maltby Lake on December 21 gave the classes a
‘hance to see the progress of forest management on the New Haven Water
Sompany’s property, which has been for ten years the practice ground of
Morest School students in silviculture. The afternoon program dealt with
he relation of the alumni to the school. Director Toumey gave a progress
eport of the school for the decade, which was followed by papers presented
xy W. B. Greeley, of the Forest Service, also a member of the Forest School
1dvisory board, and others. An opporunity was then given for discussion
of the course of instruction needed by men now entering the profession, and
in opportunity was afforded for frank expression of opinion in reference to
the present courses at the school.
At the evening banquet National Forester Graves and Professor Roth,
of the Department of Forestry of the University of Michigan, were to have
yeen honored guests, but owing to illness in the family Professor Roth could
10t be present. Forester Graves, District Forester Ringland, Pinché, Moore,
ind others responded to toasts in answer to the call of Professor Toumey, who
was toastmaster.
DEVOTED HIS LIFE TO FORESTRY
N the death at Washington, Pa., early in December, of William Crosbie
4 fy there passed away a man, whom many of his friends claim, was the
originator of the idea of forest preservation in the United States. Born
in Linlethgowshire, Scotland, eighty years ago, Crosbie came to America on
his wedding trip when he was but 21 years of age. In his native land he had
spent several years studying forestry in England and Scotland, being asso-
ciated with members of the nobility in that work. When he and his bride, a
young English girl, went to Washington County, Pa., sixty years ago, to
yisit, the young Scotchman decided to stay there.
More than forty years ago he took charge of the Washington cemetery,
and under his direction its 800 acres have been converted into one of the
most notable forest preserves in Pennsylvania. In the cemetery are found
500 distinct varieties of trees, there being every tree that can grow in that
climate. Among the most treasured of Crosbie’s forest pets are a cedar
rom Lebanon, a cedar from the Himalayas and a Japanese cedar, all im4
ported at considerable expense and all flourishing in their adopted land.
Half a century ago Crosbie began writing on forest preservation and civic
veautifying. At first his communications were addressed to the local news-
papers with the signature of “Forester,” and the suggestions he offered have
veen carried out in the beautification of the town.
Crosbie, in his zeal for the trees, did not stop here. While still little
nore than a boy he began writing to the government heads at Washington,
irging a forestry commissioner and definite steps to preserve the forests of
che land. In the administration of General Grant his ideas so impressed the
shief executive that he sent a special recommendation to congress. The recom-
nendation met with the approval of the house of representatives, but was
48 AMERICAN FORESTRY
killed by the senate. Crosbie kept up his agitation and work, however, and
lived to see his hopes realized.
DEVELOPMENT OF TIMBER RESOURCES
PTIONS on over 250,000 acres of timber land in western North Carolina
‘@) have been secured by the Asheville Timber Company and there has
been undertaken the greatest development of timber resources ever
known in that section.
The properties secured include over 250,000 acres and contain about one
billion two hundred and fifty million feet of spruce, six hundred million feet
of hemlock and one billion, one hundred million feet of hardwoods. Practically
all the properties are virgin forests and of the very highest grade. Among the
hardwoods are the best stands of poplar and cherry that ever grew in this
section.
A feature of the woods management will be the placing of the operations
substantially under the United States forestry supervision which has opened
headquarters in Asheville and is taking options on large tracts of land. The
government is planning to install a fire protecting system which will minimize
the risk from forest fires.
A notable feature of the development is the complete utilization of all
the saw dust and other mill waste from all the mills, at one central power
plant, converting it into electric power to run all the mills and factories from
which the waste is produced, besides a surplus to operate the big ground
wood pulp mill, which is a large consumer of power. The operation of all
the plants by electric power eliminates the fire risk to the utmost, and it is
contemplated that practically all the buildings will be of concrete.
FIRST PURCHASE UNDER WEEKS LAW
Cy ) first purchase of land under the Weeks law authorizing the creation
of the Appalachian forest reserve was authorized at a meeting of the
national forest reservation committee in the office of Secretary of War
Stimson, chairman of the commission, on December 9. Ten tracts of moun-
tain land, aggregating 18,500 acres in McDowell County, North Carolina, were
decided upon by the committee for purchase. The tracts range from 100 to
10,160 acres in size and are located near Mt. Mitchell in the western part of
the state and are declared to be excellent for practical forest work. The
prices range from three to six dollars an acre, the total cost amounting to
about $100,000. All the tracts are on the watershed of Catawba River, an
important tributary of the Wateree River, which with the Congree forms the
Santee, a stream of much industrial importance, which with its tributaries is
navigable for 250 miles in South Carolina. In taking favorable action upon
these tracts the commission was unanimous in the conclusion that it had
selected one of the most favorable localities of the southern Appalachian region
SOME FORCEFUL RESOLUTIONS 49
r the application of the Weeks law, the purpose of which is the protection
d control of the watersheds of navigable streams.
All of the tracts are contiguous, or nearly so, and will form an area large
ough for administration purposes and for the demonstration purpose of
actical forestry in this portion of the Southern Appalachians. The forest
rvey had made a careful examination and had reported on the character
d value of the land and timber. The geological survey’s report said that
leral control of the lands will prevent excessive soil wastage and erosion
1ich is likely to ensue if such control is not established. The prevention of
cessive erosion, it added, will tend to promote and preserve the navigability
the Catawba River within the watershed of which the district lies.
The commission reaffirmed the announcement made early in the summer
at it will not pay any speculative prices for land and will not purchase any
ad which will not conduce directly to the purposes of the act.
The commission consists of the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the
terior, the Secretary of Agriculture, Senators Gallinger, of New Hampshire,
nith, of Maryland, and Representatives Lee, of Georgia, and Hawley, of
egon.
SOME FORCEFUL RESOLUTIONS
At the annual meeting of the Empire State Forest Products Association
November, a number of forceful resolutions were passed pledging the
uence and support of the Association in various phases of forestry con-
rvation now under way in New York State.
Among them are the following:
ReEsotvepD, That we approve the bill known as the Jones bill, which was
ssed by the Senate and Assembly at the last session of the Legislature, and
ich provides for the exemption from taxation of lands dedicated to re-
-estation purposes, as we believe that such a law will encourage the use of
ich otherwise waste land, for the propagation of forest trees, and the in-
ase of forest area of the State, and this Association further respectfully
yuests the Governor and Legislature next assembling to adopt some such
ovision.
Resotvep, That we endorse the public spirited, unselfish efforts of the
mp Fire Association to investigate, and, under the able and intelligent
‘ection of the Hon. Gifford Pinchot and Hon. Overton W. Price, suggest
provements in the methods employed in lumbering the Adirondack forests;
d we pledge our co-operation in support of any reasonable reforms, and in
ablishing rational scientific forest management, with due consideration to
r business and commercial interests.
ReEsotvep, That we express to the Association for the Protection of the
irondacks our honest desire to confer and co-operate with them for the
rpose of harmonizing the several interests in the Adirondacks, to the end
it this vast estate of the people may be operated and maintained for the
atest good of the greatest number.
— —eer—“M—<;S;7S;73;7;7;7; VK
50 AMERICAN FORESTRY
Wuereas, The experience of practical lumbermen proves conclusively that
the prevention of forest fires will do more to conserve our forest wealth, both
present and prospective, than any other one thing; therefore, be it i
Reso.vep, That the Empire State Forest Products Association is in favor
of strengthening, extending and perfecting the laws relating to the preven-
tion of forest fires and the protection and patrol of our forests.
Wuereas, The forced interpretation of Section 7, Article 7, of the State
Constitution, by various State officers, has resulted in preventing the people
of this State from enjoying their rights in the Adirondack Park,
Resotyep, That the Conservation Commission be requested to pass regu-
lations which will place an intelligent interpretation on said Section 7, Article
7, and permit the use of the dead and down trees for camp fires and other
purposes, and will permit the building of roads and other means of cheap
and ready transportation.
Resotyep, That the Empire State Forest Products Association heartily
approves the farsighted constructive policy of our honored Governor, John
A. Dix, in creating the State Conservation Commission, and in entrusting
to its hands the management and development of the great natural resources
of this State, and we heartily pledge our earnest co-operation in this great
work.
The London, England, Standard says: “Steps must be taken to secure a
larger supply of trained woodmen before any eatensive scheme of afforesta-
tion is attempted. Until 1904 there was no school in the United Kingdom
i re young working men could obtain theoretical and practical instruction in
orestry.
The second annual meeting of the North Carolina Forestry Association
will be held sometime during the latter part of January, 1912, probably at
Raleigh. The forestry movement has advanced with leaps and bounds in most
of the other states and North Carolina cannot afford to hold back any longer
where she has so much at stake.
Although the forest fire season is over, State Forester Cox, of Minnesota,
expects to have much real work for his rangers and patrolmen during the next
five months. The principal work will be to enforce the law regarding the
burning of slash and tops where there are logging operations.
The Detroit Free Press says: “A visitor in Detroit recently made the
rather striking statement that Uncle Sam is beginning to make money out of
his forest reserves, offering as proof the information that the timber cut during
the last year will bring in a revenue of $2,000,299,”
‘i a ia Forester BE. A. Sherman, of Utah, reports that the wool growers
San Pete country all unhesitatingly state that the range this year was in
better condition than it has been at any time since the creation of the Manti
\atonal Forest. There was an abundance of feed for their stock.
People residing in Minnesota and in several of the adjacent states have,
during the past summer
g the past : purchased two th : i
Beltrami County, Minnesota. Se, er
THE ADIRONDACK PROBLEM
A Report Mave sy HON. GIFFORD PINCHOT To tHe Camp-Fire CLUB OF
America, New York City, DecemBer 2, 1911.
ORESTRY in the State of New York is flourishing everywhere except
tr in the woods. This is the essential fact in the present situation. The
Constitution forbids the practice of forestry on State lands, and scarcely
a single tract of privately owned forest, either in the Catskills or the Adi-
rondacks, is today being cut under the rules of practical forestry. On the
other hand, within the last ten years the destruction of forests by fire and
bad logging has been greater than ever before.
The Adirondack forest is one of the most precious possessions of the
people of the State of New York. In conserving water-flow and supplying
timber, as a recreation ground, and as a vast sanitarium, it is indispensable
to the growth and welfare of the State. The purchase of the Adirondack
Park is probably the best investment the citizens of New York ever made.
The Adirondack Preserve consists of all State lands in the twelve Adi-
rondack counties, and includes about 3,300,000 acres. The Adirondack Park
includes only State lands within the so-called “blue line,” 1,500,000 acres in
area, or about half the total area the “blue line” bounds.
The other half is owned by lumber companies, associations, clubs and
individuals. Substantially all of it is useless for any other purpose than to
crow trees. The tree growth upon it, however, renders so many and such
important services that no similar forest area in the United States is of
such high value to so many people.
The object of this report, prepared on behalf of the National Conservation
Association for The Camp-Fire Club of America, is to make it easier for the
people of New York to get the benefit of the Adirondack forests, and to protect
them against waste through mis-use and non-use.
The first duty of the State towards the North Woods is to protect them
from fire. Because of previous neglect not less than a quarter of the whole
area has been burnt. Of late, and especially since the great fire of 1908, good
work by the State fire patrol has much reduced the number of fires. But it
is not enough that there should merely be fewer fires in the Adirondacks.
There should be no fires there at all.
NEED OF FIRE PROTECTION
The principle of controlling a fire in a forest is precisely the same as that
of controlling a fire in a city. The essential thing is to get the necessary fire
51
52 AMERICAN FORESTRY
ters on the spot without the needless loss of a second. To this end moun-
ne out-look oe have been established through the Forest Preserve and
connected by telephone with villages and towns, so that fires may be promptly
discovered and fire fighters concentrated upon them with the least possible
delay. The foundation for an admirable organization has been laid, but at
least ten additional stations are required.
Every forest officer in the Adirondacks should have a list of the most
willing and efficient men for fire fighting in his locality and where they can be
reached. so that in case of emergency he may make the prompiest use of the
law authorizing him to call men out to fight fire. Organizations of citizens
should be formed to supplement the salaried force, and further definite
arrangements should be made in advance for gathering men, equipment and
supplies without loss of time when the need arises.
The present cost of fire protection is six tenths of one cent per acre per
annum for a property whose average value in timber alone is not less than
ten dollars per acre. Stated in another way, there is but one fire patrolman
on forest lands in the Adirondacks to one hundred thousand acres. Lumber-
men in some of the Western States are now spending nearly four cenis an
acre for fire protection on lands of their own. which are no more valuable in
money and far less important to the community than the North Woods. More
than double the present force is badly needed.
The present fire law, which rigidly forbids any burning of brush at certam
seasons, regardless of the weather, and permits it at certain other seasons,
equally regardless of the weather, often increases the danger from fire. Burn-
ing should not be allowed at any time except under permit, and with the
personal presence and supervision of a forest officer.
The law now requires that the tops of coniferous trees shall be lopped
immediately after felling. The snow crushes lopped branches close to the
ground, so that they keep moist, rot more prompily, and lessen the risk from
fire. Some criticism has been made of the value of lopping tops. From
personal observation on land lumbered as much as twenty years ago where
no tops were lopped, and on similar land in the Adirondacks lumbered ten
years ago where lopping was practiced. I can assert with confidence that
lopping does accomplish its purpose in making the forest safer against fire.
Spruce tops honestly lopped rot down im ten years more thoroughly than
Seat tops in twenty, and even at the end of six or seven years present
or no material to feed a fire. Fire on areas well lopped is much easier
to fight than on unlopped lands, reproduction of the forest is not hampered,
and the general effect is entirely good.
TRAINED FOREST FORCE NEEDED
The efficiency of a forest force d.
good men. In the past the State fo
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provement in the force has
epends less on good laws than it does on
rest force has at times been composed largely
suffered in consequence. While a great im
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54 AMERICAN FORESTRY
PROOF OF PRACTICAL FORESTRY
The results of work done on the Webb and Whitney tracts under my
general supervision and under the direction of Mr. Henry S. Graves, now
Chief of the United States Forest Service, have proved beyond contradiction
that forestry is practical from every point of view in soft-wood logging in
the Adirondacks. On both these tracts, whose total area is over 100,000 acres,
each tree to be cut was marked, and as a rule sound spruce trees below ten
inches in diameter were left standing. Dead trees enough were left to provide
for a second crop, the forest cover was conserved by moderate cutting, simple
rules were enforced to prevent waste of timber and injury to young growth
in the logging, and the tops of felled trees were lopped as a safeguard against
fire.
The forest was improved and the work paid. The proportion of spruce
trees in the woods is already increased, and the older cuttings are even now
ready to produce a cut of spruce as valuable as the first crop. The beauty
of the forest is unimpaired, and there is little sign, except the abundant young
spruces, an occasional moss-covered stump, or the trace of an old logging road,
that the forest was ever lumbered at all.
But in face of these notable exceptions, and of a quarter of a century of
explanation and agitation, conservative lumbering in the Adirondacks has
made little or no progress. The usual destructive treatment of private timber
lands today makes it perfectly clear that the general adoption of forestry
in the Adirondacks can be brought about by law, and in no other way. This
is true in spite of the fact that in very few places in the United States is
the financial and physical opportunity for practical forestry so good as it is
here. Yet nowhere has needless destruction gone further.
It is time to stop playing with the situation. Ostensible efforts at private
reforestation, in which tens of acres are replanted for hundreds or thousands
that are destroyed, merely serve to distract attention from the main issue.
What is needed on privately owned timberlands is the proper handling of the
forest, and not inadequate replanting after its destruction. The present
method, if allowed to continue, will inevitably result in the devastation of
substantially all the Adirondack timber lands held for lumbering purposes,
as well as in the burning of large areas of State lands by fires starting in
the slash thus caused. And in the end the State itself will be forced to take
over these denuded lands and replant them at great expense.
More is done to help the lumbermen by the State of New York than any
other State in the Union. The maintenance of the mountain lookout station
and the cost of fire patrol is paid for entirely from the State funds. In
several Western States the lumbermen voluntarily bear these expenses them-
selves. When a logging crew is requisitioned by a New York forest officer
to fight fire on the land of a lumberman, that lumberman is reimbursed for the
the time spent by his own men in protecting his own property. State taxes
on forest land in the Adirondacks are negligible, while other taxes are
generally based on so low a valuation that they do not hinder forestry. Yet
in spite of all this, these mountain forests, in which every citizen of the
THE ADIRONDACK PROBLEM 55
State has a real interest, continue to be destroyed without let or hindrance.
It is time to stop.
I would not be understood as charging that the Adirondack lumbermen
as a body are bad citizens, or that they are purposely injuring the State which
protects them. On the contrary, many of them are anxious to improve the
present unfortunate conditions. For example, the Emporium Lumber Com-
pany, which owns about 82,000 acres of Adirondack forests, has agreed to
carry out a plan for cutting, to be prepared by the writer, on an area of
one square mile, as a first step toward what I hope will be the conservative
logging of the whole tract. As Mr. W. L. Sykes, President of the Company,
well says, the difference between conservative logging and forest destruction
is that in the one case the timber land is an increasing asset, in the other a
diminishing one.
PRACTICAL LEGISLATION REQUIRED
One of the most important recommendations I have to make is that The
Camp-Fire Club shall invite a Committee of the Empire State Forest Products
Association to join with a committee of its own in working out the details
of practical legislation, which shall protect the interests of the lumbermen
at the same time that it’prevents the destruction of the forests. Mr. F. L.
Moore, President of the Association, has already expressed his entire approval
of this plan. The Conservation Commission should be represented at any
such conference by the Superintendent of State Forests. In my judgment, a
perfectly practicable scheme can be worked out under which the added cost to
the lumbermen of practicing forestry as against destroying the forests should
seldom if ever exceed a cost of 25 cents per thousand feet of logs cut.
But not all of the Adirondack lumbering concerns are controlled by men
of good will. <A peculiarly aggravated case of needless and conscienceless
vandalism is supplied by the Brooklyn Cooperage Company, a subsidiary
organization of the Sugar Trust. The logging done by this company is more
destructive than any other with which I am acquainted in the Eastern
States, and the damage by fires for which its carelessness is said to be
responsible, will cost the people of New York large sums of money and long
years of time to repair. When requested by the Conservation Commission to
take simple and necessary precautions against fire, it peremptorily refused
to do so.
The Brooklyn Cooperage Company controls by ownership and lease 123,000
acres in the Adirondacks. Unless this organization is restrained by the
strong hand of the State, every acre of that land will be despsiled of its
forest growth and swept clean by fire.
In my judgment, to destroy in this fashion forests whose destruction
hurts the State is as much a mark of bad citizenship as for a man in
town to set fire to his own house. There is no more moral right in the one
case than in the other; and the time is rapidly approaching when there will
be no more legal right either.
I recommend the passage of a law which will require the lumbermen
56 AMERICAN FORESTRY
inside the Adirondack Preserve to carry out such a degree of practical
forestry on their timber lands as will reduce the damage from fire to the
lowest ‘practicable point, and insure the perpetuation of the forest. In each
case the plan of work should be approved and its execution should be super-
vised by the Conservation Commission through the Superintendent of State
Forests, who is now and always should be a trained forester. The State
should prepare practical cutting plans for lumbermen at their request, and
siderable increase should be made in the number of trained foresters now
otherwise assist with information and advice, and for this purpose a con-
available.
DISPOSAL OF PRIVATE LANDS
To compel private owners to cease cutting altogether on certain mountain
lands which should be kept untouched for the protection of the slopes and
of the water supply, would be an unfair burden upon them. The private
lands of the Adirondacks should therefore be divided into so-called “protection
forests,” on the steep high slopes, which should never be cut at all, and the
commercially valuable timber on the lower slopes and rolling lands, upon
which cuttings should be regulated by the State. As rapidly as possible
the State should acquire the protection forests and look after them.
Section 7 of Article 7 of the New York Constitution is as follows:
The lands of the State, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting
the forest preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest
lands. They shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any
eee ery public or private, nor shall the timber be sold, removed or de-
stroyed.
In practical effect this section does more to limit and restrict the use
of the Adirondack Park by the citizens of New York than all the other causes
combined. Under it citizens of the State are prevented from constructing
cheap wooden camps along the borders of lakes and streams controlled by the
State, leaving the wealthy owners of elaborate so-called “camps” undisturbed
by the proximity of poorer neighbors. The purchase of camp sites on private
lands, even if any were still available, is beyond the reach of persons of
average means. Such camp sites, I am informed, have sold for as much as
$100 per foot of water front.
The State should lease small camp sites on terms which will encourage the
enjoyment of the Park by as many people as possible, keeping open, however,
not less than one-quarter of every lake and stream for the general public. The
use of the State lands by every man, woman, and child who can manage to
get there should be assisted and made easy in every practicable way. The
lessees of camp sites would constitute in effect a large volunteer fire depart-
ment constantly on guard, to whose personal interest it would be to prevent
or put out every fire.
Section 7 likewise prohibits the construction on State land of roads and
trails needed to make the people’s property accessible to the people. It is
well known that roads and trails form an admirable protection against fire.
Because of their absence the Adirondack Park is needlessly exposed to the
risk of conflagration.
THE ADIRONDACK PROBLEM 57
In another way also this section increases the danger of fire on State
lands. Substantially all of the recent State purchases consist of logged or
burned land, containing great quantities of dead and down brush and
timber. The removal of these fire traps is now forbidden by Section 7
and the danger from fire correspondingly increased. In some cases while great
quantities of timber are decaying on the ground, green trees are necessarily
cut at increased expense to supply the indispensable fuel. Already those who
live in villages surrounded by forests owned by the State, must pay excessive
prices for firewood brought in from private lands.
Under this section the development of water power by storage on State
land is forbidden because it cannot be done without killing some trees. Thus
one of the principal resources of the State is kept unused, without any
corresponding benefit to the people.
Section 7 forces the State to hold lands outside of the “blue line” boundary
of the Adirondack Park, which in many cases are far more valuable for
cultivation than as forest. It ought to be possible to exchange those small
isolated areas of State land, now merely a burden and expense, for land
inside the “blue line’ which the State really needs for park purposes.
Some extension of the “blue line” is required, in order that it may enclose
all Adirondack forest lands whose protection is urgently needed for the
general welfare.
When Section 7 of Article 7 was included in the Constitution, there was
good reason for doing so. At that time the recent history of the Adirondack
Park contained a malodorous series of transactions in which at every turn tle
State got the worst of it. Not without cause the people of the State came
to believe that the only way to save the Adirondacks from mis-use was to
forbid them to be used at all.
PUBLIC SENTIMENT AROUSED
The situation today is entirely changed. In my judgment, the people
of New York may now safely trust themselves to administer their own forest
property with honesty, sagacity, and skill. The State of New York now
has a forest department governed by safe standards of public service, and
actually accomplishing results of real public value. The supply of trained
foresters in the United States is fortunately sufficient to enable the State of
New York to build up the necessary force under the direction of the Superin-
tendent of Forests. Public sentiment is now generally aroused and informed
as to the value of the people’s property in the Adirondacks, so that a repetition
of the old mismanagement has become impossible. To continue to lock up
the Adirondack Park against use will do no good and much harm.
It is not as well known as it should be that Adirondack land may be,
lumbered and the product put to use, not only without injuring the forest,
but to the improvement® of its condition and value. The public mind has
been somewhat confused by the unfortunate experiment on the Cornell lands
at Axton. The practice here was directly opposite to that on the Webb and
Whitney tracts above referred to. At Axton the logging destroyed the forest
58 AMERICAN FORESTRY
cover by cutting clean. It was financially unprofitable, so that money to
replant ran short. For the same reason, the slash was left on the ground,
a promptly accepted invitation to forest fires. Finally, the Cornell experi-
ment did not conform to the first principle of true forestry in the Adirondacks
which is to secure natural reproduction from seed trees left standing after
cutting only trees carefully selected and marked.
SOME PERTINENT ADVICE
Good forestry on State lands in the North woods demands cutting so
moderate as not to destroy forest conditions, or seriously disturb the forest
cover. Practical forestry in the Adirondack Park should begin slowly and at
first should cut not more than 1% of the Park each year. The first con-
sideration in all cuttings should be to improve the forest. Clean cutting
should be forbidden by the Constitution. So should cuttings so heavy as to
impair or interrupt the forest condition or require the planting of trees after
logging. All logging in green timber should be directed to encourage young
growth, and all sound spruce trees below fourteen inches or hardwood below
eighteen inches in diameter should be left standing.
sefore the Constitutional question whether practical forestry shall be
permitted in the Adirondack Park is submitted to the people for action, the
Conservation Commission should be called upon to lay before the Legislature
and the people a full description of the methods of practical forestry which
it is proposed to apply, and the results these methods are intended to secure.
In a yirgin forest, as the young trees grow up, the old trees die and fall
to the ground, thus supplying fuel for forest fires. In a properly handled
forest, mature trees are cut down and the slash disposed of, so that an
Adirondack forest carefully and properly logged presents no greater invita-
tion to fire than one not logged at all.
The timber in a virgin forest does not increase in quantity, because the
growth of the young timber is offset by the death and decay of the old. But
in a well handled forest the amount and value of the standing timber steadily
increases. The result of practical forestry in the Adirondack Park will not
be to decrease the future supply of timber, but to husband and increase it. It
is not only to the interest, but it is the duty, of the State to put its forests
in the best possible condition to be useful to the people. That cannot be
done without the wise use of the axe.
The wide use and more efficient protection of the Adirondacks demand
a change in the Constitution. Without attempting to use exact legal language,
| suggest that Section 7 of Article 7 might well be amended to read somewhat
as follows:
“The lands of the State, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the
Adirondack and Catskill Parks as fixed by law, shall be kept as forest lands.
They shall not be sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public
or private, and no timber shall be cut on said lands except in accordance
with the principles of conservative forestry, nor shall the permanent forest
THE ADIRONDACK PROBLEM 59
conditions of any such land be interrupted, endangered, or destroyed by clean
cutting or otherwise.”
Since The Camp-Fire Club does not desire at this time to take up the
question of water power, I have to add merely that the principles upon
which this part of the larger problem of the use of the Adirondacks should
be decided I believe to be these:
First.—State development, ownership, construction, and control of water
power on State lands.
Second.—Fair compensation to the State for the use of power thus
created.
Third.—Regulation of rates charged to the ultimate consumer.
Fourth.—Co6éperation with the National Government for the complete
development and control in the public interest, of all power on navigable and
other streams within the State.
This report is based on the field work and experience of Mr. Overton
W. Price, my associate in the United States Forest Service and the National
Conservation Association, and myself. It ends as it began. Forestry is
flourishing in New York everywhere but in the woods. The time is ripe for a
change.
Game wardens of the northeastern section of Pennsylvania have caused
arrests during the last few weeks since the hunting season opened of a number
of hunters found lighting fires in the woods, thus preventing a number of
destructive forest fires which spread rapidly in the sections where the timber is
mostly second growth.
State Forester Cox figures that the average annual fire loss in the woods
of Minnesota is $5,000,900. This appalling figure he justifies by statistics that
withstand criticism. An annual appropriation of $75,000 is all that the feats.
lature has made to use in work towards preventing this loss.
Parties who have spent part of the summer in the Olympic Mountains
found that lightning is undoubtedly responsible for many forest fires. The
trees were found splintered by the lightning and areas for miles square were
burnt over adjacent to these trees.
Do not overlook the fact that a very desirable Christmas present for ai
friend, costing but three dollars, is a membership in the American Forestry
Association and a subscription to this magazine for a year.
Assistant District Forester T. C. Hoyt, of Utah, has gone to Boise, Idaho,
for the purpose of inspecting a recent claim in controversy on the Southern
fork of the Payette River in the Boise National Forest.
STATE NEWS
New Hampshire
Speaking of the development of the forest
nabey of a Hampshire, Governor Robert
P. Bass, of that State, in an article in the
Christian Science Monitor says:
“There is developing throughout New
Hampshire an appreciation and practical
understanding of the importance of forestry.
It has been estimated by experts of the
United States forest service that about 60
per cent. of the land surface in the State
is better suited to the growing of forests
than farm crops. A great deal of this land,
though too rocky or steep for farming, has
good soil and produces rapid tree growth.
These natural forest soils being near the
large markets will enable the owners more
and more to sell all the products of the forest
at a profit.
“The forest policy of the State is develop-
ing along three lines—the protection from
fire of timber now standing and the young
growth coming on; the reforestation of
waste or unproductive land, and the acqui-
sition of forest land by the State and the
United States.
“The system of fire protection is based on
cooperation between the State and the
towns. A warden is appointed in each town
to have charge of fire fighting, the State
and towns sharing equally in the expense.
The State directs the work of the wardens
and operates 15 mountain lookout stations
for the discovery of incipient fires.
“A notable feature of the fire protection
work is the organization of the timberland
owners of northern New Hampshire, who
have formed a cooperative association repre-
senting an ownership of over 1,000,000 acres,
on which they assess themselves one cent per
acre per year, and use the fund for patrol
in times of drought, for additional lookouts
and for the establishment of caches of fire-
fighting tools in convenient places.
“New Hampshire was the first State to ben-
efit by the Weeks act. During the summer
of 1911 a codperative agreement was entered
into with the Secretary of Agriculture by
which the State received the services of 24
federal patrolmen.
“The reforesting of cut-over land and
waste land has enlisted the interest of small
owners for a number of years and is increas-
ing rapidly. Within the past two years sev-
eral large owners have begun reforesting
operations on an extensive scale. The State
operates a forest nursery for the distribution
of young trees, and two commercial nurseries
are successfully growing forest tree seed-
lings ona large scale.
The public ownership of forests has been
strongly urged by New Hampshire for the
60
past decade. This is especially important
with high mountain forests, where the
growth is so slow that private capital can-
not handle them as conservatively as they
should be handled to protect the forest cover
for the scenic effect and the regulation of
stream flow. It is to be hoped that under
the Weeks act the United States will soon
acquire a large amount of the White moun-
tains as a national forest.
“The sentiment in favor of State owner-
ship has increased to such an extent that the
last Legislature passed an act for the pur-
chase of the Crawford notch as a State
forest. Three small tracts have been re-
ceived by the State as gifts. Such tracts
should be used as forest experiment stations
to stimulate an interest in private forestry.
In this connection it is noteworthy that a
number of towns own small tracts of wood-
land which could be made quite profitable.”
Maine
Forest Commissioner Mace, of Maine, says
that lightning was responsible for the ma-
jority of forest fires in Maine last summer.
“The majority of these fires,” said the
Commissioner, “were traced back to the start-
ing point. They always buck the wind.
_ “The big Frenchtown, Lobster Mountain,
fire was started by lightning striking a green
hemlock. We found the hemlock which it
hit. The fire on Enchanted Mountain, which
burned over 8,000 acres was started by light-
ning, as was the Pine Stream and Deer Pond
fires.”
Mr. Mace says the result of the year’s work
has demonstrated the value of the fire patrol
and lookout service. In consequence of this
branch of the State’s work many millions of
dollars’ worth of lumber has been saved. He
points out that Maine has between 9,000,000
and 10,000,000 acres of timber land worth
$45,000,000 and _with all the great fires which
raged in the State during the summer the
total loss will not much exceed $200,000.
This, he says, could only have resulted from
the efficiency of the service.
Massachusetts
The fire lookouts stationed by the forestry
department in varoius sections of Western
Massachusetts during the past few weeks
have been relieved for the winter, but their
service has covered a sufficient period to
make the success of the plan very apparent.
The fall has not been as dry as those of the
past few years, and the danger from forest
fires has been correspondingly decreased, but
several cases have been reported where the
lookouts have discovered fires soon after they
STATE NEWS 61
started and by promp notice to fire wardens
in the vicinity have brought about the ex-
tinguishing of the fires before they had
reached dangerous proportions. The danger
from fires is usually far greater in the spring,
and it is understood that the lookouts will
go on duty then, probably in April. Faith-
ful work by the lookouts in a dry season
is sure to mean a big saving of property, and
the system is one that should be maintained.
New York State
New York State now has on hand 11,000,-
000 trees to be used in replanting denuded
State lands and for sale to private land
owners at cost. With the establishment of a
new nursery this year and the extension of
the old nurseries, the output of trees next
year will be doubled. Within three years, at
the present rate of increase in public and
private tree planting, at least one tree will
be started for every one cut down. It is
estimated that last year five trees were
destroyed to every one planted.
Maryland
Fire protection has been afforded forests
in Washington, Garrett, Allegany, and Fred-
erick counties, Md., by the Department of
Agriculture in codperation with the State
authorities. The government will spend $600
during the year for forest patrols and other
protective measures.
The State authorities have selected the
patrolmen, and these will follow a route de-
termined by maps of the localities.
North Carolina
Daniel W. Adams, of the Forest Service,
has examined 5,000 acres of land in Burke
Township and will report on it to the Forest
Commission. The commission will consider
about 120,000 acres situated in the Nantahala,
Mount Mitchell and Pisgah areas in North
Carolina, the Savannah area in Georgia and
the White Top area in Virginia and Ten-
nessee.
These lands will be recommended to the
commission by the field force who examined
them. Mr. Adams said that there is a great
deal of land in the Pisgah and Smoky moun-
tain areas which the men in the forest ser-
vice have been unable to reach yet owing to
insufficient field force.
Mr. Adams is enthusiastic in his efforts to
have the State avail itself of the $200,000
available annually from the government for
the next five years for the purpose of keep-
ing down and fighting forest fires in the
sections in which lands will be purchased by
the government.
Kentucky
The women of Kentucky are actively work-
ing in the interest of the forestry bill which
is to be presented to the legislature and are
arousing a great deal of influence in favor
of the bill. At a meeting of the Legisla-
tive Committee of the Women’s Club of
Louisville, the other day, Mrs. Mason Maury
of Louisville gave an analysis of the present
condition of the timber resources of Ken-
tucky and the workings of the proposed bill,
which is designated as “an act to establish a
State board of forestry, and prescribing its
duties.”
“Our annual timber growth is at a min-
imum,” said Mrs. Maury. “We are cutting
wood but not producing. At the present
rate of consumption sixty-five counties will
be without merchantable timber in from two
to eight years. The value of the timber as
it leaves the forest is $24,000,000 annually,
and it rests with us whether or not we pre-
serve this enormous income, which affects
the prosperity of every citizen, or whether
we supinely allow the destruction of Ken-
tucky’s forests.
“If it is to be saved, we must have better
forest management, educative and _ legisla-
tive.”
In this connection Mrs. Maury suggested
a course in forestry be included in the cur-
riculum of the public schools, even if other
courses of study be eliminated or abridged.
At the close of the address a vote of ap-
proval on the part of all present at the
meeting, whether members of the club or not,
was given the plan as outlined by Mrs.
Maury, and support for the measure
promised.
Arkansas
Forest Supervisor Francis Kiefer says of
the forestry work in Akansas:
_ “The greatest progress of the year was the
improved efficiency of the fire protection
service throughout the national forests in this
district. This marked advance is due to bet-
ter organization of the fire fighting force.
_ “Eighteen look-out stations will be erected
in the Ozark and the Arkansas national for-
ests upon the highest mountains, which will
erable the watchmen to see every part of the
forest. Every tower will be equipped with
a range-finding instrument and a chart; and
a fire may be located the minute it starts. A
telephone connection with the Forest Rang-
ers will bring out the fire fighters at once.
“While it is true that whole forests are
not consumed here as the big fires in the
Rockies and the Northwest are, the effect is
no less damaging. The young reproduction,
which represents our future forests, is en-
tirely destroyed in case of fire, and, although
it 1s replaced, it consists mostly of sprouts
and revived seedlings, which never can make
the healthy growth of seedlings unscathed by
fire. The forest floor, the grass and leaves,
is wholly destroyed whenever there is a fire.
_ “The coéperation of the settlers in the na-
tional forests in fire protection is a great
aid in the suppression of fires.”
Colorado
_ District Forester Smith Riley, of Colorado,
1s preparing a recommendation that 20,000
acres on the watershed of Pike’s Peak be re-
62 AMERICAN FORE STRY
forested. This action is the culmination of
five years’ experiments in tree planting in
that district, during which 750 acres have been
reforested. An appropriation of about $100,-
000 is necessary, and it it is granted the work
of turning the slopes of Colorado’s_ most
famous mountain into a vast forest will be-
gin next year. :
The task will be a gigantic one. An aver-
age of 1,000 trees will be planted on each
acre, which means 20,000,000 trees. _ Yellow
pine and Douglass fir will be the species used.
These trees reach a size sufficient for railroad
tie manufacture in about ninety years. The ef-
fect of their presence will be seen in the
water supply of the district long before they
reach that growth, however.
The officials have selected Pikes peak for
the first great Colorado reforesting enterprise
principally because Colorado Springs, Pueblo,
Victor and a thickly populated agricultural
country get much of their water from its
slopes.
The effect of the new forests will be seen
in a few years. The trees and other vegeta-
tion will check the melting of the snow in
spring, thus distributing the spring floods
through the “dry” months.
This forestry district collected last year
12,000 pounds of pine and fir seeds in pre-
paration for this and other reforesting ven-
tures. Each pound represents approximately
a bushel of cones and costs about $1.
California
The Federal Department of Forestry !o-
cated at Los Angeles has begun the work of
reforestation on the southern California na-
tional reserve. This is under way in the
Santa Ana canyon near Seven Oaks. At
that point 40,000 conifers, hardy varieties of
pine, fir and redwood will be planted.
San Diego is perhaps the first of Ameri-
can cities to inaugurate a great forestry en-
terprise in the expectation of speedily de-
creasing the rate of taxation and possibly of
ultimately relieving the citizens of all pay-
ment of taxes for the support of the city
government. The city owns 7,000 acres of
land, which up to the present time has been
unproductive. Forty thousand seedings of
the eucalyptus tree have been set out. The
city officials expect when the forest is twenty-
five years old it will yield $175 worth of
timber per acre annually. That means
$1,225,000 a year. With expenses deducted,
this will leave a profit which will go far
toward reducing the burder of taxation.
Oregon
Plantations of useful trees are to be es-
tablished in Eastern Oregon in the districts
where the settlers are finding need for nearby
fuel supply and timber for fence posts. The
State Forestry, in connection with the For-
estry Department of the State Agricultural
College, will carry on experiments to learn
tree-planting possibilities.
Plantations will be started to learn what
trees makes the best growth in Eastern Ore-
gon soil and the information will be fur-
nished to ranchers so that they may have
the benefit of this experience in developing
their farm lands. The inquiry will be ex-
tended to determine the best shade and orna-
mental trees for the various sections of the
interior.
Indiana
E. J. Hancock, Secretary of the Indiana
Forestry Association, has just completed the
organization of the Cass County branch of
the Indiana Forestry Association. Already
twelve counties in the state have been or-
ganized and will work in connection with
the central body toward preserving the for-
est land of the State, stimulating interest in
the care of trees and in the planting of new
ones.
The Cass County Horticultural Society,
already well organized and with a particular
interest in the care, preservation and growth
of fruit trees, will form a valuable aid to
the forestry society.
Governor Marshall, former Vice-President
Fairbanks and other leading men of Indiana
are members of the forestry association and
have volunteered their services in any county
where auxiliary branches are being formed
whenever they can spare the time.
Ohio
The city of Cleveland has now almost com-
pleted a campaign of tree planting which will
add 2,000 trees to the 150,000 which help to
make Cleveland the Forest City.
City Forester Rettig’s chief work has
been ridding the city streets of the poplars.
Every opportunity has been seized to de-
stroy them and replace them with elms,
maples or sycamores. The 2,000 trees planted
this fall and winter take the place of the
poplar.
Forester Rettig’s conservation plans in-
clude the adoption of some of the forestry
methods in use in Germany and England.
With these methods Cleveland could have
trees even where grass and good soil are now
unknown, Rettig says.
; ‘They take care of their trees in European
cities,” said Rettig. “We are doing all we
can here, but they are ahead of us in some
things, especially in planting. We are as far
in advance in Cleveland in spraying and
otherwise treating trees as they are in
Europe.”
The local forestry department bought trees
for the first time this fall by competitive
bidding. The result was a better class of
young trees at a cheaper price. The 2,000
now being planted cost the city from 75 cents
to $1 apiece.
Forester Rettig looks for Cleveland to re-
tain her title of the Forest City despite the
continued growth of industries and the con-
areas smoke-laden air so harmful to tree
ife.
NEWS AND NOTES
Instruction in Forestry
The recently established department of
forestry in the New York State College of
Agriculture at Cornell University is finding
that forestry is a subject of genuine interest
to the students of the university. The de-
partment will now be able to increase the
scope of its work because of the addition of
an assistant professor to the staff. Mr. John
Bentley, Jr., a graduate of the Yale Forest
School in the class of 1907, and at present
in charge of the planting in District 2 of the
United States Forest Service, has been ap-
pointed to the assistant professorship, and
will enter on his new duties on January first.
The department is ready to supply a lecture
on forestry to meetings of any kind in New
York State.
Canada’s Forestry Problem
Speaking of the need of arousing pressing
interest in the reforestation of hard wood
areas in Eastern Canada, H. R. MacMillan, in
The Canadian Century, says: “There are two
points to be made; first, that the supply of
wood suitable for manufacturing purposes in
Eastern Canada is practically exhausted; the
other, that large Canadian industries, depend-
ent upon valuable hard woods, are forced
to import their raw material from the United
States at high prices, and are, therefore, at
a disadvantage in competing with United
States manufacturers. The remedy for the
manufacturer lies, not in using less wood,
but in using his influence to see that cities,
counties or provinces take steps to reforest
with valuable woods the many areas of waste
land, now lying unproductive, which may be
found in every county in Eastern Canada.
The German cities own forests, the munici-
palities corresponding to counties and proy-
inces in Switzerland and France own forests,
managing them for the production of timber
for industrial purposes, and for revenue.
Several of the Eastern States—New York,
Vermont, New MHampshire, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey
— have purchased waste land for reforestation.
Finding that work was not proceeding rapidly
enough, and that the administration of these
hard wood lands could be better managed by
the Federal Government than through several
State Governments, Congress has appropri-
ated for the purchase of lands in the Eastern
States, to be managed by the Forest Service
«S$ a perpetual source of high grade hard wood
timber. The appropriation of this money was
secured largely through the support of manu-
facturers.
“There is no record that, with the exception
of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company,
any private corporations in Canada have
undertaken to grow on their own lands the
timber they will require. The Canadian Pa-
cific Railway Company employs several
trained foresters, and is at present making an
examination of its timber lands in British
Columbia with the idea of managing them
for the perpetual production of ties and other
construction material.”
Some Plain Facts
Prof. Hugo Winkenwerder, of the Univer-
sity of Washington, in a recent talk on the
present status and future problems of
forestry gave some plain facts and statistics
of particular interest to any new student of
forestry. He said: “There are problems of
great economic and national importance
which can only be solved by forestry.
“Our national idea of forestry did not take
root until 1891 when Congress authorized the
President to set apart forest reserves. We
have now 150 national forests, which em-
brace 195 million acres. Twelve states have
adopted the policy of owning forests within
the State. A score of universities and col-
leges are offering courses in forestry.
“The practice of forestry in the United
States as yet consists of little more than fire
protection. It is important that we have re-
production, rapid growth and a large yield.”
he means employed to prevent fires Pro-
fessor Winkenwerder said, were broad trails
free of inflammable materials, telephones in-
stalled and fire patrols.
“The forests of the United States average
only 12 cubic feet growth per acre per year.
The forests of Europe average 36 feet per
year. It has been estimated that about 80
per cent of our forests are only half stocked
with trees.
“A great many of our forests are over
mature and ought to be cut out. A great
part of the forest area has lost its fertility,
because the water has washed off the fertile
soil or the sun has dried up the soil.”
Reforestation Legislation
State Senator George F. Argetsinger, of
New York State, with a view for providing
forest revenues for future generations has
prepared a bill which he will introduce early
in January which will encourage farmers to
plant trees on land that is not tillable.
Senator Argetsinger has found that there
is considerable such land on a large number
63
64 AMERICAN FORESTRY
of farms in the State, and he knows of no
better purpose to which it could be put.
“What I want to do is to work out some
plan to make it an object to the farmer to
plant land with trees,” says Senator Arget-
singer. “I believe that if the tax on land
planted to trees was made nominal and not
the same as the rate on the rest of the farm
property, the growing of trees would be
greatly encouraged. My plan is to have the
farmer report to the State Conservation
Commission that he has a certain number of
acres of land devoted to raising trees, the
kind of trees he is growing and their con-
dition. On the recommendation of the com-
mission this land might be exempted by the
assessors from the regular rate of taxation
and a nominal rate charged. It is my sug-
gestion that this exemption be made for a
period of 30 years.”
Watershed Protection
Secretary Wilson has decided that the in-
terests of cities and towns which obtain
their water from streams having their water-
sheds within National Forests call for special
measures of protection, and he has therefore
developed a plan of cooperation for the De-
partment of Agriculture with those com-
munities which are alive to the importance
of keeping their water supply pure.
One of the recognized objects of forestry
is to insure the permanence and protect the
purity of municipal water supplies. As the
Forests are maintained for the benefit of
the public, Secretary Wilson considers it the
duty of his Department to do all that it can
both to prevent the pollution of such supplies
and to create or maintain conditions most
favorable to a constant flow of clear water.
By protecting and improving the forest cover
and by enforcing special regulations to mini-
mize erosion and to provide for the main-
tenance of sanitary conditions, the Govern-
ment will try to safeguard the interests of
the public.
A form of agreement has been drawn up,
providing that, when cooperation is entered
into between the Secretary of Agriculture
and any city desiring conservation and pro-
tection of its water supply, the Secretary
will not permit the use of the land involved
without approval by the town or city, except
for the protection and care of the Forests,
marking, cutting, and disposing of timber
which the Forest officers find may be re-
moved without injury to the water supply
of the city, or for the building of roads,
trails, telephone lines, etc., not inconsistent
with the objects of the agreement, or for
rights of way acquired under acts of Con-
gress. The Secretary also agrees to require
all persons employed on or occupying any
of the land both to comply with the regula-
tions governing National Forests and to
observe all sanitary regulations which the
city may propose and the Secretary approve.
he agreement provides for the extension
and improvement of the Forests on the part
of the Government by seeding and planting
and the best methods of silviculture and
forest management, so far as the funds avail-
able will permit. The city on its side is ex-
pected to assist in the work by paying the
salaries of the additional guards necessary
to carry out the agreement, and in case ex-
tensive forest operations are immediately
desired by the city, it would bear the major
part of the cost entailed by this work.
Secured 20,000 Acres
Pennsylvania a few days ago took title to
20,000 acres of forest land in the Cumberland
Valley for addition to its forest reserves,
the purchase having been consummated by
Commissioner of Forestry Robert S. Conklin
after a long negotiation with the South
Mountain Mining and Iron Company. The
tract, which is known as Pine Grove furnace,
is one of the old time iron manufacturing
properties, the land having supplied the wood
for the charcoal furnaces which made the
iron in Pennsylvania seventy-five years ago.
The purchase, which is the largest single
acquisition made by the department for
several years, increases the area of the State
forest reserves in the Cumberland Valley to
100,000 acres and makes the total extent of
the reserves in the State 985,000 acres.
The land lies in Cumberland and Adams
counties and adjoins the Caledonia furnace
tract, formerly owned by Thaddeus Stevens
and the Mont Alto furnace tract, which are
now State property. It is covered with oak,
chestnut, pine, poplar and hemlock and in
addition to having a fine growth of timber
contains iron ore, clay and sand baks and
water and ice leases from all of which the
State will derive an income.
City Owns Tree Farm
It is not generally known that the city of
Columbus, Ohio owns and operates a tree
farm, says the Columbia Dispatch. Such is
the case, however, and it was planted and
is managed by James Underwood, superin-
tendent of Franklin Park and head of the
city forestry department.
Several acres of ground surrounding the
water purification plant and owned by the
city, were planted with trees some time ago
as an experiment, and many of them will be
ready for replanting next fall. On the tract
there are 1,000 elms, 1,000 Norway maples
and about 6,000 different varieties of shrubs.
The trees and shrubs will be used for re-
planting in the city parks, and later, as the
supply of trees increases, they will be used
in street planting.
The success the department has had so
far in the growing of tree plants has en-
couraged it to plant for more extensive
operations along this line. It is possible that
part of the city land on either side of the
Scioto River, north of the dam, will be
utilized in this manner in the future, and that
a systematic planting of trees along side-
walks will be taken up.
NEWS AND NOTES 65
The forestry deparment has employed from
six to ten expert tree-trimmers during the
fall months, in trimming trees along the side-
walks, free of charge to the property owners.
The territory extending from High to Par-
sons Avenue and from Naghten to Deshler,
was covered. About 8,000 trees were trim-
med, 400 dead ones removed and about 700
wagon loads of trimmings and dead trees
hauled away. It is expected that the work
will be continued in the early spring.
New England Trees in Winter
Prof. Albert F. Blakeslee, of the Depart-
ment of Botany in the Connecticut Agricul-
ture College, together with C. D. Jarvis, has
just issued an extensive and profusely illus-
trated bulletin on New England Trees in
Winter. In the preface the bulletin says:
“At present there is no general work upon
American trees which combines illustrations
of the individual forms with keys for their
identification based upon winter characters.
The forester and lumberman, however, are
-more called upon to distinguish trees in
winter when leaves and flowers are fallen
than in summer. Trees, as the most con-
spicuous elements in the winter landscape,
must also appeal to the student of out door
life. The interest shown by classes of school
teachers in the Summer School in identifying
specimens of twigs collected the previous
winter indicated that the winter study of
trees can be taken up with enthusiasm by
teachers in their schools. In our experience,
the winter identification of trees has proven
to students one of the most interesting sub-
jects of their course. It is of decided value
for its training in the power of accurate
observation. The work comes at a time when
material for natural history study seems
scanty and might therefore be used to bridge
over the period between fall and spring
which are unfortunately considered by many
the only seasons when study of out door life
is possible in the schools. A tree in winter
is far from being the characterless object
many believe. Freed from its covering of
leaves, the skeleton of the tree is revealed
and with the method of branching thus
clearly discernible, the species may generally
be more readily identified at a distance than
in its summer garb. There are many forms,
moreover, that are difficult to distinguish
from summer features alone but which in
winter have twig, bud or other characters
which make their separation comparatively
easy.”
A co-operative agreement entered into be-
tween the U. S. Department of Agriculture
and the State of Maryland provides for an
expenditure by the Government of not to ex-
ceed $600 during the year ending December
‘
31, 1911, this sum to go toward meeting the
expenses of forest fire protection in Mary-
land. ‘The areas to be protected are in Alle-
gheny, Garrett, Washington, and Frederick
counties. The co-operative agreement is
made possible by the terms of the Weeks
Law, which Congress passed last winter.
The funds of the Federal Government will
be used solely for paying patrolmen. The
State officials select these patrolmen, subject
to the approval of the Department of Agri-
culture. The maps submitted to the Federal
Government show where each of these patrol-
men will be located, the approximate routes
of patrol, and all matters necessary to a clear
understanding of the State’s plan of fire con-
trol, including the location of lookout points,
telephone communications, railroad patrols,
location of State forest fire wardens and other
officials, and the like.
Mr. J. J. Levison, Arborculturist for the
Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New
York City, has recently been appointed as
special lecturer at the Yale Forest School on
the planting and care of street and park
trees. His course of ten lectures, which form
part of the work in the fall term, covers a
wide and varied field. It is the first time
such a course has been given in any of our
forest schools; it is a needed course and sey-
eral of the Yale graduates have already been
placed in charge of city tree work in New
Haven, Conn., and Milwaukee, Wis. Other
big cities are seeking professionally trained
foresters, and the prospects are that the de-
mand for especially equipped men is on the
increase.
Lyford, Clark & Lyford, Forest Engi-
neers, is the new name under which the
well-known Montreal firm of C. A. Lyford
& Co. is now doing business. The members
of this firm are: Judson F. Clark, C. A.
Lyford, and P. L. Lyford. Mr. Clark and
C. A. Lyford are also members of the firm
of Clark & Lyford, Forest Engineers, of
Vancouver. These two firms are at present
conducting forest surveys aggregating over
500,000 acres. They report a rapidly in-
creasing demand for their services.
For national forests in the Appalachian
and White mountains, Secretary Wilson says
no lands will be recommended for purchase
on which options have been obtained for
the purpose of selling to the government at a
profit.
The Weeks law provided $2,000,000 a year
until 1915 for the purchase of Appalachian
and White mountain timber lands. More
than 1,800,000 acres have been offered, of
which more than 400,000 have been examined
and agreements have been reached with own-
ers of 100,000 acres. ™
66 AMERICAN
A. F. Hawes, of Burlington, Vt., state for-
ester, has recommended to the city council
the reforestation of the land around Berlin
pond owned by the city, some sixty or seventy
acres, to protect the water supply, and he ex-
pects that in years to come it will be a good
investment on the part of the city. He rec-
ommends the planting of pine and spruce.
The state will furnish the seedlings at actual
cost, also plant them at cost. The trees cost
about $5 a thousand, and the expense of
planting is about $10 an acre.
Rivers and Harbors Congress
Over a thousand delegates of the National
Rivers and Harbors Congress met in Wash-
ington, for several days early in December,
and after hearing many enlightening dis-
cussions and several excellent papers adopted
a series of resolutions. The resolutions,
which were presented to the President and
also to the House and Senate, urged the
adoption by the Government of a board,
liberal, comprehensive, systematic, and con-
tinuous policy of waterway improvement, and
the continuance by Congress of the policy of
annual appropriations for rivers and harbors
and connected waterways.
The resolutions also urge that such water-
way improvements as have been recom-
mended by the Government engineers and
approved by Congress should be completed
rapidly as possible. The congress also, in
a resolution, stated that the minimum annual
appropriation required to carry forward
waterway improvements on a scale com-
mensurate with the importance of the work
to be done is $50,000,000.
The congress also recommended the en-
largement of the powers of the Interstate
Commerce Commission to the end that the
the Commission may more effectually regulate
competing land and water carriers, and pro-
vide for the interchange of traffic.
Canadian Forestry Convention
_Last year the Canadian Forestry Conven-
tion was held in the old Rock City of Que-
bec. This year, under the patronage of His
Royal Highness, the Duke of Connaught,
Governor General of Canada, it meets on
Feb. 7 and 8, in the Parliament Buildings at
Ottawa, the capital city of the Dominion.
This will be a particularly important meet-
ing. There are a number of subjects press-
ing for solution, the Parliament will be in
session and the Canadian Lumbermen’s As-
sociation will be meeting in Ottawa at the
same time. It is expected that the meeting
will be addressed by Hon. R. L, Borden,
Premier of Canada, Sir Wilfred Laurier
leader of the Opposition, Mr. Gifford Pin-
chot of Washington, Mr. H. S. Graves
United States Forester, and others.
FORESTRY
The Canadian railways have granted
single fare round trip rates to Ottawa. On -
Wednesday evening, Feb. 7, there will be a
banquet participated in by the Lumbermen’s
Association as well as the Forestry Asso-
ciation.
The Ottawa winter season will be in full
swing, and visitors from a distance will find
much to interest them in the Canadian capi-
tal.
Further particulars may be obtained by
writing to Mr. James Lawler, Secretary,
Canadian Forestry Association, Canadian
Building, Ottawa, Canada.
Popular Interest in Forestry
The general increase in popular interest
in the work of the forester which is steadily
attracting more attention in the newspapers
is added too by the following article from a
recent issue of the New York \Sun:
“Forestry as a profession has been prac-
tised in this country for only about fifteen or
twenty years. Within that period, however,
it has advanced greatly and it has now come
to be a business as well as a profession. It
has many practitioners and there are also
now engaged in it concerns that will under-
take any kind of forestry work, from the
treatment of a single tree to the care, de-
velopment and protection of extensive forest
tracts.
“In the offices of such concerns it is a com-
mon thing nowadays to receive from subur-
ban or country residents who may own per-
haps a single noble tree or a clump of trees
that seem not to be thriving a request to
look them over. Whereupon the concern
sends out a tree doctor, an expert forester,
who inspects these trees, root, trunk and
branch, for cavities, for insect borers, for
the detection of scale, the removal of dead
wood and the most advantageous pruning of
the live wood, for the bolting or chaining of
limbs if that should be necessary, for what-
ever may be needed to restore the trees to
or to preserve them in sound health and their
normal beauty.
“On the results of this inspection the fores-
try concern makes to the owner a typewritten
report, and then it remains with the owner
to determine what he will have done. There
are owners who have their trees inspected
at regular intervals as a preventive and pre-
servative measure to keep the trees in health.
“For owners of more extensive country
estates which may include within their terri-
tory stretches of woodland the modern
forester does many things. Here he not
only cares for individual trees, but he is as
well a landscape forester. He will clear away
underbrush and without destroying their
woodsy flavor make woods accessible so that
they may be enjoyed; and by the judicious
removal of branches or the cutting out of
a tree or two he may reveal a beautiful view.”
THE ANNUAL MEETING
HE thirty-first annual meeting of the American Forestry Association
will be held in Washington on Tuesday, January 9. There will be three
Sessions.
At ten in the morning the directors will meet at the New Willard, for
the transaction of general business.
At one in the afternoon there will be a luncheon at the New Willard for
the ladies and gentlemen of the Association. At this luncheon, the cost of
which will be $2.00 a plate, there will be addresses by Governor Robt. P. Bass,
of New Hampshire, the President of the Association, Henry S. Graves, of the
United States Forest Service, and Thomas Nelson Page. The election of
officers will follow.
In the evening at 8:30 there will be a smoker at the Commercial Club
attended by the members of the Association and to which prominent men of
various departments of the Government will be invited. There will be a
number of short addresses and discussions on forestry and conservation work.
67
FOREST FIRES
Fire in California
A report from San Diego, Cal, dated
Nov. 29, says: “Brush fires that started early
yesterday morning in the Cleveland Forest
Reserve and in many places in the country
east and south of San Diego are today sweep-
ing over large areas of unimproved land. In
Lower California reports from points along
the border that have telephone communica-
tion with San Diego and from boats recently
arrived from Ensenada are that fires are pre-
vailing in many ranges on both sides of the
peninsula.
“In San Diego county fires are raging on
San Miguel Mountain, Volcano Mountain,
Cuyamaca, Upper Otay, Sweetwater and
Green Valleys, Lost Pine Mountains, Poter-
ero, Treate, Campo, Black Mountain, San
Dieguito River Valley and Viejas Mountain.
In the Lost Pine Mountains the hoisting ma-
chinery and sheds of a mine were destroyed.
“No estimate of the damage in the fire zone
has been obtained. Forest Supervisor H. N.
Wholer, of the Cleveland Reserve, has every
man in his employ out; the county rangers
have also been pressed into service and the
men employed on the big ranches in the
district in question are aiding. It is hoped
by tomorrow at the latest, if the winds sub-
side, to check the flames.”
Washington’s Fire Losses
Eleven million feet of timber was destroyed
and over 70,000,000 feet was killed by fire in
the State of Washington during the summer
of 1911, according to the report of J. R.
Welty, Washington State fire warden, just
filed with the State board of forest commis-
sioners. Most of the killed timber is accesst-
ble and many be logged, thus causing little
loss, says Mr. Welty.
During the season fires burned over a total
of 86,364 acres. A total of 5,792 permits
to burn slashings were issued by the fire
warden and his deputies. Fifty-four arrests
were made for violation of the forestry laws,
and the fines and costs in connection with
these arrests totaled $1,291.05. Forty-eight
out of the 54 arrests made resulted in con-
victions.
“Burning under permits,” says the report,
“was attended by little loss. The holders of
permits generally exercised great care to
prevent the fires from spreading beyond the
limits of the slashings. About 46,000 acres of
slashings were burned under permits during
the season, indicating that much land is being
cleared for agriculture.
68
“The total area burned over by these fires
was 86,364 acres, as follows: Cutover or
logged-off lands, 62,669 acres; old burned
tracts, most of which were burned over in
fires of 1902, 18,530 acres; second-growth
timber, not yet merchantable, 889 acres;
merchantable timber, 4,267 acres.
“Of this 4,267 acres of merchantable timber
burned over 1,947 acres were killed or de-
stroyed and 2,329 acres were not injured.
“Where second-growth timber, not yet
merchantable, standing on ground sutiable
for timber growth only is burned, the loss is
serious, but where such timber is located on
land suitable for agriculture and which will
in the near future be used for that purpose,
the loss is light.
“Most of the second-growth timber land
reported as burned over is suitable for agri-
culture.”
The total logged-off lands burned over
amounted to 62,669 acres. Of this area nearly
one-sixth is in Thurston County.
In the destruction of merchantable timber
Lewis County suffered the greatest loss.
The total amount destroyed was 7,000,000 and
the total killed 65,000,000 feet. In Cowlitz
County 1,000 feet of timber was destroyed
and 1,250 feet killed. In Snohomish County
1,000,000 feet was killed by fires and 450,000
feet destroyed. Pierce County lost 265,000
feet of merchantable timber, and timber
measuring 250,000 feet was killed. Clarke,
Perry, Jefferson, Kitsap, Klickitat, Pend,
Oreille, Whatcom and Spokane counties suf-
fered no loss.
Reducing Fire Fighting Cost
Considering the efficiency of the service
obtained, Montana’s fire fighting bill for the
past season, under the cooperative plan in-
-augurated last spring, was merely nominal,
according to a report submitted to the State
Board of Examiners by State Forester
Charles W. Jungberg.
The State has two co-operative agreements,
one with the private lumber companies and
the government on a pro rata acreage basis,
and the other with the government alone,
Under the first agreement, Montana is a
member of the Northern Montana Forestry
Association, operating in Flathead and Lin-
coln counties.
The total fire loss in this district on 194,428
acres of timber, valued approximately at four
million dollars was only $35. The cost to
the State protecting its 68,721 acres in the
district, valued at $1,356,963, was but $343.61.
In the district there were six fires during
the season and a total of 199 acres were
CURRENT LITERATURE 69
burned over, damaging 25,000 feet of timber,
valued at $35. The assessment this year was
only half a cent an acre.
“The State is willing to co-operate and pay
its pro rate on an acreage basis in districts
where the owners of private timber lands are
willing to co-operate,” says Mr. Jungberg in
his report. “The Northern Montana Fores-
try Association has a membership numbering
84, which includes all the large lumber com-
panies and individuals holding tracts of tim-
ber in that district. While the Anaconda
Copper Mining Company is not included in
the Northern Montana Forestry Association,
yet it has had men to patrol the country in
and adjoining this district this season, and
has shown a disposition to fight fires if
necessary. Fire hazard in this district is very
great, owing to the large amount of timber
cut during the last twelve years, and to the
fact that two railroad lines tap this district
in various places.
“The cost of fighting fires in three other
districts is on a percentage basis, the Govern-
ment paying sixty-five per cent of the cost
of fighting all fires that occur, and the
State thirty-five per cent. This percentage
agreement covers three districts. In district
number one are 180,800 acres; in district
number two 483,840 acres, and in district
number three 299,520 acres, a total of 964,160
acres.
CURRENT LITERATURE
MONTHLY LIST FOR DECEMBER, 1911
(Books and periodicals indexed in the
Library of the United States Forest
Service.)
Forestry as a Whole
Encyclopedias, dictionaries and calendars
Caccia, A. M. and Troup, R. §. A glossary
of technical terms for use in Indian
forestry. 58 p. Calcutta, 1911. (India
—Forest dept. Forest bulletin, new
series, No. 4.)
Forest History
Fernow, Bernhard E. A brief history of
forestry in Europe, the United States
and other countries. Rev. and enl. ed.
506 p. Toronto, University press, 1911.
Forest Aesthetics
Street and park trees
Buffalo, N. Y.—Park commissioners.
second annual report, 1910-11.
Buffalo, N. Y., 1911.
Forty-
46 p.
Forest Education
Forest schools
University of Michigan—Dept. of literature,
science and the arts. Announcement of
the course in forestry, 1911-1912. 23 p.
Ann Arbor, Mich., 1911.
University of Minnesota—College of agricul-
ture, including college of forestry. An-
nouncement, 1911-1912. 89 p. Minne-
apolis, Minn., 1911.
Yale forest school. Prospectus, 1911-1912.
28 p. New Haven, Conn., 1911.
Forest Description
Langille, H. D. Report on timber and graz-
ing proposition in Chili, South America.
49 p. Chicago, etc. n. d.
Peavy, George W. The forests of Oregon;
their importance to the state. 23 p. il.
Salem, Ore., 1911. (Oregon—State board
of forestry. Bulletin No. 2.)
Forest Botany
Trees: classification and description
Blakeslee, A. F., and Jarvis, C. D. New
England trees in winter. 576 p. il. Storrs,
Conn., 1911. (Storrs agricultural experi-
_ment ‘station. Bulletin 69.)
Maiden, J. H. The forest flora of New
South Wales, pts. 44-5.
35 p: pl.
ney, Govt. printer, 1911.
Syd-
70 AMERICAN
Woods: classification and structure
Sudworth, Geo. B., and Mell, Clayton D. The
identification of important North Ameri-
can oak woods, based on a study of the
anatomy of the secondary wood. 56 p.
il. Wash. D. C., 1911. (U. $.—Dept.
of agriculture—Forest service. Bulletin
102.)
Arboretums
Arnold arboretum. Bulletin of popular in-
formation, No. 17. 7 p. Jamaica Plain,
Mass., 1911.
Silvics
Forest influences
Munger, Thornton T. Avalanches and for-
est cover in the northern Cascades. 12
p. pl. map. Wash., D. C., 1911. (U. S—
Dept. of agriculture—Forest service.
Circular 173.)
Ecology.
Harper, Roland M. The Hempstead plains;
a natural prairie on Long Island. 10 p.
il. N. Y., American geographical society,
1911.
Harper, Roland M. The relation of climax
vegetation to islands and peninsulas. 11
p. N. Y., Torrey botanical club, 1911.
Harper, Roland M. The river-bank vegeta-
tion of the lower Apalachicola, and a
new principle illustrated thereby. 10 p.
il. N. Y., Torrey botanical club, 1911.
Studies of species
Woolsey, Theodore S. Western yellow pine
in Arizona and New Mexico. 64 p. il.
pl. Wash., D. C., 1911. (U. $.—Dept.
of agriculture—Forest service. Bulletin
101.)
Silviculture
Natural reproduction
Swain, E. H. F. Reafforestation and the
hardwood supply in relation to North
Coast forests. 8 p. Sydney, Govt.
printer, 1911.
Planting
Cox, Wm. T. Reforestation on the national
forests; pt. 1—Collection of seed; pt.
2—Direct seeding. 57 p. il, pl. Wash.
D. C.,, 1911. (U. S—Dept. of agricul-
ture—Forest service. Bulletin 98.)
Secrest, Edmund. Treatment of artificial
tree plantations. 21 p. il. Wooster, O.,
1911. (Ohio—Agricultural experiment
station. Circular 110.)
FORESTRY
National business league of America. The
tree planters of America, a potent fac-
tor for the reforestation of the United
States and extension of practical arbori-
culture by the American farmer boys.
3d ed. 39 p. Chicago, 1911.
Forest Protection
Insects
Burgess, A. F. Calosoma sycophanta; its
life history, behavior, and _ successful
colonization in New England. 94 p. il.
pl, map. Wash.) Ch 19sisG@ueese—
Dept. of agriculture—Bureau of ento-
mology. Bulletin 101.)
Stebbing, E. P. On the life-history of
Chermes himalayensis -on the spruce,
Picea morinda, and silver fir, Abies web-
biana. 26 p. il, pl. London, 1910,
(Linnean society of London. ‘Transac-
tions, 2d ser. zoology, v. 11, pt. 6.)
Forest Economics
Statistics
MacMillan, H. R. and Boyce, W. Guy H.
Forest products of Canada, 1910: cross
ties purchased. 7 p. Ottawa, 1911. (Cana-
da—Department of the interior—For-
estry branch. Bulletin 22.)
MacMillan, H. R. and Boyce, W. Guy H.
Forest products of Canada, 1910: poles
purchased. 8 p. Ottawa, 1911. (Cana-
da—Department of the interior—For-
estry branch. Bulletin 21.)
MacMillan, H. R. and others. Forest prod-
.ucts of Canada, 1910: timber used in
mining operations. 12 p. Ottawa, 1911.
(Canada—Department of the interior—
Forestry branch. Bulletin 23.)
Forest Administration
Dutch East Indies—Dienst van het bosch-
wezen. Verslag over het jaar 1910. 118
Pp. pl. Weltevreden, F. B. Smits, 1911.
India—Bombay presidency—Forest depart-
ment. Administration report of the for-
est circles in the Bombay presidency, in-
cluding Sind, for the year 1909-1910. 166
p. Bombay, 1911.
India—Central provinces—Forest dept. Re-
port on forest administration for the
year 1909-10. 138 p. Nagpur, 1911.
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. The national forest manual; in-
structions to forest officers relating to
forest plans, forest extension, forest in-
vestigations, libraries, cooperation, and
dendrology. 45 p. Wash., D. C., 1911.
CURRENT LITERATURE TL
United States—Dept. of’ agriculture—Forest
service. The national forest manual;
timber sales, administrative use, timber
settlement, free use. 90 p. Wash., D. C.,
1911,
National and state forests
Burns, Findley. The Crater national forest;
its resources and their conservation. 20
p. pl, map. Wash., D. C., 1911. (U. S.—
Dept. of agriculture—Forest service.
Bulletin 100.)
Forest Utilization
Lumber industry
Hatch, Charles F. Manufacture and utiliza-
tion of hickory, 1911. 16 p. Wash,
D. C., 1911. (U. S—Department of ag-
riculture—Forest service. Circular 187.)
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. Record of wholesale prices of
lumber based on actual sales made F.
O. B. mill for July, August and Sep-
tember, 1911. 15 p. Wash., D. C., 1911.
Wood preservation
Bateman, E. Modification of the sulphona-
tion test for creosote. 7p. Wash., D. C.,
1911. (U. S—Dept. of agriculture—For-
est service. Circular 191.)
Weiss, Howard F. and Barnum, Chas. T.
The prevention of sap stain in lumber.
19 p. il | Wash, BD, Coste (. S—
Dept. of agriculture—Forest service. Cir-
cular 192.)
Auxiliary Subjects
Botany
Hole, R. S. On some Indian forest grasses—
their ecology. 126 p. pl. map. Calcutta,
Supt. govt. printing, 1911. (Indian for-
est memoirs, Forest botany series, v. 1,
pe.)
Horticulture
Bailey, Liberty Hyde. Farm and garden rule
book. 587 p. il, New York, The Mac-
Millan Co., 1911
Periodical Articles
General
Agricultural journal of the Union of South
Africa, Oct. 1911—The forest red-gum,
by J. Burtt-Davy, p. 472-5.
Country life in America, Dec. 1, 1911.—
Mistletoe as a forest pest, by jE Co-
wan, p. 78-82.
Forest and stream, Dec. 9, 1911—Pinchot on
the Adirondack problem, by G. Pinchot,
p. 837-9, 856.
Garden magazine, Dec. 1911—Moving big
trees in winter, by W. C. McCollom, p.
217-19.
National geographic magazine, Nov. 1911.—
The kingdom of flowers; an account of
the wealth of trees and shrubs of China
and of what the Arnold arboretum, with
China’s help, is doing to enrich America,
p. 1003-35.
Popular science monthly, Dec. 1911—The
water relations of desert plants, by D. T.
MacDougal, p. 540-53.
Science, Nov. 24, 1911—Additional facts
about the chestnut blight, by I. C. Wil-
liams, p. 704-5.
Trade journals and consular reports
American lumberman, Nov. 18,
Curious trees; the banyan, p. 31.
American lumberman, Nov. 25, 1911—The
problem of wood utilization, p. 36-7;
Prevention of forest fires, by C. W.
Ward, p. 48-9.
American lumberman, Dec. 2, 1911.—Man-
ufacturing alcohol from refuse wood, p.
42 A; Timber in Rocky Mt. national
forests, p. 42 B-C; Scientific manage-
ment in the woods, by E. A. Braniff,
p. 50.
American lumberman, Dec. 9, 1911—Forestry
students in practical work, p. 39; The
problem of wood utilization, p. 42-42A.
Engineering news, Oct. 5, 1911—A pole-
preserving machine, p. 414-15.
Engineering news, Oct. 19, 1911—Machines
for boring and trimming ties and driv-
ing screw spikes, p. 458-62; Wood pave-
ment specifications at Vancouver, B. C,
p. 475.
Hardwood record, Nov. 25, 1911—Steel vs.
wooden railroad cars, p. 27-8; Hardwood
flooring, p. 31-2.
Lumber review, Nov. 15, 1911—Wood block
pavement best, by W. F. Carns, p. 34,
38 ; Seasoning wood by electricity, p. 41.
Lumberman’s review, Nov. 1911—Making
forestry pay; Mr. Slaymaker applies pro-
tective and forest reproduction methods
to his forest areas in West Virginia, by
S. E. Slaymaker, p. 16.
Paper mill and wood pulp news, Nov. 18,
1911—Testing woods; the work being
done at government pulp wood station at
Wausau, Wis., p. 3.
Paper trade journal, Nov. 23, 1911—Empire
state forest products association; 6th an-
nual meeting and banquet at Watertown,
p. 34-5.
Pulp and paper magazine of Canada, Nov.
1911.—The wood supply of Europe, p.
394-7.
St. Louis lumberman, Nov. 15, 1911—What
is conservation, by J. B. White, p. 62.
Timberman, Nov. 1911.—A log lowering de-
vice, p. 44; Operations of an electric log-
ging donkey demonstrated at Coos Bay,
p. 47; Methods employed in reforesta-
tion on Siuslaw national forest, by F. S.
Allen, p. 50.
United States daily consular report, Dec. 9,
1911—Lumber and its products, by E.
H. L. Mummenhoff and others, p.
1233-46.
1911.—
72 AMERICAN
United States daily consular report, Dec. 13,
1911.—Canada’s lumber production, by
F. M. Ryder, p. 1316-17.
Wood craft, Dec. 1911.—Characteristics em-
ployed in the identifying of wood, by C.
D. Mell, p. 67-8; The best woods for the
carver’s use, by T. A. Tefft, p. 84-5;
Kiln-drying of lumber in England, p.
85-6.
Wood-worker, Nov. 1911—Drying and hand-
ling factory lumber, by C. D. Gifford, p.
39-40.
Forest journals
Allegemeine forst—und jagd-zeitung, Oct.
1911—Umriss eines systems der forst-
lichen Verrechnung, by Katzer, p. 321-
32; Ein neuer stockheber nach dem sys-
tem der Heblade, p. 359.
Allegemeine forst—und jagd-zeitung, Nov.
1911.—Die gegen einige unserer forst-
wirtschaftlichen massnahmen in 4sthetis-
cher beziehung von naturfreunden er-
hobenen bedenken und deren forstliche
wirdigung, by Tiemann, p. 361-71; Dis-
kussion der forststatischen gleichungen,
by T. Glaser, p. 371-83.
Bulletin de la Société centrale forestiére de
Belgique, Nov. 1911.—Note sur la fu-
mur des oseraies, by J. Huberty, p. 697-
702; Le liquidambar ou copalme d’Amér-
ique, by N. I. Crahay, p. 732-4.
Canadian forestry journal, Sept.-Oct. 1911.—
The Turtle Mt. forest reserve, p. 118-22;
Le traitement préservatif des traverses
de chemin de fer, p. 127-30; Planting
trees, by P. McArthur, p. 130-1, 138;
Saxony’s forest practice, by H. L. Sul-
livan and E. F. Jennings, p. 132-4.
Centralblatt fiir das gesamte forstwesen,
Aug.-Sept., 1911—Graphisches rechnen
in der waldwertrechnung, by FE. Rou-
biczek, p. 345-61; Die volkswirtschaft-
liche bedeutung der wildbachverbauung
in Galizien, by S. Kruk, p. 361-70; Uber
den einfluss fehlerhafter bestimmungen
der dimensionen auf den inhdalt von rund-
holz, by A. Schiffel, p. 371-90; Tatigkeits-
bericht der Karst-aufforstungskommis-
FORESTRY
sion fiir die gefiirstete grafschaft Gérz
und Gradiska fiir das jahr, 1910, p. 415-
20; Die periodischen vegetationserschein-
ungen in ihren beziehungen zu den
klimatischen variationen, by E. Vander-
linden, p. 420-2.
Centralblatt fiir das gesamte forstwesen,
Oct. 1911.—Uber hiebssatzermittlung, by
E. Roubiczek, p. 429-36; Forstmathema-
tische miszellen, by G. Merker, p. 437-40;
Zur fehlerregelung der kluppierung, by
A. Szabé von Bagyon, p. 441-7; Studien
iiber das bondenbesserungsvermogen un-
serer wichtigsten holzarten, by R. Wal-
lenbock, p. 447-58.
Forstwissenschaftliches centralblatt, Oct.
1911.—Starkholzzucht im lightwuchsbet-
rieb, by Frey, p. 517-23; Die beleihung
von waldungen, by O. Tafel, p. 523-35;
Die forstausstellung zu Landau (Pfalz)
im Mai, 1911, by Kiinkele, p. 542-53.
Forstwissenschaftliches centralblatt, Nov.
1911—Fin maikaferkrieg, by Puster, p.
577-86; Jahrliche erzeugung wertvollsten
holzzuwachses auf kleinster flache, by
von Fiirst, p. 586-90.
Indian forest records, Sept. 1911—A note on
some statistical and other information
regarding the teak forests of Burma, by
R. S. Troup, p. 1-73.
Indian forester, Nov. 1911.—Forest research
in India, p. 595-605; Bamboo pulp as the
paper material of the future, by H. Vin-
cent, p. 627-30; Trees and moisture; a
great experiment being carried on at
Wagon Wheel Gap, Colo., p. 630-3.
North woods, Nov. 1911—Work of Minne-
sota forest service, p. 12-14; Slash burn-
ing, by W. T. Cox, p. 15-16.
Revue des eaux et foréts, Nov. 1, 1911.—Le
mouvement forestier a l’étranger; Suisse,
by G. Huffel, p. 659-63.
Zeitschrift fiir forst—und jagdwesen, Oct.
1911.—Plenterbetrieb oder hochwaldbe-
trieb, by Fricke, p. 737-46; Die zeitlich
verschiedene nahrstoffaufnahme der
waldbaume und ihre praktische bedeu-
tung fiir diingung und waldbau, by E.
Ramann, p. 747-57.
s his American forestry Association ts
uour assoctatioan, and tf vou want to
make it the force ft should be throughout
the land it depends on vou. Bou are not
good members tf you do not go home and
get a half dozen new members. What ts
the use of talk without work, what ts the
use of belonging to thts assoctation unless
uon do something? Go home with the
resolution tn your hearts to uphold your
officers and the Association as onlu Ametri-
can men and American women can.”
Charles Lathrop Back, in address at the
— ammual: meeting,
SOV. ROBERT P. BASS OF NEW
HAMPSHIRE, PRESIDENT OF
HE AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
2
American Forestry
VOL. XVIII FEBRUARY, 1912 No. 2
THE PROGRESS OF FORESTRY
By Hon. ROBT. P. BASS
GovERNoR oF NEW HAMPSHIRE
T is a source of deep satisfaction for us to contemplate the large acreage
abe of forest lands that have passed into public ownership and manage-
ment in this country since the forestry movement started. The forest
reserves which were created in 1891, and later more appropriately named “‘Na-
tional Forests,” have been increased in area and now include about 190,000,000
acres. Many state forest reservations have been created, established, so that at
the present time about one-fifth of the forest area in the country is owned by
the public. To this extent at least has a system of management looking toward
the protection, improvement and wise use of our timber supply present and fu-
ture been insured for the benefit of all the people. It is particularly gratifying
to note the growth in technical efficiency by which we are rapidly realizing the
best ideals in the management of these public forests.
The states are also coming to the front, recognizing their duties in pro-
viding efficient fire protection, aiding private owners in reforesting waste lands
and in educating the public in the best methods of handling timber lands.
There are now twenty-three states that maintain active departments of for-
estry. Of these twelve employ technical foresters in charge of all state for-
estry activities.
While we are rejoicing in the changed attitude of the public mind toward
forestry, let us continue to exert our influence to maintain and steadily im-
prove public forest policies. Above all, let us recognize that a great field of
usefulness awaits our efforts in bringing about a more economic management
of private forests. At present about four-fifths of the timberiands of the
country are in private hands and it is our earnest desire to see as great
progress in this field during the next decade as the past decade has witnessed
in public forestry.
The total timber cut of the country in 1900 was 35 billion feet, in 1905 3714
billion, and 1909 4414 billion. The enormous increase shown by these figures
*Address of Hon. Robt. P. Bass, President of the American Forestry Association, at
the annual meeting in Washington, D. C., on Jan. 9, 1912.
75
76 AMERICAN FORESTRY
demonstrates beyond question the importance of extending the practice of
forestry to commercial lumbering operations.
In order to achieve this end, it is necessary that all of the different
forces pursue their work in the closest harmony. The results already accom-
plished seem wonderful when we realize that until very recently the different
private owners, the states and the federal government have been working
almost independently of each other. During the past year or so the idea
of co-operation has gained headway rapidly. Especially significant is the co-
operation among timberland owners for protection against their common
enemy, fire.
To the Pacific Northwest belongs the credit for the first large timber
owners’ protective associations. There are a number of such in the north-
western states, most of them belonging to a central organization, the Western
Forestry and Conservation Association. The general method pursued is to
assess the individual owners on an acreage basis, the funds being expended for
fire fighting, the employment of patrolmen and for educational purposes. The
strongest test of the efficiency of co-operative fire protection came soon after
these associations were formed, when the northwest experienced the most dan-
gerous fire season in its history. While the loss was heavy for the region as
a whole, only about 44 of 1% of the timber in the associations was destroyed.
The first association of this kind in the East was formed in New Hamp-
shire in 1910. It represents an ownership of 1,200,000 acres and, during the
recent summer of severe drought, proved the efficiency of such co-operation.
An association has also been formed in the Lake States, representing an owner-
ship of 2,000,000 acres. It is interesting to note that these associations now
represent over 14,000,000 acres and that they offered protection to as much
more contiguous territory not represented in the associations.
THE NEED OF CO-OPERATION
These examples of the benefit derived from private co-operation indicate
the larger benefits which will result from full co-operation between the Federal
government, the state and local government and private owners.
For the promotion of such co-operation there is no better practical in-
strument at hand than Section 2 of the Weeks Act. which appropriates
$200,000 to enable the Forest Service to co-operate with states in protecting
forests against fire on the watersheds of navigable streams. This provision
has been in operation during the past summer and the results are extremely
gratifying. j
The experience of my own state in this respect may be of interest. New
Hampshire was the first state to enter into co-operation with the Forest
Service under the Weeks Act and the work began on June 4, 1911. The $7,200
allotted by the Federal government provided for the employment oi 24 ae
patrolmen, who worked under the direction of the State Forester The State
furnished the administrative machinery to make the patrolmen’s ae effective
by providing supervision through district chiefs, and by maint
S aining lookout
watchmen to co-operate with them. The actual fig
hting of fires was done by the
THE PROGRESS OF FORESTRY 77
towns, again under the direction of the State Forester. The New Hampshire
Timberland Owners’ Association employed patrolmen for territory not covered
by the Federal men. It built lookout stations where the State was unable to
do so, and distributed fire fighting tools where needed. This united action
resulted in confining fires in the White Mountain region during our most
serious droughts of recent years to about .6 of % of the wooded area.
Realizing the great possibilities of such co-operation, it is the earnest
desire of all friends of forestry that this appropriation under the Weeks Act
be continued.
I have emphasized the importance of co-operative fire protection, but
recognize that it is not the main feature and purpose of the Weeks Act, which
was intended primarily to acquire national forests in the East. While the
co-operative work now being developed will bring all the forestry forces closer
together and ultimately accomplish fire protection, the actual purchase and
management of forests by the government will be the only way in which many
of the forests on the higher slopes of our eastern mountains can be managed
properly, and the quickest way to demonstrate to private owners the practica-
bility of forestry on their own holdings.
We rejoice, in fact, that the Geological Survey has approved over one
million acres on the navigable streams in the South and that the first pur-
chase of over 18,000 acres has already been made in that region. We regret,
however, that delays have lost $3,000,000 of amount originally appropriated
and would urge upon Congress the reappropriation of this fund so it will not
be lost to the purpose for which it was originally intended.
There is a strong feeling throughout New England for the early purchase
of lands in the White Mountains. The Forest Service, pending the report of
the Geological Survey, has examined considerable land and is ready to nego-
tiate with the owners for its purchase as soon as a favorable report is ob-
tained. It is my understanding that the Geological Survey is making a careful
study of small drainage basins selected for the different extent to which the
forests in them have been cut, that on these areas they are making a study of
the relation of the precipitation to the run off in order to determine the effect
of the cuttings. I am sure you will all be glad to know that the Director hopes
to make a favorable report on this region this coming spring.
THE ASSOCIATION’S PROGRESS
It would seem entirely fitting at this time to recall some of the mile-stones
in the history of our organization. The American Forestry Association was
founded in Cincinnati in 1882. During the earlier period of its activities such
men as Dr. B. E. Fernow and Mr. F. H. Newell of the Reclamation Service, were
influential in shaping its policies in the support of the cause of national for-
estry. It advocated the passage of the forest reserve laws and was directly re-
sponsible for the initial legisiaiion passed in 1891, giving the President power
to withdraw lands from the public domain for forest reservations. It secured
the appointment of a committee of the National Academy of Science, of which
Mr. Pinchot, Dr. Brewer of Yale, and three others, were members. They were
78 AMERICAN FORESTRY
to report on a policy for the management of Forest Reserves and, as a result of
their investigation, President Cleveland made his now famous withdrawals
of timber land from the public domain.
The Association has published and maintained the magazine, how known
as AMERICAN Forestry, since 1898. During the past year it has taken over the
circulation of the organ of the National Conservation Association. We shall
do all in our power to continue the cordial spirit of mutual assistance which
now exists between these two associations.
During the decade just passed the Association has been active in its sup-
port of the work and policies of the National Forest Service. Wherever possi-
ble it has co-operated in developing and aiding state forestry movements. It
has constantly advocated the Appalachian-White Mountain reservation bill
and my distinguished predecessor in this office, the Hon. Curtis Guild, was
most potent in aiding the final passage of the Weeks Bill.
Even this hasty reference to some of the salient features in its history
shows the part that our Association has taken in establishing and shaping the
National forestry policy of our country.
OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE
Now as to the future. We want first of all to extend our influence as gen-
erally as possible over the country. We want to co-operate equally with the
East, the West, the North and the South. We want to continue as an active
force for the advancement of a liberal national forestry policy.
We should use our influence to obtain for the Forest Service an adequate
appropriation for the administration of the national forests. All measures
coming before Congress looking to the advancement of the forestry interests
of the country will receive our hearty endorsement, and those measures inimi-
cable to the purposes of our Association should be unmasked and laid before
the public in their true light.
Our relation to state forestry should follow the same lines, with slight
variations as to details. We shall co-operate in any movement for the estab-
lishment of state departments of forestry throughout the country and for the
development of effective forest fire protection. We can do much through our
publication toward educating and preparing public opinion for a more equit-
able and scientific method of forest taxation.
We should encourage the establishment of state forest reservations wher-
ever such action is possible.
Our Association is especially adapted to become a medium for creating
more complete co-operation beween the Federal government, state governments
and private timberland owners.
. We can serve as a uniting link to bind all local forestry societies into one
unit, in order that they may bring the greatest influence to bear on public
questions effecting the timber policy of the Nation. We can serve as a clearing
house for the exchange of ideas and experiences in forestry from all sections of
the country. Furthermore, we should get in touch with those states which
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THE PROGRESS OF FORESTRY 81
have no local organizations and fill the gap until local forestry societies are
firmly established.
Our magazine, AmMeRIcAN Foresrry, can perform a public service of first
importance by advocating all the foregoing policies. The extent of its useful-
ness is directly measured by its circulation and it is our purpose to extend that
circulation by every means at our command. In this endeavor I solicit the
active co-operation of every member of the Association.
We are planning to give this magazine a more popular tone than it has
heretofore had. This we hope to accomplish by lessening the number of tech-
nical articles and broadening the scope of the publication. We want to put it
in the hands of as many timberland owners and people interested in forestry
as we can possibly reach.
In closing let me emphasize the fact that the American Forestry Asso-
ciation is entering on a new era in its activities. It is adopting a definite
constructive program for the future, to which it will give its unqualified and
vigorous support. We are striving to enlist the active interest of influential
public spirited men and women throughout the country. We are engaged in a
task which, if successfully consummated, will inure to the fundamental and
permanent benefit of the whole Nation. Let us all put our shoulder to the
wheel and help.
The New York Conservation Commission which has made an examination
of the forest conditions on lands of State institutions, at the request of the
Fiscal Supervisor of State Charities, reports that of the total acreage of'
8,908, about forty per cent, or 3,568 acres, is badly in need of the application
of practical forestry.
Traces of the deadly chestnut blight which was believed to be confined
to the eastern section of Pennsylvania have recently been discovered in the
western section west of the Alleghenies.
The Pennsylvania State Branch of the National Conservation Association
is arranging to launch a plan for a state park. Governor Tener, is understood
to be heartily in favor of the plan.
Hon. J. J. Kindred, Representative from the 14th District of New York,
has had printed in the Congressional Record, the resolutions adopted by the
American Forestry Association at its annual meeting on January 9, and
Representative F. EH. Wilson presented the resolutions to the House of Repre-
sentatives.
The Southwestern Lumbermen’s Association held its annual meeting in
Kansas City, Mo., on January 24, 25 and 26, and members report that it was
a very successful gathering.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR FORESTERS
By Pror. AUSTIN CARY
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
looking forward for a considerable time—an excess in the number
of graduates of forestry schools over the number of opportunities for
employment in the line of work toward which most of them have thus far
gravitated. Over one hundred and seventy men took the examination for
Technical Assistant in the Forest Service last spring, while the Service had
places open in that regular grade for only about sixty of them.
Fortunately, there are other opporunities. The Service has taken in:
many as rangers or on a temporary basis. The developing reserves in the
Lake States have wanted some new men; and just lately the administration
of the Indian Office has made room by beginning the organization of a
technical force. The Work of the older states and of teaching calls each
year for a considerable number. In one and another of these ways the bulk
of the class has now been placed, the balance going out into private employ-
ment. 1911, however, marks a turning-point in Forestry education in this
country in that the National Service failed to claim the men available.
The fact is notable enough to start discussion as to present tendencies in the
Forestry movement, and especially regarding the nature of the training given
in the schools which have increased so fast in numbers in the last few years.
tegarding the schools and the courses of training they offer, newness is
one feature which is evident and which it is worth while to recall. It is little
over a dozen years since there were no forest schools in this country, and
many of us can remember our own lack of faith and confidence when the first
professional forest school was established at Cornell. That school was
established by an able man, thoroughly grounded in forestry science and
familiar with the position and achievements of the profession abroad. The
course of study was broad and fundamental, and it is not to its discredit that
the school was later closed.
Again, when Pinchot and Graves founded the Yale School of Forestry they
had a perfectly clear idea of what they wished and expected to do. They
felt the need in the country of a body of broad-gauge, high class men to lead
in the movement of that time—men to start the National Forest work on a
high plane, to guide state legislation, to serve as teachers and leaders through-
out the country—men of intellectual capacity and of enthusiasm, who could
be counted on to push their own way in whatever direction they might get
turned. It was a bold conception strongly followed up, and the judgment of
those men is fully vindicated today.
A considerable number of courses in technical forestry have been opened
at colleges and universities within the last eight years. Several are graduate
A CONDITION has been reached just recently to which some have been
82
Five VV Huyn F&F, Baker.
PENNSYLVANIA STATE FORESTRY STUDENTS LAYING OUT LOGGING ROADS OVER LANDS RECENTLY LUMBERED AND BURNED.
“uayng “qd yonz &q ojoud
SDOTMNIH GATT NI SHIGALS HIMOUD ONIMVIN
oS RE es
SINNGALS AULSHYOT ALVIS NNad
OPPORTUNITIES FOR FORESTERS 85
schools, requiring a college degree for entrance. More give undergraduate
work. The curriculum in these schools is laid out closely after one pattern
(silviculture, mensuration, management, protection, etc., tied more closely to
botany than to any other related science) and the majority of teachers are
very recent graduates, giving out, without great added resources derived from
experience and independent study, what was given to them. Precedent and
the National Forest work together have given tone to the thing. If newness
is one feature of forestry training in our colleges and universities, com-
parative similarity of aim and method is another. One feature is undoubtedly
connected with the other, and a main point of the present discussion is to see
if we do not need to diversify our work and broaden our field.
SOME REFLECTIONS
The following reflections may be considered as more or less sound:
First—The natural relation of forestry to agriculture is evident, and the
farmer is usually situated so as to utilize knowledge of forestry principles.
Some instruction in forestry ought certainly to be given in every agricultural
college, and many efficient men will likely gain entrance to the forestry pro-
fession through this means.
Second—Because of the interest and educational value forestry science
has, and because the forestry cause needs the co-operation of influential men,
the subject may win some place in general collegiate, as in popular, education.
Third—But training which professes to equip a man for a calling is a
different thing. The number of schools and size of classes will of necessity
be limited by the opportunities for satisfactory employment which graduates
can find, and training must be carefully adapted to the service it is to be put to.
This seems axiomatic to be sure, but may not be as simple as it looks. At
any rate, if changes are needed or promising fields as yet unoccupied can be
found, recognition of this is important not merely for the schools themselves
whose field may be enlarged, but to the forestry cause in general, for nothing
surely can promote it more effectively than to have its interests bound up
with the present fortunes of a body of active, intelligent men.
Answer to the questions whether schools of foresty are giving the best
sort of training to their students and whether they are fulfilling to the utmost
the purpose they might serve will largely turn on our conception of what
forestry is and of the kind of man who may be rightly denominated a forester.
Ideas are not settled and uniform on those points.
“The Forester” to the United States Government and the forestry officials
of some of our states represent the term to many. These men have big
executive duties imposed upon them and by nature of their offices must be
Somewhat in the line of diplomats and politicians as well. Large capacities
are essential for these men and the broadest training is none to good. The
profession is being stretched to fill these places creditably today, but it doesn’t
require many men to fill them.
Many think of the forester as an observer, inquiring into the facts,
botanical, entomological, silvical, and others that relate to forest life and
growth and putting results out in literature perhaps, to be utilized or to fall
86 AMERICAN FORESTRY
by the wayside as the case may be. Useful work this when well directed and
carried out, but the same rule holds as before that no very Bay number of
men can be supported in it. The case stands the same with the teachers.
These will be maintained only to the extent to which there are those to be
taught :
But there is a sense, as consideration will show, 1n which all these classes
of men are hardly to be called foresters themselves at all. They teach forestry,
study forestry, make forestry possible, but forestry itself as an art, consists
in practice, in the intelligent management of forest land; and the forester
is or will be the man who directly carries out this work. Such when inde-
pendently looked at seems to be the simplest and most evident meaning of
the terms. Such men are the foresters of Europe, or uine-tenths of them
are. This direct and practical conception, some believe, is a very important
one for the schools to grasp more clearly at the present time.
FORESTRY WORK IN THE WEST
The truest representatives of the forestry profession, as it exists in the
country today, are probably the men who after the sifting of the last half dozen
years are now bearing in the West the load of administration of the National
Forests. These men have been too busy with their own jobs to have had much
to say about other things, but they have been piling up experience, and now,
with their work reasonably well in hand, they see clearly what it is going
to be like and have ideas of their own as to the kind of men they want to
help them in it. For them many illusions have been dispelled. The work has
been different far from what they thought it when they left their studies.
These they have had to forget mainly while they devoted themselves with all
the force there was in them to meeting certain big, rough, insistent conditions
and facts. The scientific principles which they were taught in college are not
indeed lost, but for the present they are in large measure thrust into the
background of their minds. The day’s work meanwhile is nine-tenths plain,
straight administration—protection, development, surveys, business dealings
with a variety of people, in circumstances not guaranteed to be either easy
or pleasant, for the glamor of frontier life has mainly passed away.
Now these men looking out from their own experience toward future
helpers and successors, do not despise college education or technical training ;
in the plans of the Service they do not fail to recognize the necessity of
exact scientific study of the elements with which they deal; least of all do
they undervalue a grasp of and loyalty to the big, simple, underlying principles
of forestry. But they do see that proper balance among interests has to be
maintained, and that to them means that for a long time to come the scientific
aspects of the work, as far as time, expenditure and numbers of men are con-
cerned, must take a secondary place. If anything were needed to show the
soundness of this position, last year’s fires in Idaho and Montana ought cer-
tainly to serve.
To those responsible for the forest school
re Ss these men would say that
while they expect alw
ays to welcome a considerable number of highly trained
1 entapummsnnmetnstorncnnnmanrand
Photo by Hugh P. Baker,
PENN STATE FORESTRY STUDENTS VISITING STATE FOREST NURSERY AT GREENWOOD FURNACE, PENNA.
Photo by Hugh P. Baker.
ORESTRY STUDENTS IN CAMP.
F
Photo by Hugh P. Baker.
FOR PLANTING ON STATE
es)
DLING
E
aw
SE
OPPORTUNITIES FOR FORESTERS 89
men to their forces, supplies of that sort do not by any means solve the
problem of forest administration. The Ranger force is quite as essential—
plain, simple men ready to do and to stay with the actual work in the woods.
Further, they would say, or some of them would, that the technical men so far
supplied have not by any means been the fittest possible instruments for the
work. Natural fibre and adaptability have full more to do with efficiency than
training. Too much schooling may make men over-fond of theory, conceited
in its possession, needlesly hard to break into actual service, or even entirely
unfitted for the rough work in hand. The high ideals which the schools can
justly claim for most of their men, are desirable, only, to be effective, they
must be bound up in a physical and mental make-up which causes a man to
enjoy and last at this kind of work.
Now young men brought up in towns and cities and going through eastern
universities may indeed develop into the best possible material for the work of
the National Forests, but it is by no means certain that they will. Plenty of
young westerners with very limited training who drift into the Service from
natural adaptability are proving of just as much use. The technical men, at
any rate, must stand the test of efficiency in actual service.
CHARACTER OF THE WORK
To review: The work of administration of the national forests is in the
main plain, rough work and backbone of the Service will always be made
up of men who in the good sense are essentially plain and simple minded,
satisfied to stay with their jobs and in the conditions which they involve.
Natural fitness and capacity are essential for these men and appropriate
training which will enable them to understand the things immediately about
them, but not necessarily of a very broad or elaborate type, will be a great
help. And for men who on this level show exceptional ability lines of pro-
motion must be forever kept free. For a considerable number of them of
thorough technical training there will always be room, for specialties and in
scientific positions to a limited extent, but more numerously in the administra-
tion force. Requirements here are changing somewhat and standards are
steadily rising. Experienced Service men believe that the training of the
majority should be more largely on engineering and business lines than it
has been in the past, with less emphasis perhaps on botanical studies.
So much for this branch of the subject.
With all that the forestry movement has accomplished for woodlands in
the country at large—valuation greatly increased, economy promoted, a
general attitude of thoughtfulness brought about—it is on the whole a dis-
appointing impression which has been made on the actual management of
privately owned lands. There are good reasons, on one side and on the other,
why progress should be slow here. On the side of the land owners fire risk and
the tax burden are hindering the adoption of conservative, foresighted man-
agement while that able young foresters have not engaged more largely in the
work is due to the wonderful opportunities that were open elsewhere. Men
who are in the swing of the development of the national forests; guiding
legislation in the states, or laying the foundations of American forestry science
could not be expected to turn aside to less attractive looking work.
90 AMERICAN FORESTRY
This is all easy to understand and the fact that forestry has thus far made
no closer connection than it has with business would excite no comment if
the profession had not professed all along to be doing that mery thang. But
we have for years past proclaimed ourselves as teachers and missionaries to
the lumbermen. We have been profuse with co-operation and advice; oc-
easionally a man has gone with a business concern for a few months to show
them how to do it, and large claims have been periodically made for the
results attained. Time and reflection, however, show these claims to be mainly
hollow. Candid foresters today admit that it is a discredit to the profession
that so little privately owned land is under their control, and the lumberman,
while he grants the soundness and final necessity of the forestry idea, says
that as for the actual application of forestry principles to his own property
and operations they have got yet to show him. Yet it is forestry in business,
good management of the vast area of woodland owned by private individuals
and corporations, that really spells abundant timber supplies in the future.
Further, since voluntary, co-operative methods are far simpler and cheaper
than government ownership or regulation of cutting by law it is up to the
forestry profession fully and carefully to work this lead out. There is indeed
a yast and important work to be done here. As the proclamation of the
national forests and the beginning of their administration was the big work
in forestry in the last fifteen years, so the sifting out of all the possibilities
of good forestal and financial management on private forest lands is likely
to be the big work of the next fifteen.
FORESTRY AND LUMBERING
A main reason why forestry has made no more vital connection than it
has thus far with lumbering appears to the writer to lie largely in a stilted and
overstrained conception of the terms forestry and forester. If so the direct,
practical conception outlined some pages back, of the forester as the man in
actual control and management of forest land, will serve as an antidote. So
far, however, we have strictly denied the application of the term to any man
who, outside of the National Forests and certain enterprises and pieces of
land, stood in any such relation to forest property. For this course there
may indeed have been good and sufficient reason in the past, but it is clearly
hampering progress today. Business in large measure is now hospitable to
forestry, genuinely seeking to undestand its principles and find out how they
may be applied, and the most cordial, thoughtful co-operation is due from the
forestry profession. To that end, however, more vital contact and mingling
is essential. Business men know, if foresters do not, that men standing out-
side of business cannot get a thoroughly effective point of view and are
bound to miss essential points. There is a limit beyond which the missionary
spirit will not go, when comradeship and appreciation must come in or progress
will stop. The true economic condition of the country requires recognition
in a toning down from theoretical ideals to the standard of what can actually
be done. Ina word it is forestry on the level of business, foresters inside of
alee organizations, and not outside, that from now on will actually do
1e@ WOrK,
In maintaining the present unsatisfactory condition the schools have
DR. CHAS. R. VAN HISE, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. ELECTED A VICE-
PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION.
CAPT. J. B. WHITE, KANSAS CITY, MO., PRESIDENT, NATIONAL
CONSERVATION CONGRESS. ELECTED A DIRECTOR OF
THE AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
OPPORTUNITIES FOR FORESTERS 93
had their share along with the rest of us. Founded on European models,
located at intellectual rather than business centers, under obligation first
and in any case to teach the principles of forestry, science and policy which
the country so much needed, with a teaching force young, very limited in
its knowledge of actual operations in mills and woods, the schools could not
in fairness probably be expected to get to the bottom of these matters and
give their students an effective point of viw. Teachers could explain how
land ought to be stocked in order to produce to the utmost; they could recount
the steps in the different silvicultural systems; they could explain the interest
of the community in the maintenance of forest cover and productiveness, and
tell how under European governments that was secured; they know the
forms gone through in making a Forest Service timber sale, and even had the
supervision of some pet pieces of land. But American lumbering as it
exists in the country today they have felt no kinship to and no obligation
really to study and understand. As for woods operations the schools have
apparently failed to see the fundamental fact that they are nine-tenths en-
gineering. Courses of instruction in lumbering methods have been late, super-
ficial and unsympathetic.
In consequence the men attracted to the forest schools have seldom
been of the type to make or to co-operate with lumbermen, or if they were
such at the start their forestry training likely spoiled them for any such work.
Thus while lumbermen have been employing graduates of colleges and tech-
nical schools in various departments of their business, the majority of those
who have had experience with forest school graduates simply say that they
cannot be used.
If the view above expressed, that forestry had less effect in lumbering
than it might have had, is true in the main, there are enough exceptions
not merely to prove the rule, but to indicate the way in which more effective
work may be done. The foresters now employed as secretaries to lumber
dealers’ associations have opportunity in a quiet way to exert a great deal of
infiuence and there is every reason to suppose that they do. A number of men
with more or less forestry training now have positions with lumber or pulp
concerns in Canada. The more careful and responsible timber estimating of
New England is fast coming into the hands of foresters, and recently a trained
forester in an important case for damages caused by railroad fires, by means
of scientific estimates, beat a whole array of Maine woodsmen into their boots.
On the Pacific Coast a number of trained men are succeeding at timber
estimating or as forest engineers. The Yale School of Forestry now ad-
vertises an elaborate course in lumbering connected with its regular forestry
work. Lastly we have the Biltmore School, taking the sons of lumbermen
and others going into the lumber business, and giving them a practical training
with as much of an insight into forestry science and policy as such men will
stand.
The point in the above is this—that the men above mentioned are not
doing academic work merely, but are making vital connection between the
‘wo things, lumbering and forestry. They are getting actually to bear on
our forest resources. If they are not anywhere bringing about the ideal they
are actually improving things to some extent and putting themselves in a
94 AMERICAN FORESTRY
way to attain later positions of actual command. On the other side more-
over, we should not by any means neglect the recent movement among lumber-
men, most prominent in the South and on the Pacific Coast, to cheapen their
work and put it under system in ways similar to those by which other impor-
tant lines of production have long been managed by engineers.
Here indeed is believed to be an indication of the way in which forest
schools may greatly help themselves and at the same time powerfully serve
the present and future needs of the country. With increasing values of land
and timber and the growing complication of lumbering operations, the helter-
skelter methods of earlier times in the lumber business are no longer econom-
ically sound. Lumbermen realize this, are studying and systematizing their
operations and are ready to revise them on any lines that are economically
and financially sound. To do this work is calling yearly for men of larger
capacity and better intellectual equipment to serve as expert cruisers, logging
engineers and managers of plants and concerns. Here is the opportunity of
the schools—to supply men of fit training for this important work who have
an insight into the principles of forestry as well. Business will eagerly wel-
come such men for what they can do now, and when they have proved their
capacity and judgment in lines that are familiar will give them freedom also
in lines which are new. Such work as this will require sturdy, calculating
men with no sentiment about them, and the work itself will hardly be recog-
nized as forestry by some who in the past have been arbiters of opinion; but
forestry it is in our circumstance and time. It is not surrender of or dis-
loyalty to principles; it is just putting those principles into a form such that
in our day and generation they can actually be used.
To review again, in this branch of the subject—the forest schools as
yet have failed to master American lumbering technically; they seem not
to have understood its economic necessity and limitations, and they have not
sympathized with it as they might. To continue on this line, teaching ‘for-
estry” as they conceive it, which the lumberman may take or leave as he sees
fit, is dignified certainly, but is not so co-operative and profitable an attitude
as can be conceived. There will always certainly be a field for just this kind
of work and fundamental principles will have to be taught even more thor-
oughly than they are today. But some, both lumbermen and foresters, who
have thought the matter over, think it ought to be supplemented with train-
arid for a different purpose and with the weight of instruction changed. They
believe that schools well located and well equipped that will furnish a
re aiiaeg 7 Breet lines, including a comprehensive view of lum-
eran ty ee ihe ; t A paue Emme, through hard, compact, fundamental
hs ni noes ik a S on insight into silvicultural principles and forest
wall, “‘Whcir praduste wile Ge pte ee
SE eee sue go ae actual business and soon win their way
pide Wien ct eT Aa fae - They will organize lumbering work as
economies thereby. The af ey Bee ae engin eet ee Beet
ment progressively. as it teak ¥ ee See
5 Jy, as comes practicable. They will be the best possible
safeguar i i
. ou ard and buffer if ever the time comes when it is necessary to regulate
umbering operations by law.
THE PRESENT SITUATION IN FORESTRY’
By HENRY S. GRAVES
CHIEF OF THE ForEST SERVICH
AM reminded today of the luncheon given by the American Forestry
Association just eleven years ago which I attended and at which I
believe I discussed the problem of state forestry with special reference
to New England. If I recollect correctly the subject of the need of federal
forests in the eastern mountains was also discussed at that luncheon. During
this period of eleven years the forestry movement has advanced far beyond
the expectations of any of the men engaged in the work at that time. Today
we find that there is an exceedingly favorable public support of the principles
of forestry throughout the country; a policy of national forestry has been
definitely established; many states have initiated a vigorous policy of public
forestry ; and we have already several hundred trained foresters in the country
as a nucleus of a profession to carry on the work. It is certain that we may
be gratified with what has been done, and to this association is due appreciative
congratulations for the part it has taken in all this development.
So much has been done in a short time that is has appeared to some
that the principal task has already been accomplished. This is very far from
being the case. Only the first steps have been taken and the chief work of
getting forestry into actual practice still lies before us. This is true of
the work of the practicing foresters; it is equally true of the work of this
association. The association has served most usefully for a period of thirty
years; its greatest usefulness is in the work it may do now and in the future.
The situation has changed only in this respect that with the foundations of a
favorable public sentiment already laid, the association can now do far more
effective work than it ever could do in the past, in the promotion of the
practice of forestry throughout the United States.
THE WEEKS LAW
The most conspicuous incident in national forestry during the past year
has been the passage of the so-called Weeks Law, authorizing the purchase of
forest lands which lie upon the watersheds of navigable streams. Heretofore
the problem of the National Forests has concerned the administration of
property already owned by the Government. The Weeks Law is of great
importance, not only because of the direct results which will be obtained
through the establishment of National Forests in the East, but also because
it still further strengthens the whole policy of national forestry. It is a
direct recognition of the interest of the public in the proper handling of
forest lands situated in mountain regions, and a recognition also that the
*Address by Henry S. Graves, at the Annual Meeting of the American Forestry
Association, Washington, D. C., January 9, 1912.
95
96 AMERICAN FORESTRY
participation of the public itself is necessary to accomplish the establishment
of forestry in practice. ;
While the Weeks Law does not specifically designate the areas within
which purchases are to be made, it is understood that it was the intent of
Congress that there should be established, if possible, National Forests in
the White Mountains and in the Southern Appalachians. It is not expected
that all of the areas upon which it is desirable that there should be practical
forest conservation can be purchased by the Government. It is expected,
however, that, even with the appropriation already made, a number of Na-
tional Forests can be established on important watersheds which may serve
as centers of forestry and which will aid in bringing about the protection
and better handling of the surrounding country. One of the first steps which
will be taken after the establishment of one of these forests will be an
effort to establish through codperation organized fire protection in the area
surrounding them. Since the passage of the law a large number of offers of
lands have been made to the Government, and already examinations haye
been conducted on 500,000 acres by the Forest Service and Geological Survey.
The mere offer of lands and subsequent examination does not, however, neces-
sarily mean a purchase. The examination includes a consideration of it as a
desirable property for the Government from the standpoint of the purposes
of the law, and a careful appraisal of the value of the land. Ii frequently
happens that the owner of the property and the agents of the Government
do not agree as to its value. I have no doubt that some people may be im-
patient on account of the failure of the Government to purchase certain areas,
when the reason for this failure is the fact that the price proposed by the
owner is excessive. It is, however, expected that there will be no great
difficulty in acquiring lands both in the White Mountains and in the Southern
Appalachians, whose administration in the long run will have an enormous
influence on the development of forestry throughout the regions in which
they are located.
In the development of a National Forest policy it has consistently been
recognized that one of the purposes of public ownership and control of forests
is to insure the benefit of their protective influence in preventing erosion and
their effect on streamflow. Im some of our National Forests the protective
value exceeds the timber value, as, for example, those in southern California.
The same idea is dominant in developing a policy of purchasing National
Forests in the East. In faci, the only legal ground on which the purchase of
forest lands can be made, according to the interpretation of the authority of
Congress by the Judiciary Commitiee of the House. is ip ‘protect navigable
Streams.
PROTECTIVE INFLUENCE oF
FORESTS
In the development of National and Staie forest policies questions have
frequently arisen in regard to how far the intuence of foresis om sireamfiow.
a rainfall, and on erosion extends. Some have sone so far as io dowbt this
influence almost altogether. Much of the confusion regarding ihe influence
PS am i =
of forests on streamfow has arisen from ithe failure in baa ; ;
.
DR. FILIBERT ROTH, DEAN OF FORESTRY, UNIVERSITY OF
MICHIGAN. ELECTED A VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE
AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION.
THE PRESENT SITUATION IN FORESTRY 99
vegetative cover of a given watershed is only one of a number of important
factors governing the flow of water. There has been so much discussion of
this subject and the position of the foresters has been so repeatedly mis-
interpreted that I shall digress from my main subject for a moment to state
my Own position in the matter.
First, the quantity of water in streams, and the regularity of their flow,
are affected by precipitation, temperature, topography, vegetation, character
and condition of soil (including cultivation, ete.), and rock character and
position. The interplay and relative importance of these factors vary greatly
in different localities and regions. In general, the most important of them
all is the amount, character, and distribution of the precipitation.
Secondly, ample evidence is furnished by prolonged European experiments
and investigations of unimpeachable scientific authority, as to the fact that
a forest cover exerts, under most conditions, a very important influence upon
streams. This influence, however, has a limit and may be overbalanced entirely
by other factors, such as heavy rains and sudden thaws. Forests can not,
under prolonged precipitation or other exceptional conditions, prevent large
floods, but they tend to diminish both the number and the violence of floods.
Thirdly, while forests transpire, and growing forests consume more water
than other forms of vegetative cover, and so may lessen the aggregate volume
of stream discharge in the course of a year, they tend to make more water
available by regulating this discharge and by modifying the distribution of
rainfall.
Forests regulate stream discharge (a) by converting surface run-off into
underground seepage, and (b) by checking erosion.
Forests convert surface run-off into underground seepage by checking
the force and prolonging the period of rainfall, through the action of the
tree tops, and by accumulating snow and retarding its melting; by checking
surface run-off through the action of roots, leaf litter, twigs, and fallen
trees; by shortening the period during which the ground is frozen and im-
permeable to water, and by creating and maintaining a permeable and
absorptive soil.
Forests check erosion by the same means by which they convert surface
run-off into underground seepage, and also by the binding effect of tree roots
upon the soil. The less the volume of water which runs over the surface of
the ground, and the more slowly this water moves, the less is its wearing
effect. On steep slopes, or on friable soils, surface run-off creates gullies,
torrents, and consequent rapid and permanent physiographic change.
The results of forest destruction are both to make run-off progressively
more sudden, tending to increase the violence of floods, and te load the
streams with silt and coarser material. The degree to which the removal of
forests or any other vegetative cover increases erosion varies according to
the completeness of its destruction and its recuperative power.
The conversion of run-off into underground seepage and the checking of
erosion are the two essential forest influences which act together to control
flood conditions.
100 AMERICAN FORESTRY
ADMINISTRATION OF THE NATIONAL FORESTS
Aside from the Weeks Law there has not been any striking legislation
touching national forestry during the year. There has, however, been very
great progress made in national forestry, especially in the administration and
protection of the National Forests. We have now reached a point where the
first work of initiating the administrative machinery has been completed.
The general lines of new policies have been established, and the work now
consists of developing the details of these policies in actual application on
the ground. We now have an organized administrative force and our work
consists of the protection of the Forests, the conduct of the local business,
and developing the Forests for their highest usefulness as rapidly as possible.
This is work about which the general public hears but little. It is, however,
the work which counts, and in which during the past year the Forest officers
on the ground have been making great forward steps. This is well demon-
strated by the results in protection from fire during the past season. In
spite of the fact that certain sections of the West, particularly in Oregon
and part of the Central Rockies, were as dry as in the previous year, never-
theless the record is the best of any since the establishment of the National
Forests. Over 2,000 fires were started, and all were put out. Only a few
single fires did any substantial damage. While these good results in fire
protection were due in part to a better season from the standpoint of the
distribution of rainfall in most parts of the West, they were also due to a
more complete organization of the protective force; to a better equipment of
the foresters for attacking fires; to the increase in trails, lookout stations, and
other improvements; and to a more favorable public sentiment.
We have, however, still our greatest task ahead of us, for it must be re-
membered that most of the National Forests are still great undeveloped
wildernesses without adequate means of transportation and communication.
Every year we are building, as rapidly as available funds permit, roads,
trails, telephone lines, lookout stations, and other improvements necessary
for protection and administration. It will, however, require fully 15 years
at the present rate of expenditures to complete the primary system of per-
manent improvements needed for protection. Every year we are going to
have a hard fight with the fires, so that our greatest problem is now, and
will remain for a long time, that of protection. With the continued support
of Congress there will be a steady development of the Forests in a way to
meet the needs of the people dependent upon them both from the standpoint
of the present and the future.
PROGRESS IN STATE FORESTRY
A very great obligation rests also on the State governments in working
out the problem of forestry. Only a few States in the entire Union are as
yet fully meeting this obligation. The great problem of the States in forestry
today is to bring about the protection and proper handling of private forests.
Organized fire protection under State direction, establishment of a reasonable
system of taxation of growing timber, conservative management of State
forest lands, education of woodland owners in methods of forestry, and such
THE PRESENT SITUATION IN FORESTRY 101
practical regulation of handling forests as may be required for the protection
of the public,—these are problems requiring immediate action in all States.
During the past year there has been more real progress in State forestry
than in any previous year. The feature which stands out most strongly is
that a number of States have gone beyond merely passing forest laws, but have
begun to provide the money necessary to achieve practical results.
The principal work in the different States has been directed toward fire
protection. At length it is realizezd that the prevention of fires is the funda-
mental necessity, and that this can only be accomplished by having a
thoroughly organized State Forest Service. Excellent laws are being passed
in various States looking to the removal of the causes of fires, as restrictions
placed upon railroads to prevent fires from locomotive sparks, regulations
regarding the burning of brush, carelessness of campers, ete. But these laws
are ineffective unless there is adequate machinery to carry them out. A
fundamental principle of fire protection is preparation. <A forest region must
be watched for fires, both to prevent fires from being started and to reach
quickly and put out such fires as may start.
The new State legislation recognized these principles and already fully
twelve different States have inaugurated a measure of fire patrol or watching
under State direction.
Still another element has been introduced into State forestry—namely,
restrictions upon lumbermen to make a proper disposition of their slashings,
in order that the lumbering may not be a menace to the surrounding forests.
The scope of this paper does not permit of an analysis of the various
laws recently passed in different States. Special attention may be directed
to the new forest laws of Minnesota and Oregon, and to the organizations
which are being developed. Important new laws or amendments to old laws
have been passed also in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New
York, Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin, Montana, Washington, and Louisiana.
The new Conservation Commission established in California promises to lead
to important results in forestry and other branches of conservation. Illinois
has made a beginning, making an appropriation to study the conditions of
the State looking toward the development of a system of State forestry.
Several States have made a beginning in forestry through their State institu-
tions, as in Colorado and Missouri. Idaho and South Dakota have entered
upon a policy of exchange of lands with the Federal Government, which will
lead to the consolidation of the State forest lands and the establishment of
a State forest, a move which I hope will be followed by other States having
Similar holdings.
While the record is good in some States, there are still many which are
doing nothing whatever in forestry. Under the provisions of the Weeks Law
the Federal Government may assist a given State in the protection of forests
lying at the source of navigable streams, provided that State has established
and is supporting a system of fire protection. Such assistance has been given
during the past season to Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota and
102 AMERICAN FORESTRY
Oregon. Most of the other mountain States can not receive this assistance
because they are not themselves making proper provision for fire protection
under State direction.
PROGRESS IN PRIVATE FORESTRY
The real advance made in private forestry during the past year has been
in fire protection. Woodland owners are coming more and more to realize
the damage done by forest fires, and are taking action on their own initiative
to secure better protection. Taking the country as a whole, the damage by
fires is becoming more and more localized. There have been, for example,
during the past summer, very serious fires in certain localities, chiefly in
centers of prolonged drought. But the number of disastrous fires is decreasing
and they are not as widely distributed as formerly. The average farmer is today
endeavoring to keep fire out of his woods, so that the damage to the small
woodlots has been very greatly reduced. Among the large timber tracts the
situation is also better than ever before. Not only have the individual private
owners in many sections increased their efforts in fire protection, but there
has been an extension of the idea of co-operative fire protection among owners
of contiguous lands. The work of the fire protective associations is from
year to year more effective as the organization is perfected and the force gains
experience. An important factor in the fire protective work on private lands
has been the increased assistance given by the states and by the Federal
Government. The problem of fire protection on private lands is as yet by no
means solved. The great gains during the last few years, however, show that
in certain regions at least we are on the road to gaining mastery over the
worst enemy of the forests.
Protection from fire is only the first step in forestry. Protection alone will
not ensure the continuance of forest production. Without the use of forestry
methods, ordinary lumbering results in a continued reduction of growth of
valuable species.
The problem of forest production is making advances only in those regions
where there is a good market for forest products. In such regions, as for
instance in New England, the woodland owners are coming more and more
to adopt careful methods of cutting, and in a great many instances are
planting trees.
On the other hand, the handling of large timber tracts with a view to
continued forest production has made but little progress. The number of
large owners doing any work in forestry beyond fire protection is exceedingly
small, and very few of them see any prospect of much being accomplished
by them under the present conditions.
The problem of the large owner is a peculiar one. Ordinarily, he has
2 eigen dae si the merchantable timber upon it and does not expect
bidsia sreisanatin’y eae. okie tags “the [ead ea eee
portion of it ibe agricultural ange Ma oe ae ar pene em i
agriculture, he will dis Y a eto Goce, AMestiee ashe
, pose of in whatever way will bring in the greatest
; THE PRESENT SITUATION IN FORESTRY 103
returns. But there is seldom any idea of holding a considerable portion of the
land for the production of new crops of timber.
The problem of the permanence of use of land for forestry is fundamental.
The average owner does not make investments in forestry on lands which he
does not expect to hold for this purpose, or which will not have an increased
value for sale later on by reason of his investment. Wherever there is a
measure of permanence in ownership of forest land, forestry becomes a practical
business proposition. Forestry requires a consistent policy of use on account
of the length of time needed to produce a crop of trees. Land subject to
speculative holding does not attract investments in forestry, because the
element of stability of policy in use for forest production is lacking.
It is estimated that our private forests comprise some 350,000,000 to
400,000,000 acres. About one-half this area is in small holdings, much of it
comprising woodlots attached to farms. The farm woodlot presents very
favorable conditions for forestry. A good woodlot is a great asset to any
farm. Ordinarily the area devoted to the woodlot is not suited to agriculture
and will be left to tree growth. It is just as much to the advantage of the
farmer to maintain the productiveness of his woodlot as the productiveness
of his fields, not only for his own benefit as long as he owns the property,
but because of the enhanced sale value of the farm. Public education and
demonstration of the practice of forestry will go far to meet the woodlot
situation.
There are also some large lumber companies which are organized on a
basis of permanence, which expect to hold their lands for successive cuttings
rather than to strip them and then either dispose of them or allow them to
revert to the State for taxes. For such large owners forestry is a necessity.
We have therefore the very small owner and the very large owner in the
best position to practice forestry. The reasons are the same in both cases,
namely, that there is a permanent tenure of the land.
The problem most difficult of solution and in which the least progress is
being made concerns the holding of the average lumber company. We may
assume that a small portion of this land will be absorbed by the Government
and the states as public forests. A portion also will be found after cutting
to be chiefly valuable for agriculture and will be used for that purpose. Such
areas may in the present discussion be left out of consideration.
The first necessary step is to remove the two greatest obstacles in the
way of private forestry—namely, risk from fire and an unfair system of taxing
growing timber. This can only be accomplished by the action of the public
through State agencies. This action will in itself encourage the holding of
land for timber production.
The public will, however, not be satisfied with a mere encouragement of
forestry, if it makes investments in fire protection and concessions in taxation.
It will very properly demand that the private owners do their part not only in
preventing dangerous slashings in their operations and also in continuing
good productive conditions on those lands not suited to agriculture.
Already several states have introduced the principle that the slashings
after lumbering shall be so disposed of as not to be a menace from fire. It is
104 AMERICAN FORESTRY
inevitable, in my judgment, that there will be an exercise of a greater measure
of direction by the public over private forests than is now the case. I look
for the time when the states will designate certain lands as Protection
Forests within which the cuttings must be made with a view to the continuance
of the forest.
It is commonly said by land owners that forestry is not practical. This
is usually due to the fact that they do not fully appreciate just what forestry
requires and what would be gained by it. As a matter of fact, the practice
of forestry would in a very large number of cases not only be practical, but
would result in a considerably increased return to the owners. The time has
come when lumbermen should make an actual beginning of forestry on their
own lands, even if the first work is purely experimental.
ACTION BY THE IRRIGATION CONGRESS
AKING cognizance of the importance of forest preservation, the National
Irrigation Congress, which met in Chicago, devoted a portion of its
resolutions to the subject, as follows:
Recognizing the close natural connection between forests and stream-flow,
especially throughout the irrigable region, we heartily commend the Federal
forest policy and favor its continuance and extension ; and we reaffirm our full
confidence in the high integrity and exceptional intelligence of the past and
present officers of the United States Forest Service.
Approving the progressive withdrawal of lands suitable for homesteads
from the National forests, we hold that such withdrawals should be made
in the light of expert investigation showing that the agricultural value of
such lands is paramount to their value both for forest production and for
stream protection.
We favor the enactment by all states of laws to regulate the cutting of
timber on State and private lands, and laws reforming taxation on timber
lands, cut-over lands, and reforested lands, to the end that the perpetuity of
the forests may be assured and the flow of the streams be preserved.
We approve, and direct our Senators and Representatives in the Federal
Congress to support, the Burke Bill (H. R. 14085) reappropriating and
rendering available the lapsed portion of the sum appropriated to provide for
the Appalachian and White Mountain Forest Reserves in accordance with
previous recommendations of the National Irrigation Congress.
The India Forester, published at Dahra Dun, U. P., India, impressed with
the article on fighting forest fires in a recent number of American Forestry
publishes a goodly portion of it, with special reference to the value of the
telephone in giving warning of forest fires.
One of the American consuls in Europe reports that with the exception
of the forests of the Mississippi Valley and those of the Asiatic Caucasus the
oak forests of Slavonia are without equal.
THE ANNUAL CONVENTION
EMBERS of the American Forestry Association present at the thirty-
first annual meeting of the association at the New Willard Hotel in
Washington on January 9, 1912, declared that it was one of the most
successful and enthusiastic meetings that the society has ever held. There was
a gratifyingly large attendance, and at the director’s meetings in the morning
and afternoon, and the general session in the afternoon following the luncheon,
much important business was transacted, while in the evening, at the smoker
given at the Commercial Club by Mr. Otto Luebkert to members of the asso-
ciation and members of various government departments, there was a valuable
interchange of ideas and expressions of opinion.
At the morning session of the board of directors, with Governor Robert P.
Bass, the president, in the chair, there were also present Charles Lathrop Pack,
of New Jersey; E. A. Sterling, of Pennsylvania; Prof. Herman H. Chapman, of
Connecticut ; Otto Luebkert, of the District of Columbia; Chester W. Lyman,
of New York; C. F. Quincy, of New York, and Frederick S. Underhill, of
Pennsylvania. The minutes of the last meeting were approved, and the
treasurer’s report accepted. The finance committee, which is raising funds for
the association, was continued and its report accepted. The auditors’ report
was received and other routine business was transacted preliminary to the
general meeting in the afternoon.
The luncheon was served in the main ball-room of the New Willard at
1.30 in the afternoon, there being a distinguished assemblage of members and
guests. The room was elaborately decorated with palms and greens and the
tables with flowers, the general effect being most attractive. There were ten
tables, seating eight each, and all were filled. An excellent luncheon was
served and greatly enjoyed, and as soon as it ended Governor Robert P. Bass,
of New Hampshire, the president of the association, called the general meeting
to order.
Mr. Otto Luebkert, the treasurer, outlined his report. He said in part:
“The operations of the Association during the year ending December 31, 1911,
show that, exclusive of voluntary contributions, our income met our ex-
penditures within one hundred dollars. There is under way the raising of a
ten thousand dollar fund to create a more ample working capital. The asso-
ciation has also been notified of a legacy of $5,000 by Jane M. Smith, of
Pittsburgh. The use of the income from this legacy is to be devoted to the
creation of life memberships in the association.”
President Bass appointed E. M. Griffith, of Wisconsin, Philip W. Ayres,
of New Hampshire, and E. B. Grandin, of Pennsylvania, a committee on
nominations, and this committee nominated the officers whose names appear
in the first part of this magazine, and they were elected.
A committee on resolutions consisting of S. N. Spring, of Connecticut,
Chester W. Lyman, of New York, and E. A. Sterling, of Pennsylvania, reported
the resolutions elsewhere published, which were adopted.
Upon a motion by Mr. Kelsey, President Bass was authorized to appoint
105
106 AMERICAN FORESTRY
a committee to investigate the question as to the advantages of state nurseries
for the propagation, cultivation and sale of foresty material in competition
with the business of private owners, and report at the next annual meeting.
Mr. Joshua L. Baily, of Philadelphia, presented a resolution relative to
the chestnut tree blight, which was referred to the committee.
Amendments to the By-Laws which were adopted make changes providing
that in the future, dues are payable upon election, and in each succeeding
year upon the same date, and that officers of the association may hold the
office also of auditors.
Mr. Luebkert said: “As a fitting, though somewhat belated, testimonial
to the memory of a former President of the United States, and a statesman
who had done very much to foster the work along the line of forest conserva-
tion, I move that this association elect, as an honorary member for life, Mrs.
Grover Cleveland.”
This motion was greeted with applause and was carried unanimously by
a standing vote.
Mr. J. L. Weaver, one of the newly elected directors, extended the wel-
come of the city to the visitors and expressed the city’s appreciation of their
presence.
The addresses by President Robert P. Bass and Mr. Henry 8. Graves,
Chief of the Forest Service, which were made during the meeting, appear
elsewhere in this number, and the address by Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of the
Bureau of Entomology, will appear later.
Before the meeting adjourned, Mr. Charles Lathrop Pack, of Lakewood,
N. J., a member of the board of directors, made a vigorous speech in which he
spoke about the necessity of every member of the association working to aid
the officers of the association, of going home and sending in half a dozen new
subscribers and doing all in their power to advance the interests of the
association.
After the general meeting, a meeting of the board of directors was held
and routine work in connection with the duties of the directors was transacted.
In the evening over a hundred men assembled at the Commercial Club at
the smoker tendered by Mr. Otto Luebkert, treasurer of the association, and
they had a most instructive and enjoyable time. A couple of hours were taken
up in hearing short addresses about various features of the work of the
association and in the interests of forest conservation, the addresses being by
Governor Robert P. Bass, president of the association; Prof. H. H. Chapman,
of the Yale Forest School, the moderator for the evening; Frederick H.
Newell, Director of the Reclamation Service; F. H. Coville, of the Department
Agriculture; W. B. Greeley, of the Forest Service; William L. Hall, of the
te Z St Service; Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Willet M.
ye; ( - Ji Blanchard, of the Reclamation Service; A. D. Hopkins, of the
date, Ceased HD ee
; slone , of the General Land Office; Dr. David T.
peated of the Department of Agriculture, and W. R. Brown, of New
ampshire.
After these talks haw;
7 ter the se talks, lunch was served and there was a general personal
discussion of forestry and conservation work
THE PROGRESS OF FORESTRY IN WISCONSIN
By E. M. GRIFFITH
Sratre FORESTER
The first forestry law of Wisconsin was passed by the legislature in 1903,
but it was so loosely drawn that practically nothing could be done beyond
setting aside some 40,000 acres on the headwaters of the Chippewa River as
a nucleus for a forest reserve. In 1905 an entirely new forestry law was
passed, its most important features being as follows:
1. The creation of an absolutely non-political State Board of Forestry.
2. The withdrawal from sale of all State lands in the northern portion,
or timbered area, of the State, and the provision making all such lands part
of the State forest reserve.
3. Giving the State Forester the right, after examination and upon ap-
proval of the board, to sell any State lands in the northern portion of the
State, which either were found to be suitable for agriculture, or too scattered
to be of value for a forest reserve, the proceeds of such sales to constitute
a “Forest Reserve Fund,” which should be used only for the purchase of lands
to consolidate the reserves and for the improvement and protection of the
reserves.
The passage of this act by including all State lands in the northern
portion of the State, immediately increased the area of the reserves from
40,000 acres to over 300,000 acres, and through purchases of privately owned
lands over 100,000 acres, at an average cost of $3.00 per acre, have been
acquired, so that the reserves today total some 425,000 acres, and prospective
purchases will increase the total to about 475,000 acres. It is felt that
satisfactory progress has been made in increasing the forest reserves from
40,000 acres to 425,000 acres in seven years, but Wisconsin has only made a
good start as the State must have a reserve of at least 1,500,000 acres in
order to protect the headwaters of the most important rivers; aid in supply-
ing the wood-using industries with the timber which they must have, and
to protect the beauty of the wonderful northern lake region that should
annually bring millions of dollars into the State, through tourists, campers,
hunters and fishermen.
The creation of the “Forest Reserve Fund” was a wonderfully wise move,
as it has encouraged the sale and settlement of agricultural lands, and has
given the forestry board a steady income with which to increase the reserves,
and also provide for their protection and management. In order to further
expedite the purchase of lands to block up the reserves, the legislature in
1911 made an appropriation of $50,000 a year for five years, but this amount
is entirely inadequate and must be largely increased.
What specific object has Wisconsin in view of creating her Forest re-
serves? The State is building up her reserves in some of the most northerly
107
108 AMERICAN FORESTRY
counties, viz: Forest, Vilas, Oneida, Iron and Price, and within this area
there is not only a wonderful lake region of over 1,200 lakes, but also the
headwaters of four of the greatest rivers in the State, viz: the Wisconsin,
Chippewa, Menominee and Wolf.
STATE FOREST POLICY
The State lands set aside for the reserves, as also the lands purchased,
are not suitable for agriculture, being either too sandy, rocky or swampy,
but these lands have grown some of the finest pine timber in the State, and
all the young timber needs is protection from fire. The State forest policy
then is looking to the accomplishment of the following points, viz:
1. The protection of extensive forests upon the headwaters of four im-
portant rivers. This together with the use of many lakes as storage reser-
voirs will tend to make the flow of these rivers unusually regular, thus pre-
serving and even improving many waterpowers, which will become increasingly
valuable, especially since Wisconsin has no deposits of coal.
2. Supplying the wood-using industries of the State with a considerable
amount of timber, and thereby it is hoped keeping many of them within
the State.
3. Preserving the forests in the beautiful lake region of northern Wis-
consin will both protect and greatly enhance its present attractiveness as a
resort region, for not only the citizens of the State, but of the entire Missis-
sippi Valley as well. The value of such a resort region is not generally
understood, even from the dollar view point, but the report of the bureau
of labor of New Hampshire for 1905, shows that the resort business yielded
in that year over $10,000,000, and the report of the Forest, Fish and Game
Commission of New York for the same year, states that it was over $7,000,000.
4, The young timber on the reserves will be protected and denuded areas
planted so that in future years the State will receive a direct and increasing
revenue from the sale of mature timber.
If Wisconsin had been as wise as Canada and retained its timbered
lands instead of selling them, the forester would have a going concern, and
the timber would be his stock, which he would sell as it became mature, and
thus be able to show a revenue at once. But Wisconsin chose in the past
to sell its timberlands to anyone and everyone at a fraction of what their
present value would be, and therefore the State must buy back the timber-
lands that it sold, only now thousands of acres have been cut over, and burned,
and hence it will be many years before there will be much merchantable
timber to sell. The bright side, however, is that much of the timber that was
left is now, with increasing demands, becoming valuable. It is impossible
to foretell what timber will be worth twenty-five or fifty years from now, but
it is, at least, safe to say that it will be worth as much as it is today.
f aking into consideration the acreage of land within the forest reserves
that contains virgin timber and that which is fairly well timbered, also the
areas that contain only young growth and those that must be planted, it is
not probable that in tweny-five years the State would receive a net revenue
of over $1.00 per acre, but at the end of fifty years this should have risen to
PRIVATE CAMP IN THE FOREST RESERVE OF WISCONSIN,
‘NISNOOSIM “TAMASAM LSANOT HHL 10 LUVAH AHL NI 3MV‘I LOAOUL Od
Pees = eS ae _
THE PROGRESS OF FORESTRY IN WISCONSIN 1a
at least $2.00 per acre. It should be explained that the revenue from fire-
wood and all other forest products is included in this estimate, also the
revenue from leasing camp and cottage sites, which will be very considerable.
If then the State acquires a forest reserve of 1,500,000 acres, it should be able
to count on a net annual revenue of $1,500,000 after twenty-five years, and
of $3,000,000 after fifty years.
CREATION OF STORAGE RESERVOIRS
Wisconsin has adopted the policy of allowing river development com-
panies under the most careful State supervision to use many of the lakes at
the headwaters of the Wisconsin and Chippewa rivers as storage reservoirs,
so as to hold and store up the excess or flood waters, and then draw upon
the reservoirs in times of low water when the water powers upon these rivers
are in great need of more power. No new storage dam can be built without
the consent of the State Board of Forestry, and the board also controls the
level to which the water may be raised or lowered, so that the beauty and
attractiveness of these lakes for summer camps and cottages will always be
carefully protected. With a large forest reserve surrounding these lakes
and thus preventing the deep snows from melting too rapidly, and the lakes
as storage reservoirs holding back the spring freshets, the streamflow of
the Wisconsin and Chippewa rivers can be systematically regulated, and thus
the water powers will gain enormously from a constant and even flow.
Wisconsin has gone much farther than the other States in developing a
definite policy looking to the full development of storage reservoirs and the
forest reserves will always protect the reservoirs from silting up.
WOOD USING INDUSTRIES
In 1910 a study of the wood-using industries of Wisconsin was made
in co-operation with the Forest Service, and the main points brought out in
the investigation are shown in the following short summary:
Statistics covering the production of lumber and other products of the
saw mill and woods of the United States are compiled and published annually
by the bureau of the census in co-operation with the Forest Service. In 1860
Wisconsin ranked seventh in the list of States arranged according to the
quantity of lumber produced. Ten years later fourth place was occupied,
third in 1880, second in 1890, first in 1900 and 1904, second in 1905, third
in 1906, and fifth in 1907 and 1908. For the last mentioned year, figures
were furnished by 899 saw mills in Wisconsin, reporting a total production
of 1,613,315,000 board feet, or 4.9 per cent of the total output of all the mills
in the country. Though showing a decrease in production in comparison with
the figures of the preceding year, 1907, Wisconsin retained its relative
position among the States for production. The cut of white pine in the State
has decreased largely in the last few years, though this loss in production has
been offset by the increased output of hemlock and hardwoods. The State
ranked second in the cut of white pine, first in hemlock, third in maple, first
in birch, basswood and elm, fifth in ash, and second in tamarack in 1908.
112 AMERICAN FORESTRY
In view of the position of the State as a producing territory, the reports
of the wood-using industries should be of much value both to lumber manu-
facturers and lumber consumers. The figures given in the report indicate
the volume of each kind of wood grown both in and out of the State which
is used by wood-consuming factories. A comparison reveals the importance
to the dependent industries of perpetuating the home supply. |
Chiefly by reason of its proximity to raw material, its excellent shipping
facilities by rail and water, its geographical position in relation to con-
suming markets, and the existence of skilled labor, Wisconsin assumes an
enviable position among the States wherein wood forms a large part of the
manufactures. An inquiry into the wood-using industries of the Badger State
reveals the fact that more than 930 million board feet of lumber valued
approximately at $20,000,000 is utilized annually in the numerous lines of
manufacture carried on. This is but part of the lumber industry of the
State, as the figures given do not include the vast volume of material turned
out by the saw mills as well as other forest products which are not con-
sidered as raw material for further manufacture. The value of the raw
material only is set forth; were the labor expended upon it and the cost of
other materials with which the lumber is combined, included, however, the
total value of the finished products would soar into additional millions.
Of the 930 million feet reported, a little more than one-half of that quantity
originated in the State. The figures by no means represent the total amount
of wood used, as finished products such as staves and heading used by the
cooperage trade and complete wheels and gear used in assembling carriages
and wagons were not included in the investigation. Neither was there in-
cluded in the totals the heavy volume of lumber that goes into flooring,
ceiling, siding, and other products of the planing mill.
As will be noted from the above summary, more than 930 million board
feet of lumber valued at $20,000,000 is annually utilized in the wood-using
industries, and that already almost 50% of this lumber is purchased outside
of the State. This means that in time the State will lose its wood-using
industries unless the rapid destruction of the forests is checked. A State
forest reserye of 1,500,000 acres can aid very materially in supplying this
raw material, though the State cannot, and should not be expected to do it all.
THE FOREST RESERVE AS A SUMMER RESORT
The State Board of Forestry has adopted the policy of leasing camp and
cottage sites upon the shores of the beautiful lakes within the forest reserve.
Owning several thousand acres of land upon the shores of some of the most
attractive lakes in Oneida and Vilas counties, the State is easily able to meet all
present demands and can lease sites to suit almost any taste.
From ten to twenty acres will be leased to one ‘person or family and
much more to a club or association as they may really need. Leases can
given for a period of twenty years with the privilege of renewal and the
arly rental will vary from $10 to $50 according to the size of the lot re-
quired, its location and the amount of timber upon it. The contract between
as
be
Ax %
THE PROGRESS OF FORESTRY IN WISCONSIN 113
the State and the lessee is very simple, merely providing that the lessee will
cut only such timber as is marked for cutting by the forester, pay the local
price for such logs as he may use in building, use all possible care in building
fires, agree not to sell liquor on the premises or to sublet without the consent
of the Board. For a small additional sum, merely sufficient to cover the
cost, the forest rangers will look after a camp or cottage during the winter
months, or while the owner is away.
The Forestry Board, however, have no cottages to rent, nor can they
build cottages or sell the building materials, except logs from the forest
reserve. Cottage sites will be leased not only to residents of Wisconsin, but
of other States as well.
The forest reserve region should become in time a great summer resort
for people throughout the entire Mississippi Valley, as it has a fine bracing
dry climate, pine forests and sandy soil and is blessed with many of the
finest chains of lakes in the entire county. Vilas County in particular has
a greater area of water than land, and long trips can be made by launch or
canoe. There is plenty of sport for hunters and fishermen and the resorts
furnish good beds and excellent board at reasonable prices.
It would seem that there should be many families in the State who would
like to avail themselves of this opportunity to secure an attractive site upon
one of the lakes within the forest reserves. The Board is anxious to en-
courage the best utilization of the forest reserves as far as possible, and it
is believed that the forest reserve region, especially in Oneida and Vilas
counties is far more valuable for development as a great resort than for any
other purpose, and if this area is protected and every thing done to make it
attractive, it will mean lasting prosperity for all the residents of that section.
As ex-President Roosevelt has so well pointed out, the National forests
as well as the forest reserves maintained by the various States are intended
for the fullest and best use consistent with their protection, and one of the
most natural uses to which a portion of the reserves should be put is as game
preserves for all kinds of wild game.
As stated, the forest reserves in time should be used very extensively
aS a Summer resort and by campers, hunters and fishermen. Much of the
attraction of the reserves will depend on whether there is good hunting and
fishing, and if these are provided sportsmen and tourists will spend a large
amount of money in the State.
Wisconsin propagates through its fish hatcheries many kinds of fish to
stock the waters, but so far the State has done nothing outside of enforcing
the game laws towards maintaining or increasing the supply of wild game.
Now that the State has a forest reserve it would not entail a great expense to
enclose, say, 10,000 acres within a game proof wire fence and authorize the
State Fish and Game Warden to use such funds as are available from time
to time in stocking it. The area to be enclosed should include lakes and
forests so as to have favorable conditions for raising such valuable fur bear-
ing animals as mink, beaver and otter, game birds such as partridge and
pheasant, also white and black tailed deer and possibly in time moose, caribou
and elk. As the game increased it should be distributed in all parts of the
114 AMERICAN FORESTRY
forest reserves and in other parts of the State where is should receive ade-
quate protection. The area of the game preserve could easily be increased
when necessary and one or two forest rangers could easily look after the game
and still be able to attend to a good deal of forest work. It is hoped that the
legislature will authorize the State Fish and Game Warden and the State
Board of Forestry to co-operate in establishing and gradually stocking a
game preserve.
FOREST NURSERIES
In the fall of 1910, the site for a large forest nursery was cleared at
Big Trout Lake, which is in the heart of the forest reserve in Vilas County.
In the spring of 1911, the seed was sown in the beds and seedling count made
in September, 1911, showed that the beds contained the following number of
seedlings:
WVNate UE ety gee ieee eee ey elias, s.6 a sie! arene! a's Glo, eaten 460,992
NOT WAY) PLING erotic tre ole pe ols sitie oie wins ee 20° sla 579,312
Scotch weimes es SAS AG ld REDRESS 198,960
Westerns Vellore tie otras ee/s)cresere o's he) ,6 oe en 89,376
INGEWAY SDEMCE demic istyile oc os ee > ei oh selon 98,832
MEG Pal SECU arcsctets'. 6 2) 0,0 0% ovelcieis e/a eieeene 1,427,472
The entire nursery work has been done under the direct supervision of F. B.
Moody, Assistant State Forester, and he has been very successful in raising
strong, clean seedlings.
In May, 1911, the following transplants were purchased from the Forestry
Department, Michigan Agricultural College, and set out upon denuded lands
within the forest reserves:
VV KE PE THE teratete nie REE et ghee ae. be vis ea celads ORR 181,200
NOE WAY -BING etree niet osicts wie%c+ 6 + 1 ooiale ea eee 1,000
WV CSLOEM VEN iis tied ee alee a.d isco, o's 0-6 v a ba ed a 5,000
NOM Way SPEUCE Me eit t aie wucis te 6 lelves, coe hae a 5,000
Total GEaMSPlANUS 2... 6s eds 5 dels ate 192,200
The Western Yellow pine has done remarkably well, the plants being
wonderfully hardy, and grow so rapidly that it is hoped this species will prove
well adapted to the climate of Northern Wisconsin. Another large forest
nursery will be established near Tomahawk Lake in Oneida County, and it
is expected that within a few years the State will be in position to sell
plants at cost to individuals and companies that may wish to reforest their
cut over lands, which are not restocking naturally.
The College of Agriculture of the University and the State Geological
Survey are making a detailed soil survey of the northern and less settled
portions of the State, and it is thought that when the areas of non-agricul-
ay
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A REMOTE SECTION OF THE WISCONSIN FOREST RESERVE WELL ADAPTED FOR A GAME PRESERVE.
NATURAL REPRODUCTION OF WHITE AND NORWAY PINE ON CUT-OVER LANDS IN
WISCONSIN FOREST RESERVE.
IG TROUT LAKE, WISCONSIN, CONTAINS OVER 1,400,000
SEEDLINGS.
THE PROGRESS OF FORESTRY IN WISCONSIN 117
tural land are definitely determined that the owners will begin to seriously
consider the protection of the young timber on such lands, and even planting
them if this is found necessary.
FOREST RANGERS
In addition to cruisers who are employed in examining and valuing the
lands and timber which are to be bought or sold, the board has a force of 12
forest rangers, who patrol the forest reserves to check the spread of any fire,
and who are in charge of all improvement work in their respective districts.
The Forest Service, under the provision of the Weeks Law, has assisted the
state during the past summer in protecting the forests upon the headwaters of
navigable streams and 12 Federal patrolmen have been engaged in this work.
Most of the rangers and patrols have had crews working under them and
after heavy rains, when patroling was not necessary, the work of building
roads, fire lines and trails has been pushed as rapidly as possible, and
through this work the timberlands, both state and private, are being divided
into fairly small blocks, so that any fire can be held to a small area. The
great number of lakes and streams within the forest reserve makes it a com-
paratively easy task to divide the timberlands into small blocks.
During the summer of 1911 over 78 miles of main roads were built on
state lands and 32 miles on private lands, also 46 miles of fire lines on state
lands and 40 miles on private lands. Twenty-five miles of telephone lines
were constructed, dangerous slashings were burned on over 1,200 acres, and
nearly all the old, dead stubs along the roads and fire lines have been cut.
Nearly all of the main roads have been built by utilizing old logging
railroad grades. It is comparatively easy to remove and burn the old ties
and then the grade is plowed and dragged with the result that not only is a
good wagon road secured, but also a splendid fire line. Either houses or
cabins are being built for all the rangers, and they will all be connected by
telephone with the headquarters camp, and the nearest towns, so that in
case of fire help can be promptly secured.
In addition steel look-out towers, from 40 to 60 feet in height, will be
built on the highest points, and these towers will all be connected by tele-
“phone. |
It is expected that most of the rangers will either have saddle horses
or railway velocipedes in order to patrol their districts as rapidly as pos-
sible. Both the rangers and patrolmen have shown great interest in the
work, and it is hoped that within a short time the University of Wisconsin
and the forestry board will co-operate in establishing a forest ranger school,
so that young woodsmen can be trained both for state work and employment
by lumber companies, and large timberland owners as well.
UNLIMITED RAW MATERIAL FOR PAPER MAKING
IN THE UNITED STATES’
By CHESTER W. LYMAN
BOUT the year 80 A. D., according to an ancient chronicler, there was
A a great commotion in Rome because of the scarcity of papyrus. The
authors of that day apparently feared that both their contemporaries
and posterity would suffer because of an inadequate supply of material on
which to record their writings. The present apprehension on the part of some
persons as to the inadequacy in the United States of a supply of materials for
paper-making is equally groundless and in the eye of the paper manufacturer
is absurd.
FORTY PER CENT OF PAPER NOT MADE FROM WOOD
w
There appears to be an impression that almost all paper is made from
wood and that there is such a scarcity of this material that the prices of paper
have become inordinate. The United States Census of 1909 shows that about
4,200,000 tons of paper were made in that year—of this fully 40 per cent was
made from rags, old paper, manilla, straw and other materials than wood. To
a considerable extent all these materials enter into competition with wood-pulp
for use in paper-making. More or less of each kind will be used according
to their cheapness relative to each other and to pulp-wood. So, too, do the
paper products made from these materials compete to some extent with the
paper products of pulp-wood. Of course, for some purposes only paper made
from certain kinds of raw material will answer, but in general pulp-wood
has no monopoly of the situation, and the use as well as the price of pulp-wood
is determined partly by the cost of rags, straw, and various other raw
materials. About the only class of paper that is made altogether of wood is
news print paper, which is only 28 per cent of the total production of paper.
This 28 per cent requires 1,600,000 cords of pulp-wood or only 40 per cent of the
total of 4,000,000 cords of pulp-wood used annually in the industry. The
other 60 per cent of the wood comes into direct competition with other raw
materials for use in making a large part of the remaining 72 per cent of
the whole production of paper.
GREAT VARIETY OF WOODS USED
Of the 4,000,000 cords of pulp-wood used in 1909 in making about 60 per
cent of the paper of all kinds, 40 per cent was poplar, hemlock, pine, cotton-
wood, balsam, white fir, beech, slab wood and mill waste, and various other
kinds of wood than spruce, which constituted the remaining 60 per cent of
the pulp-wood used.
ie *From The Protectionist for January.
: J
UNLIMITED RAW MATERIAL FOR PAPER MAKING 119
As other kinds of raw materials compete with pulp-wood so do other
kinds of wood compete with spruce. It is largely a question of the relative
cost although, of course, adaptability enters into consideration. This tendency
for one kind of wood to replace another is strikingly shown by comparing the
use of other kinds of wood than spruce in 1900 and 1909 respectively. In
1900 miscellaneous woods were only 24 per cent, but in 1909 they were 40 per
cent of the total consumption of pulp-wood. Thus spruce wood has no more
of a monopoly in the field of paper-making than pulp-wood in general has
over other kinds of fibres.
Of all the paper made, approximately 40 per cent is made from rags, straw,
etc.; 20 per cent from miscellaneous woods, and 40 per cent from spruce.
Of the 40 per cent paper made from spruce about the only class which
is substantially made entirely of spruce is news print paper. Assuming
that all news print paper is made of spruce, it would take 1,600,000 cords or
about 66 per cent of all the spruce pulp-wood used, so that 72 per cent of
the paper made only requires about 33 per cent or one-third of the spruce used.
As a matter of fact other kinds of wood could be substituted very extensively
for this 83 per cent of the spruce used in making all other kinds of paper”
than news print.
SPRUCE WOOD ONLY REQUIRED TO A LIMITED EXTENT
There is certainly no question as to the sufficiency of the supply of rags,
straw, old papers, poplar wood, pine, hemlock, balsam, slab wood and mill
waste, ete., of which 72 per cent of the paper is or could be made. The
U. S. Department of Agriculture stated in 1908 that there are annually pro-
duced in the United States agricultural and industrial wastes suitable for
making 35,000,000 tons of paper. It also said “practically all woods may be
used for paper-making.”
Thus the raw material problem resolves itself into the very simple question
of the sufficiency of material for news print paper, as at present composed. It
was assumed above that it is all made of spruce, but this is not strictly so.
News print paper is composed, roughly speaking, of about 25 per cent sulphite
pulp which is made from pulp-wood by a chemical process, and 75 per cent of
ground wood-pulp which is made from pulp-wood by a mechanical process.
Sulphite pulp used to be made almost entirely from spruce, but in recent
years it has been found that hemlock, balsam, pine and several other kinds
of wood make very good sulphite pulp, and 40 per cent is now actually made
from such woods. There is very little doubt but that this 40 per cent will
go on increasing and leave the spruce more and more for making ground
wood-pulp. This is really the crux of the whole matter, as even today 54 per
cent of the spruce used is made into sulphfte pulp. Ground wood-pulp thus
requires only 46 per cent of the spruce. This amounts to 1,124,000 cords
per annum, and of this news print paper requires 1,000,000 cords, assuming
that the ground wood-pulp is made wholly of spruce. In practice from 10
to 20 per cent of other kinds of wood are mixed with the spruce. Whether
this percentage can be materially increased in future, as the result of
120 AMERICAN FORESTRY
investigations now going on, is somewhat speculative, but it is not at all
improbable that it can be; but under present conditions and those reasonably
assured, the only question at all worthy of serious attention is whether we
ean continue to obtain 900,000 to 1,000,000 cords of spruce pulp-wood per
annum at a price which will not unduly enhance the price of news print paper,
or, in other words, the raw material for only about 24 per cent of the total
tonnage of paper made.
PLENTY OF SPRUCE IN THE UNITED STATES
Granting that we need 1,000,000 cords per annum of spruce pulp-wood, let
us consider the sources from which it can be obtained. We are now using
annually 1,650,000 cords of spruce cut in the United States, but it has been
shown that through the availability of other woods, 650,000 cords of this is
not absolutely required for the purposes for which it has been used. The
same may be said of the 800,000 cords of spruce imported from Canada.
The wide natural distribution of spruce in the United States is indicated
by the statement in the Government’s report on “Forest Products of the
United States” for 1909—that spruce lumber, lath and shingles were produced
in thirty-two states, the principal ones being in order Maine, New Hampshire,
West Virginia, Washington, New York, Vermont, Virginia, Minnesota, and
Oregon. Thus it appears that the North-east, Central-north and North-west
groups of States are all represented. Spruce is found along the whole Appa-
lachian range as far south as North Carolina. Conservation of this species
over this whole area would insure an adequate supply for all time to come.
Ten million acres averaging a stand of growing timber of 5 cords to the acre
or a total stand of 50,000,000 cords with an annual growth of 2 per cent
would yield 1,000,00 cords a year perpetually. There is today at least that
area, that stand, that growth and yield in the State of Maine alone.
COST OF SPRUCE LUMBER AND PULP-WOOD NOT EXCESSIVE
By themselves the pulp mills would be no drain upon the reproductive
capacity of the spruce forests, but consumption for lumber must be reckoned
with. Of the total cut in 1909 of spruce for all purposes, about 32 per cent
was pulp-wood. There is thus a competition between the saw mills and pulp
mills, although at least 25 per cent of the wood used for pulp is not suitable
for saw-logs, being tops and crooked and defective logs which would otherwise
be wasted. Notwithstanding this double demand for spruce, although spruce
lumber has advanced in price 50 per cent in the last ten years, this is not
much in excess of the average advance in the price of all kinds of lumber,
viz., 38.2 per cent, and it is exceeded by many common species, e. g., yellow
poplar, 81 per cent; hickory, oF per cent; ash, 51 per cent; cypress, 53.6
per cent; cedar, 82.9 per cent; cotton-wood, 74 per cent; western pine, 58.7
per cent. There is plainly nothing unusual in the increase in the cost of
spruce with respect to lumber generally, or for that matter almost every other
commodity. Most varieties of lumber compete with each other for many
purposes and this tendency to substitute one kind of lumber for another is
UNLIMITED RAW MATERIAL FOR PAPER MAKING 121
a guarantee that there can be no inordinate advance in the price of spruce
lumber without decreasing the demand and consequently the competition with
the pulp mill. Further than this all the lumber has formidable competition
in materials suitable for the same purposes, such as steel and especially con-
crete for building, artificial board made from waste wood, and coal for fuel
instead of fire-wood (the greatest single item of wood consumption). The
prevention of forest fires (said to destroy more than the axe) and conservative
methods of forest handling will also be important factors in safeguarding
the future supply of lumber and hence of pulp-wood.
CONSERVATIVE LUMBERING BY PAPER MANUFACTURERS
Paper manufacturers, owning timberlands, are almost without exception
conservative in handling them. As a concrete instance, the case of the In-
ternational Paper Company may be cited. In its fourteen years of existence
it has cut on all its lands in the United States less than two-tenths of a
cord per acre each year, which is not in excess of the natural growth. On
its lands in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York there is thus
standing today fully as much timber as in 1898. In addition to this limited
cutting it has established a nursery and has done considerable replanting of
previously denuded or burnt-over areas and abandoned farms. In general,
replanting is not necessary for reproduction, limited cutting being sufficient,
and this is the prevailing practice not only with paper manufacturers, but
others owning pulp-wood lands.
GREAT DECREASE IN PRICES OF PAPER
The real problem confronting the paper manufacturer is not whether there
is an ample supply of raw material, but whether he can continue to meet the
insatiate demands of the publisher for cheap paper if labor, pulp-wood, chem-
icals, machinery, and almost everything entering into the cost continue to
increase. For the past ten years he has succeeded by improving methods and
machinery in holding the price almost stationary. Some kinds of paper are
actually cheaper. Notwithstanding the false impression created by the news-
papers in their agitation for free paper, news print paper on the average is
not 10 per cent higher than ten years ago. Some of the great dailies used to
buy below the general market; prices are now more uniform, and because
these publishers are treated like their weaker competitors they do not like it.
In 1885 the normal price of news print paper was $100 per ton, in 1890, $60
per ton, in 1900, $43 per ton, and in 1911 from $43 to $45 per ton. In this
last decade the cost of labor in the mills and of pulp-wood have advanced
at least 50 per cent and many other items only to a less degree.
PUBLISHERS ASK SPECIAL PRIVILEGE
In the endeavor to meet this ever-resounding clamor for cheap paper, our
manufacturers of newspaper have for the past ten years been importing
from Canada considerable pulp-wood. There are vast quantities over the
122 AMERICAN FORESTRY
border and it is much cheaper in Canada than in the United States, both
on account of the less demand compared with supply and because the Provincial
Governments own the larger part of the timberlands and they sell the
pulp-wood at a nominal price. This is known as Crown-land wood. As a
matter of fact, most of the pulp-wood imported has come from private lands,
but the competition of the Crown-land wood has heretofore fixed the price of
the private-land wood. Canadian wood can be laid down at some of our mills
a little cheaper than domestic wood—just enough to make it available. Only
about 20 per cent of all our pulp-wood comes from Canada, and only a small
part of this has been coming from Crown lands, so that the Canadian re-
strictions on the exportation of pulp-wood, which only apply to Crown-land
wood, will not deplete our supply, although the result may be a slight in-
crease in value.
VAST RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES STILL UNDEVELOPED
If no Canadian wood whatever were imported here, it would not jeopardize
either our paper industry or our forests, provided we were protected in our
market by a fair duty. Vast timberland areas throughout the Southern and
Northwestern states, as yet unexploited for pulp-wood, would supplement our
present domestic sources of supply. Under the stimulus of adequate protec-
tion many new varieties of wood would be demonstrated to be usable. Almost
the whole vegetable kingdom—hundreds of fibres of plants and trees-—awaits
only the commercial incentive to be of service in making papers of all kinds.
There is an everlasting supply of raw material in the United States. Less
than 2 per cent of all the wood cut in the United States is pulp-wood, and
yet, because at the present moment through a practical subsidy by the Canadian
Provincial Governments paper made in that country can be delivered to our
newspapers, if it pays no customs duty, cheaper than we can deliver it and
pay American prices for labor and materials, our politicians, at the behest
of the publishers, seem ready to turn over the industry to Canada on the
specious plea that we lack the raw material here at home. Half of our
various industries would be blotted out if the same fallacious argument
prevailed generally.
TWO FEATURES OF FORESTRY
The part that Colleges and Experiment Stations may play in its Development
From A Paper Reap sy F. W. RANE, Massacuuserts State Forustrer, Berorp
THE ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND EXPERIMENT Stations at CoLUMBUS, OHIO
TAKE it for granted at the outset that forestry is alreay acknowledged
to be a subject worthy for consideration by our colleges and universities
and well adapted for a place in their curriculum; also that experiment
station officials feel that were they able to enlarge their staff by the addition
of a forester, results could be expected in this line of agricultural development
in their respective states.
Forestry is nothing other than an agricultural crop which demands
modern methods of culture and management, as other plants, for both
economic and esthetic results. The forest crop or forestry at once calls to
mind a large class or group of plants of the vegetable kingdom whose funda-
mental importance to a State or nation is necessarily closely related with
its success and progress. Wood or lumber finds innumerable uses.
When our forefathers came to these shores, they found magnificent pri-
meval forests in all their glory—a vast field of grain waving before the wind
as it were. Individual specimens of white pine in New England, Michigan,
Wisconsin and Minnesota; Black Walnut in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Vir-
ginia, Kentucky; Black Cherry throughout the eastern United States; Chest-
nut, Massachusetts to Georgia; Tulip Tree, throughout the Appalachian Range;
all these and many more species could be found that would cut upwards
from three to six thousand feet board measure from a single tree. What has
become of these Monarchs of the forest? Today we point jwith pride to the
forests of the great west and northwest which still remain, but how long will
these forests continue to stand judging from the wasteful methods of the
past? Because the East wasted its birthright, now the West claims similar
privileges.
We have possessed a nation flowing with milk and honey, figuratively
speaking, streams teeming with fish, precious minerals, coal, oil and natural
gas in abundance, wild animals and game of a large variety, forests nearly
everywhere excepting on the rich prairies, soils adaptable for most any kind
of crops, etc., and what have we accomplished with this heritage thus far?
We have built and established a nation great among the nations of the
world. This we Americans are proud of and we have every reason to be, as our
record shows. It was but yesterday our ancestors arrived here and today,
we are a world power—in point of time but a brief minute compared with
the lives of nations.
123
124 AMERICAN FORESTRY
In the development of the nation, we have not wanted for natural re-
sources; they have been awaiting our use. To an intelligent audience of
scientifically trained men like this it is unnecessary to paint any word picture
of our development; to simply ask you to give the subject consideration is to
call its evolutionary history to mind.
Presidents, directors and workers generally, who have coéperative in-
terests in this organization, all realize from their life’s work the importance
of economic utilization and conservation. There is undoubtedly no force that
has met our nations needs and furthered her real fundamental development of
permanency than the work of the institutions represented in this organization.
At the recent National Conservation Congress held at Kansas City, I
was particularly impressed with the fact that the men that that organization
now falls back upon! for permanency are largely the product that is the out-
growth of the work of the Land Grant Colleges and Experiment Stations.
Conservation of Natural Resources is a phrase which has sprung up like a
mushroom in the night and has emphasized through its popularity and sig-
nificance what appeared at the time a new idea. This sudden culmination,
however, was made possible through the educational conditions that have
been constantly at work during recent years together with the psychological
time in the nation’s development.
RESTORATION VS. CONSERVATION
In presenting the report from Massachusetts at the recent Conservation
Congress, I took the liberty of discussing briefly the following “Restoration
vs. Conservation of Natural Resources,” and as it is more or less applicable, I
beg your indulgence in repeating a part of it:
Restoration vs. Conservation of Natural Resources.
“In Massachusetts the work of restoration is even of more importance
than conservation when applied to forestry. The annual cut of our forest
products at present amounts to only five per cent. of that used each year
throughout the Commonwealth for manufacturing, building and other pur-
poses. Surely we can and ought to supply a larger amount of our own home
grown woods. Although the State has been well cut over, even now our
present wood harvests play an important factor in the industries of many
of our rural sections. While, we believe thoroughly in conservation where
it will apply, still the more potent force here begins farther back. We need
to teach the A B C of restoration in Forestry. When our work of reforesta-
tion shall have begun to demonstrate its value, it will be an object lesson,
which will mean much toward perfecting a better state forest policy.”
Practical forest restoration, therefore, is what Massachusetts needs most
If we will reconvert our hilly, rocky, mountainous, moist, sandy, and waste
non-agricultural lands generally into productive forests, the future financial
success from rural sections of the Commonwealth is assured. This is no idle
dream; it can be accomplished. Massachusetts is a natural forest country and
all that is needed is simply to assist nature, stop forest fires and formulate
constructive policies. Then we can grow as fine forests as can be found
TWO FEATURES OF FORESTRY 125
anywhere. Germany and many of the countries of the old world have already
demonstrated what can be done. Are we to be less thrifty and farsighted?
Americans do things, when they are once aroused, and it is believed that
reforestation and the adopting of modern forestry management must be
given its due consideration in this State from now on.
The writer has been delighted in following the interest that has been
aroused and the great tendency for all our people to not only welcome and
appreciate the new idea of “Conservation,” but to even credit the term or
phrase, as covering every phase of new endeavor.
It is not my purpose to lessen the glory one whit, or bedim a single gem
in the crown of the national phrase “Conservation of Natural Resources,”
nor could I were it to be tried, for the heralded motto has already stamped
itself firmly upon the nation.
As time goes on, however, it will be found that our popular phrase will
not carry with it the whole panacea of overcoming our wasteful and depleting
conditions, and that new and equally applicable terms though perhaps never so
popular, will come to express more aptly our real needs.
To my mind the phrase “Restoration of Natural Resources” vies with that
of “Conservation of Natural Resources” and expresses a force to be aroused
in the nation for good that in many ways surpasses the present popular one.
We have our forest reserves and minerals that are left, and now to con-
serve them economically is a worthy undertaking, but in the older sections
of the nation to conserve what we have in depleted and worn out lands and
forests is to pick the bones of the withered and shrunken carcass.
Let conservation apply where it may, but the force that is needed in
Massachusetts and all of New England, yea, the South, extending even well
into the middle of the nation, following the great depleting agricultural cereal
and cotton crops on the one hand, and the lumberman’s axe and forest fires
on the other, is greater than this term can begin to express.
The term ‘Restoration of Natural Resources,” I claim, meets our present
needs far better and breathes greater hope and definite accomplishments for
our children’s children in the future.
GROWING AS WELL AS HARVESTING
Forestry, although it is an agricultural crop and must have greater
consideration in the future, has not received the attention it deserved until
practically the present time. Forest products have been relatively abundant
and cheap in nearly all sections of the nation. Suddenly our needs began to
outstrip the supply and then with advancing prices lumbermen and ithe public
generally have gradually awakened to the necessity of providing for our
present and future needs. We find that it is not only a question of harvesting
the crop from now on, but one of growing it. There has been little demand
for educated foresters in the past as the undertakings were mainly those
of economic methods of lumbering.
Saw logs in the early days were 16 inches in diameter or more, while
~
today with us in New England lumbermen consider the 5 inch saw log of
1256 AMERICAN FORESTRY
equivalent value. Box boards usually cut from white pine regardless of size
of the log or gnarliness of the tree, with wany edges and the bark still
adhering, bring more money today than did square-edge, clean, clear stock
not many years ago. A prominent Boston timber cruiser, who has spent
the past few years throughout the South, called at my office within ten days
and his version of the depletion of the natural forest products of that section
was really amazing.
To my mind there are few subjects wherein the organizations represented
at this association need to participate more actively than that of forestry.
Just because there has not been a definite demand and apparent need until
now is not an excuse for present lethargy.
The older members of this association can well remember the earnest and
farsighted appeal made to this body by the late Samuel B. Green, of the
University of Minnesota, Department of Forestry. Professor Green was par-
ticularly anxious that the Government be called upon to enact a law whereby
each State should have a definite appropriation yearly for carrying on
forestry work. The idea was carried as far as presenting the matter before
Congress H. R. 9219, and known as the Davis Forestry Bill. The bill called
for an appropriation of $5,000 by the National Government on condition that
each State appropriate a like sum. Professor Green said, “when we think of
the enormous value of the forest output of this country, the amount requested
to educate young men to be competent to take care of this forest wealth, seems
trivial indeed. I do not wish to see all the agricultural colleges attempting
to turn out professional foresters, and such would not be the effect of these
proposed expenditures; but the result would be that in a short time we would
have a surplus of young men well trained in the basic principles of forestry,
through whose efforts the forest sentiment of today would crystallize into a
permanent and helpful thing.”
Do we realize that this plan carried out would mean an expenditure
of only $250,000 a year from the National Government and as well furnish
an incentive for the States to take advantage of the assistance. This would
result in placing the work on a progressive foundation at once.
For some reason, we did not take to the idea enthusiastically. There
is no legitimate reason even now for not using our present governmental funds
for this work, but this might cause necessary adjustment and financial com-
plication. Consequently we have been prone to let well enough alone.
A DEFINITE POLICY IS NECESSARY
One thing is certain, we are losing valuable time in not having a more
definite and well defined policy of development for forestry throughout the Na-
tion. While here and there our most progressive states are doing something in
forestry work which example is worthy and is gradually being followed by
others, nevertheless, we are one people and a fundamental industry so impor-
tant to the nation’s welfare should enlist all educational leaders of rural
economics in its behalf.
TWO FEATURES OF FORESTRY 127
Economically the forest crop of the future must play a very important
part. Those of you who have not had time to study it, may be interested inf
knowing its importance to even a small State like Massachusetts. We have
in Massachusetts approximately 5,600,000 acres of land and of this acreage
three-fifths, or practically 3,000,000 is unadapted to tillage or general agricul-
ture. These lands, however, under management can all be devoted to forestry.
Upon a single acre of such land, we have demonstrated from a thorough study of
the white pine that we can grow 40,000 feet board measure in 50 years, or an
average of 800 feet per year. As stumpage is worth from $6 to $12 a thousand
at the present time this would mean an average annual income of from
$4.80 to $9.60. Were it possible to practice modern forestry management
therefore, over our entire 3,000,000 acres of forest lands in Massachusetts it
would mean an annual income of from $14,400,000 to $28,800,000. These
figures may seem very startling at first, but I offer them for your deliberate
consideration. Please remember that the above figures are based on present
prices in Massachusetts and I am willing to leave it to your judgment, whether
future prices are not likely to be even higher.
What is true of the growth of white pine in the old Bay State is more or
less true of forestry conditions elsewhere. When we consider stumpage prices,
we must consider also that these conditions realized, mean economic employ-
ment of manual labor, teams and machinery, together with the saving of
transportation on raw material and the giving of employment to rural sec-
tions during the winter resulting in an all year round occupation.
While Massachusetts does not typify every State it exemplifies that fores-
try and forest products demand our consideration.
The United States Forest Service has done and is doing splendid work
which is having desired results and many States have well organized depart-
ments of State Forestry, but it remains for this association through its present
splendid organization to become more elastic, welcoming the necessary ex-~
tension of its curriculum and investigations to include forestry.
I believe that every State should have its State Forester whose whole
time can be spent in determining and carrying out a definite State forest
policy. Fire protection and regulation, reforestation and general modern
forestry management need constant State supervision and encouragement.
EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE
With a National and State organization perfected the only thing lacking
is the great assistance that must come from educating the rank and file of
our people who are to own and manage these forest lands. There are no
institutions to which this work more naturally falls than to our Land Grant
Colleges and Experiment Stations. Already these institutions are doing for
our people everything possible in every other line of agriculture; then why
should not forestry be included along with horticulture and agronomy? The
department of Botany necessarily teaches the fundamentals of the science
and with little additional equipment and assistance any botanical depart-
ment could give a course in forest botany. What is true of botany is equally
128 AMERICAN FORESTRY
true of entomology, physics, plant pathology, ete. Again, I firmly believe
that forestry should be required in the agriculture courses to a point sufficient
for a comprehensive knowledge of it, allowing students opportunities to
specialize later on.
The principles of forestry can readily be taught in our short courses and
elementary schools provided the fundamentals of botany, soils and nursery
work precede the same. But here again this is made possibly only through
competent teachers, the product from the Land Grant College or similar
institution.
Please do not understand me as an advocate of more forestry schools,
which endeavor to educate the so called technical forester as I believe we
have probably enough of this class of institutions already, but that there is
a great and growing need for a general forestry education sufficient to prac-
ticing modern methods, I am certain.
In Massachusetts again, I believe we have the ideal arrangement. The
State Forester has immediate charge of the shaping and carrying out of the
State Forest policy. The State Forester also gives lectures yearly at the
Agricultural College covering his field of work. The Massachusetts Agricul-
tural College has a Professor of Forestry whose privilege it is to see that all
students are taught a working knowledge of the subject. Where certain
students have shown special proficiency in forestry they undoubtedly upon
graduation may secure credits in forestry schools, but the college does not
claim to turn out a technically trained forester.
By this system of organization, I am convinced that very satisfactory
results can be realized. There is certainly plenty of work for a State Forester
to accomplish without his being tied down to teaching or doing much research
work. His work compels him to be familiar with the general State conditions,
and the administration of field work in forestry management, reforestation,
nursery work, forest insect and disease depredations, the care and manage-
ment of State forest reserves, forest fire protection, etc. The handling of the
forest fire problem alone requires a great amount of supervision to get satis-
factory results. The installation and management of lookout stations, the
work of securing modern forest fire fighting equipment for towns and town-
ships, and keeping it properly housed and cared for so as to be effective, for
proper efficient patrol systems in dry times; all these demand constant atten-
tion. To keep a forest fire system effective the State Forester must be in
close touch with the working unit. What is true of forest fires is equally true
of seeing that forest working plans are properly executed and that all forestry
practices are performed in a practical way.
It therefore, remains for the Professor of Forestry to do the teaching of
students and the Station Forester or the Station Botanist, Entomologist or
Pathologist to undertake the lines of pure investigation. With this definitely
outlined plan results are bound to come.
In closing, I simply desire to appeal to this association in behalf of a
more wholesome position than we have yet reached in recognizing forestry or
the forest crop as needing and deserving more attention than we are at
present giving it.
CONVENTION OF FORESTERS
HE fifth annual convention of the Pennsylvania Department of Forestry
> will be held at Harrisburg on March 5, 6 and 7, and a very interesting
program has been prepared. It is as follows:
Tuesday, March 5. “THe Forester AND His Community.” Morning ses-
sion, 10.30 o’clock.—Addresses of Welcome, by Hon. John K. Tener, Governor,
members of the State Forestry Reservation Commission and visiting friends.
1. The favorable or unfavorable attitude of the community toward forestry.
(a) The reasons for this attitude, A. C. Silvius; (b) How may causes leading
to an unfavorable attitude be removed or ameliorated, Alfred E. Rupp.
Afternoon session, 2.30 o’clock.—2. The attitude of the forester toward
his community. (a) The reflection of his attitude toward his rangers and
employees, Raymond B. Winter; (b) His contact with the community—
(1) His attitude toward his work, Tom O. Bietsch; (2) Interest and help
in matters outside his work, Harry E. Elliott; (c) The results of reaching
school teachers and pupils, R. Lynn Emerick. Evening lecture 8.15 o’clock,
House Caucus Room, Capitol.
Wednesday, March 6. “Forest Urinizarion.” Morning Session, 10.00
o’clock.—1. The importance of an early removal of dead and defective trees.
(a) Protection at a profit, William F. Dague; (b) More rapid regeneration
and growth, T. Roy Morton; (c) Early returns and their effects on the in-
vestment, Prof. E. A. Ziegler; (d) How clearing may be done with least
expense to the Department, Harold E. Bryner.
Afternoon Session, 2.30 o’clock.—2. Impossibility of utilization without
knowledge of markets and specifications. (a) Importance of obtaining de- °
tailed local information by each forester, John A. Bastian; (b) Assistance
of Department, James E. McNeal; (c) Department a clearing house with
reference to these matters. George H. Wirt. 3. Detailed record of cost of
marketable forest products under varying conditions, Lewis E. Stanley. 4. The
relation between roads and markets. (a) Study of markets before road
development, Harry A. Thomson; (b) Sylviculture dictated by road con-
ditions, Forrest H. Dutlinger.
Thursday, March 7. “ManaGemMeEnt.” Morning Session, 10.00 o’clock.
1. Study of Plantations. (a) Expedient methods of reforesting wholly or
partly deforested areas, Hon. 8. B. Elliott; (b) Protection of plantations, John
W. Seltzer; (c) Importance of careful plantation records, Prof. I. T. Worthley ;
(d) Records and protection of plantations in foreign countries, George A.
Retan.
Afternoon Session, 2.30 o’clock.—2. Business methods in forestry. (a)
Forest reserves a State investment, John L. Strobeck; (b) An immediate or
future profit for each operation, Homer S. Metzger; (c) The importance of
detailed records from the beginning of operation, Prof. Joseph 8. Illick; (d)
Scientific management in forestry—(1) Combination and concentration of
abilities and resources, Walter D. Ludwig; (2) Scientific study of operations,
John R. Williams; (e) Outline for uniform reports by foresters, D. Kerr
Warfield.
129
THE AMERICAN MENTAL ATTITUDE ON CONSER-
VATION AND ITS GROWTH
By BOLLING ARTHUR JOHNSON
R. R. 8S. KELLOGG, who has written much and practically, on forestry
matters, believes that efficiency and cooperation will be the key notes of
future success; that only by efficiency in the details of production is it
possible to decrease cost and improve quality; that only by frank and hearty
codperation between producers is it possible to maintain the equilibrium
between supply and demand, to avoid the waste and destruction to which
unlimited competition inevitably leads; that no lumberman wastes because he
wants to buy; that all have wasted because there seems to be no other way
to do; that just as long as operations are conducted on the present plan,
the present waste will be inevitable, and that coérdination in manufacture is
necessary.
The conservation movement has gone forward like a lambent flame across
the ground, as Kipling describes the wizard speed of a certain polo player of
India.
Efficiency methods in the running of all lines of business, the feeling that
it is as criminally careless to waste a piece of wood as it is to toss a loaf of
bread into the street, will have to become a mental attitude in the United ©
States before the idealists, the so-called “Forestry Dreamers” shall have been
satisfied or should be satisfied.
That very attitude, too, is beginning to show in many ways. While
lumbermen as a class have not indorsed the forestry movement, they are
not to be arraigned on the subject, for they have gone much further in the
direction of the adoption of proper forestry methods than has the great general
business public gone forward in) endorsing the methods of efficiency as
preached by that apostle of Scientific Management, Frederick W. Taylor.
Mr. Taylor is more generally misunderstood by the rank and file of
business men today than is forestry by the average lumberman. This fact
was well illustrated only a few days ago by the remarks of a high class, careful
business man who had recently attended a great banquet given by a great
business association which Mr. Taylor had addressed, no doubt scientifically,
and this man was really bored by what he had heard and by what he had
seen and he thought that many others were also bored by what they had heard
and seen. This gentleman went so far as to make fun of the great man’s
endeavors to illustrate his ideas by drawings and was quite insistent that
“Nobody could tell him about his business.” Now that is the attitude of the
average American about anything. He has not yet become fond of being
taught how to manage his affairs from the printed page of books simply be-
cause he has not yet reached the first form in the grammar school in his
education as a “Citizen of the World.”
136
THE AMERICAN MENTAL ATTITUDE 131
All indications show, however, that when he does go forward along new
lines of thought, he will go like Kipling’s polo player, like his trains travel, like
he does business generally, like he goes when he fights as a bull or a bear in
the wheat pit.
Conservation and all its kindred “isms” has taken hold of the American
mind more than sporadically,—it is really assuming constitutional activity.
Jolting out to the lumber district a day or so ago in a rather smelly and
not nearly up-to-date car in this great western metropolis of Chicago, I over-
heard a remark to show that the idea of efficiency in management has filtered
down a long way. Two young railroad men were talking. They may have
been switchmen and were sooty and dusty with the grime of their labor, but
their eyes were bright with health, and while their pronunciation was very
much “Chimmie Fadden,” they talked with intelligence, if not with elegance.
A butcher’s wagon had stalled so that a wheel almost grazed the car.
The name of the butcher had been beautifully painted on the side of the
meat delivery bus, and it was large, attractive and noticeable, but to the
average man it was only a name, but to one of these young railroad men it
was something else and he said:
“Say, Bill, ain’t dat de name of de guy wot told all the railroad brass
collars how to save a million dollars a day in running de roads?” It was
a similar name—Louis Brandis.
Having reason recently to go out into the length and breadth of the
literary realms of this country to secure articles on wood waste efficiency,
conservation, and all those cousins of the forestry movement for publication
in a lumber newspaper soon to be launched in the West, I was surprised by
the number of high class people who knew what was wanted and caught at
the spirit of the thing at once and offered to write reams and reams of pub-
lishable stuff that I only feared could be gotten in such niggardly quantities
that the assembling of it would be difficult. This was borne in on me early
in November when I met an old friend, an advertising man, whose real busi-
ness is advertising signs, putting up those odd and awful things that direct
people to somebody or another’s soap, or declare by winking lights that some-
one’s automobile is the only one on which the wheels are really round.
At all events, I never had any right in the world to imagine that this most
interesting friend of mine was a possible contributing editor.
But he was.
Something was said, of course, about the subject of most interest to me
and this great big forceful American, the engineer of the blinking lights,
leaned across the table, in the buffet smoker on the train and Jong after even
the porter had gone to bed talked of a summer that he had spent with the
Over Forester in the Great Black Forest in Baden Baden, and of the times
when the trees were to be sacrificed and the preparations that were made for
taking down those trees that had ripened and of the old women and the boys
and girls who always gathered about eager for the privilege of gathering up
every little twig and limb in order to carry it away and use it. It was
a pretty story and it will appear some time in the column rules in extended
form.
We, who love trees sentimentally, but who wish to use them as they
were intended to be used, should not feel in the least pessimistic on account
132 AMERICAN FORESTRY
of the apparent slowness with which the lumbermen as a Class have assimi-
lated forestry methods and ideas. The few people who are really in earnest
in the matter of forestry are great big forceful men standing on the hill-tops
of the lumber world and it is natural that it should be so. The rank and
file are coming along in the direction of a full indorsement of these methods,
just as swiftly and more swift, as among lumbermen as a class, than the
great public is moving, as indicated by the remarks of the young railroad
man made about Mr. Louis Brandies, whose name he saw on the butcher's cart.
FORESTS FOR WYOMING
By HON. JOSEPH M. CAREY
GOVERNOR OF WYOMING
BELIEVE everything in reason should be done by the general govern-
ment, by the states and the several counties of the states, to protect
the forests of the country; that wherever it is possible there should be
seed planting and tree planting, with a view of growing forests where it is
possible to grow them, or where the former forests have been destroyed.
This can only be done successfully in a dry country—and Wyoming may be
said to be one of the arid states—where there is a little moisture, or where
the trees and plants may be fed moisture from irrigation canals and irrigation
systems.
By actual experience it has been found that where certain kinds of trees
may be artificially watered, they grow rapidly in a comparatively short time
to such a size as would make railroad ties or ordinary building lumber. To
illustrate: Wherever a ditch or canal is cut in this country and there is any
protection whatever from the winds, trees spring up rapidly from the seed
borne on the waters of the irrigation ditch. The late Sterling Morton, who
did so much for tree planting in this country, said that in this prairie country
trees should be planted on the ground not needed for rights-of-way, for ordi-
nary farm roads and railroads. He even went so far as to say that in a very
short time, by the planting of certain varieties of trees, that railroads would
have near at hand a supply of lumber to meet their annual demands for
railroad ties.
Wyoming has some good forests, and in most instances the plan adopted
by the government is followed, in that only the mature trees and those ap-
proaching a condition of decay may be cut down, with all precautions being
taken to destroy the refuse and avoid fires. The only objection to their system
is that the government has included within its various reservations, large
areas without lumber and lands that they do not expect to try to forest or
reforest. ;
“Gales Aaa hoor ane Breet we ee
aa Nea ifs Eh, enue! as valuable as ever has been
: aR One hea fc nan ae of the decayed trees and pro-
salar Aes , a a sa : Re | orests would have lasted for all time.
: gone, , ually so, and the question now is to see what
can be done to supply their places and to protect the other great forests that
exist within the domains of the United States.
AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION RESOLUTIONS
T the annual meeting of the American Forestry Association in January
A the following important resolutions were presented and adopted and
copies of them were sent to each United States Senator and Congress-
man and to the Governors of all the States and Territories:
RESOLUTION NO. 1
Whereas, the Weeks Act provides an appropriation of $200,000, available until exhausted,
to enable the United States Government to co-operate with states in protecting from fire the
forested watersheds of navigable streams, and
Whereas, the experience of the past fire season has demonstrated the effectiveness of
such co-operation in reducing the damage caused by forest fires,
Be it Resolved, That the American Forestry Association urges upon Congress the con-
tinuation of appropriations to be available annually for this purpose, and
Be it Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the members of the Senate and
the House of Representatives.
RESOLUTION NO. 2
Whereas, an equitable system of forest taxation is one of the essential fundamentals
for the practice of private forestry and as little progress is being made in providing a tax
basis which will not put a premium on the cutting of timber, be it
Resolved, That the American Forestry Association recommends action by the executives
and legislatures of all forested states towards the enactment of legislation which will encour-
age timber production both by the long time management of existing forests and the plant-
ing of new forests, and we recommend to this end that the taxation of forest lands be placed
as fast as possible under state control, and be it
Resolved, That copies of these resolutions be sent to the governors of all states con-
cerned.
RESOLUTION NO. 3
Whereas, a virulent fungus disease known as the Chestnut Tree Blight has already in-
fected a large portion of the region wherein the wild chestnut tree is a native, and threatens
the destruction of this valuable timber tree throughout its range in the United States; and
Whereas, the great body of wild chestnut in the New England States, in New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland has been reached by this infection, and vigorous
efforts are required to prevent its further spread into the states of Delaware, Virginia, West
Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia,
Tennessee, and Alabama; and
Whereas, the states not yet reached by the infection are justly entitled to every possible
help and protection which Congress and the states themselves may be able to employ in sav-
ing their chestnut timber from attack; therefore, be it
Resolved, That the American Forestry Association pledges its support in arousing the
public to combat this disease.
Resolved, further, That the American Forestry Association strongly urges the mem-
bers of Congress to support a bill now pending before that body appropriating $80,000.00
for the use of the United States Department of Agriculture, to be used in a thorough study
and investigation of this tree disease, with the view of devising ways and means to combat
its further spread, and to subject it to possible control, and urges the executives and legis-
latures of the states named above to take measures to check the spread of the disease.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to each member of the Senate and
House of Representatives in the Congress of the United States, and to the governors of the
states concerned.
RESOLUTION NO. 4
Whereas, there are now over 14,000,000 acres of private timberland in co-operative
fire protective associations, and
133
134 AMERICAN FORESTRY
Whereas, experience has shown that these associations have been effective in materially
reducing the damage caused by forest fires on their own and contiguous forest lands, be it
Resolved, That the American Forestry Association recognizes the great value of co-
operative fire protection and most heartily commends the public spirited action of the asso-
ciations already formed and strongly urges the timberland owners of all sections of the
country where fires are serious to avail themselves of the benefits to be derived from
such co-operation, and be it i Hye
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to all such associations now in
existence and to all lumberman’s associations who do not co-operate for fire protection.
RESOLUTION NO, 5
Resolved, That it is the duty of state governments to encourage the practice of forestry
by private owners and that the most effective means to this end are efficient fire protection,
education, and state forests, and reform in forest taxation.
That it is necessary, in order to secure an effective system of fire protection that a
state system of control and inspection be perfected, supplemented as far as possible in
dangerous regions, by state patrolmen employed continuously throughout the danger season.
That in this connection states be urged to co-operate with the national government
under the Weeks law by establishing a system of patrol sufficiently effective to enable
them to secure a proportion of the congressional appropriation for this purpose.
That the educational efforts of states should take the form of popular lectures, pro-
fessional advice to timberland owners and short courses of instruction in state institu-
tions.
That states should acquire land for the establishment of demonstration forests and
experimental areas and that in no other way can forestry be so effectively advanced as by
the actual practice of forestry by the state governments.
That states should acquire large tracts of land unfit for agriculture either because of its
mountainous or sandy character, and should devote it to growing timber, as a matter of
state economy.
That the forestry work of states can be best conducted by technically trained foresters
with practical knowledge of conditions, and that it is of vital importance that the forester’s
office be entirely free from political influence
FORESTRY DEPARTMENT FOR UNIVERSITY OF
IDAHO
Y the action of the lumber and timber interests of northern Idaho the
B University of Idaho will soon have one of the best equipped forestry de-
partments in the United States. $58,000 was voted at a meeting of the
Northern Idaho Forestry Association held in Spokane to consider the question
of prorating the timber holdings of the members of the Association to raise
funds for the erection of a Forestry building at the University of Idaho. Presi-
dent MacLean and Dean Carlyle were present and outlined the work and future
probiems and possibilities of the Forestry department. Dr. C. H. Shattuck,
head of the department, explained his work in seeking commercially profitable
processes of handling the by-products of the lumber industry. Realizing that
only scientific investigation can discover such processes, the lumber and timber
men of northern Idaho voted the money needed to enable Dr. Shattuck to carry
on his investigations.
“Sawed products,” said Dr. Shattuck, “represent less than forty per cent
of the total products of the tree. The lumberman needs the help of the scientist
in finding ways of utilizing the sixty per cent. In Europe the by-products are
often more valuable than the lumber products. Among the valuable by-
products of our western woods for which there is an increasing demand are:
ethyl alcohol, thirty-four different kinds of paper, turpentine, ee creosote,
eee on ee ae pyroligneous acid, acetic acid,
, ; ; coal and coke.”
UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO 135
“The lumber manufacturers of the Northwest have failed to utilize these
by-products, not from choice, but through necessity. It is the purpose of the
University of Idaho to co-operate with them and to carry on experiments to de-
vise methods of extracting in the most economical manner the by-products from
the woods of this region, and also to discover uses and markets. This part of the
work will be put in the hands of an expert industrial chemist. In addition to
these lines of work, we intend to conduct high-grade courses in Forestry, with
laboratory courses in lumbering and secondary wood-using industries, and
also a strong course in logging engineering.”
The tentative plans for the Forestry building, upon which Dr. Shattuck
has been working for some time, call for a three-story building, with a one-story
annex for a practical saw-mill and wood-treatment laboratory. There will
also be a basement to contain the forestry-pathology department.
The main portion of the building in the tentative plan is to cover 60x100
feet. On the first floor will be the library, a suite of offices, draughting rooms,
a museum, an auditorium and the wood distillation laboratory.
The second floor will have lecture rooms, the wood-structure laboratory
and the herbarium and dendrological laboratory. On the third floor will prob-
ably be offices and research laboratories.
In the saw-mill there will be one working floor, with a filing room above.
On the working floor will be the timber testing laboratory to test the strength
of timbers, the wood-products laboratory for making boxes, shooks, etc., the
wood working machinery, a band saw, the motor and boiler, trimmers and
grading tables, a re-saw and edger, a dry-kiln, the timber preservation labora-
tory, with vats for both open and pressure processes, and a small pulp mill.
The mill will be run by machinery.
The building will be erected in the near future, as both the school authori-
ties and the lumber and timber men are eager to have the work begun as soon
as possible.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Many of our readers frequently desire to secure some expert advice regarding various
features of forestry work, and do not know to whom to apply for the information.
The Editor has accordingly decided to establish this column in which he will be glad to
publish such questions as may be sent to him, and give the answers, whenever the ques-
i relate to any detail of the work which this Association is doing or such information as
it can give.
p The Editor requests that communications be written on one side of the paper only and
if possible, be typewritten.
THE CHESTNUT TREE BLIGHT COMMISSION
N nineteen hundred and eleven the Pennsylvania State Legislature passed
a bill authorizing the Governor to appoint a Commission of five citizens
for the purpose of thoroughly investigating the Chestnut Tree Bark
Disease which is rapidly destroying the chestnut trees of the Commonwealth.
The Act placed an appropriation of $275,000 at the disposal of the Commission
for the investigation and scientific study of the problem, and more specifically
to ascertain the exact extent of the blight, and to devise ways and means
through which it might, if possible, be stamped out.
The Commission was appointed in June, 1911, and, after organization,
began its work immediately by sending a large force of experts into the field.
The reports of these experts together with the results of the work of the
pathological staff, will, among other matters, be presented for discussion to
a Convention called by the Governor to assemble at Harrisburg, Pa., February
20th, next.
In order that the other States not yet touched by the blight, but certainly
in its line of advance, may realize the seriousness of the situation, the Gover-
nor, who is much interested, has called this Convention for a consideration
of ways and means, in the hope that the States may be aroused to action
and be ready to meet the invasion at their borders. Pennsylvania’s problem
is now or soon will become the problem of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massa-
chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Mary-
land, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio,
Indiana and Michigan. Active co-operation of the States is essential. And
the attendance of a large number of delegates is expected.
Mr. Harold Pierce, Room 1112 Morris Building, Philadelphia, is the secre-
tary of the Commission.
The nurserymen of California recently effected an organization for the
purpose of “advancing the material and social sides of the nursery business.”
Among the promoters of the organization are F. H. Wilson, Leonard Coates,
Fred H. Howard, Almon Wheeler, Thomas Chisholm, George C. Roeding, John
S. Armstrong, and E. Gill, Mr. W. V. Eberly, of Niles, California, was elected
president.
The Wisconsin forest reserves have increased in the last six years from
40,000 to 423,000 acres, but the State must have a reserve of at least
2,000,000 acres in order to protect the headwaters of the most important
rivers, according to the statement made by State Forester E. M. Griffith in
an address on “State Forestry,” before the Department of Political Economy
and Social Science at Lawrence College.
136
STATE NEWS
Massachusetts
Secretary Charles M. Bailey, of the State
Forestry Division of Massachusetts, speak-
ing on Forestry Development in New Eng-
land at Boston recently, said : “No ques-
tion is of greater economic importance in
its relation to the future development of
New England than forestry. There is no
enterprise which offers greater possibilites of
establishing permanent prosperity than the
clothing of our non-agricultural lands with
commercial trees, and the proper conserva-
tion of the forests now left to us.
“There are in Massachusetts today ap-
proximately one million acres of barren,
desolate land now absolutely idle. These
acres may again be made to produce timber
to the value of millions of dollars. .Not
only is this true of Massachusetts, but
similar conditions exist in the other New
England states.”
State Forester Rane, working under the
provisions of the reforestation law, has now
set out more than 40 separate plantations
of white pine, covering several thousand
acres, at an average cost of less than $10
per acre. He has on hand now several
hundred acres of land ready for planting
next spring. The nurseries maintained by
the Forestry Department at Amherst will
supply the seedlings for this work.
Arkansas
In connection with the administration of
the Ozark National Forest, the United
States forest service has recently granted re-
wards amounting to $250 for evidence fur-
nished leading to convictions for setting fire
to the woods. Payments of $125 each have
been made to Joseph A. Bost and John W.
Bost, both of Rex, Van Buren County,
Arkansas. These rewards are the result of
Congressional action taken in the hope of
encouraging the conviction of fire trespass
cases on the National Forests.
In discussing the case Supervisor Kiefer,
of the Ozark National Forest, said: “I am
very much gratified with the outcome of this
case since it stands as an excellent object
lesson to those who are bent upon indis-
criminate woods burnine. The conviction
shows that burning the National Forest is
unlawful, and further that this law, which
is state as well as federal, can be very
rigidly enforced.
West Virginia
A dispatch from Wheeling, West Va., says:
“Shortly after the reconvening of Congress,
the National Forest Reservation Commission
will receive estimates on those tracts of
land recommended by inspectors of the Bu-
reau of Forestry as suitable tracts for the
institution of forest preserves.
“West Virginia is vitally concerned in these
hearings, as a half dozen inspectors spent
a goodly portion of the past summer exam-
ining land in proximity to the watersheds of
the State that appeared to be suitable sites
for the establishment of forest preserves.
“Under the Weeks law, which provides for
the Appalachian forest reserve, the govern-
ment has the right to purchase several thou-
sand acres of West Virginia land conducive
to the establishment of reserves.
“Pendleton, Randolph, Pocahontas, Web-
ster, Tucker, Preston, Greenbrier counties,
are interested in the hearings; and, as the
time for the consideration of opinion on
tracts of land in these counties, whose pur-
chase is contemplated by the government,
draws near, an influx of lobbyists from the
counties named is expected.”
Connecticut
The General Assembly of Connecticut, in
session in 1911, passed the following act:
The state forester and the tax commissioner,
with three other persons whom the gover-
nor shall appoint, shall constitute a com-
mission, serving without compensation, to
examine and consider the laws of this state
and of other states and countries concern-
ing the taxation of forest lands. Said com-
mission shall report to the next general
assembly the result of its investigations,’
with its recommendations thereon. ¢
The members of the commission are as’
follows: State Forester S. N. Spring, New
Haven, Conn.; State Tax Commissioner Wm.
H. Corbin, Hartford, Conn.; Ex-Governor
Rollin S. Woodruff, New Haven, Conn.;
Mr. F. H. Stadtmueller, Secretary of the
Connecticut Forestry Association, Elmwood,
Conn.; Prof. Herman H. Chapman, Yale
Forest School, New Haven Conn. The State
Forester called the first meeting of the com-
mission on December 29. Ex-Governor
Woodruff was elected chairman and S. N.
Spring, secretary of the commission. The
first meeting included organizing, a discus-
sion of the problems before the commission,
and the preparing of preliminary plans for.
work. i
Colorado
A meeting of forest supervisors of Colo-
rado will be held in Denver early in Feb-
ruary for the purpose of discussing some
of the problems of active forestry work.
It is expected that Forester Henry S. Graves
will attend the meeting, but this has not
137
138
definitely been settled. The session is to
be called by District Forester Smith Riley.
Among the problems to be discussed will
be proposed methods of disposing tempo-
rarily of large tracts of land in the na-
tional forests which are not open to settle-
ment, but which are suitable for use of stock
during the grazing season. It is the policy
of the department, Forester Riley said to-
day, to give the utmost publicity to the
existence of these tracts in order that the
stock men may take advantage of them.
Indiana
The Indiana Forestry Association held a
meeting in Indianapolis a few days ago and
elected the following board of directors for
the coming year: Governor Marshall,
Charles W. Fairbanks, Addison C. Harris,
President Bryan, of Indiana University;
President Stone, of Purdue University;
President McConnell, of DePauw University ;
Charles A. Greathouse, State Superintend-
ent of Public Instruction; Professor M. B.
Thomas of Wabash College; Dr. J. N.
Hurty, W. A. Guthrie, John B. Conner,
Edgar Perkins and George B. Lockwood.
Ohio
The Ohio State Forestry Society, at its
annual session in Columbus on January 11,
voted in favor of the state reforesting the
lands that revert to it for unpaid taxes, and
also of having the state buy cheap lands for
reforestation. Addresses were made_ by
Professor C. H. Goetz, of Columbus, Pro-
fessor A. D. Selby, of Wooster, and others.
These officers were elected: Professor W.
R. Lazenby, of O. S. U., president; W. J.
Green, Wooster, vice-president; J. J. Crum-
ley, Wooster, secretary; H. C. Rogers,
Mechanicsburg, treasurer.
Minnesota
The gatherine of pine cones to furnish
seeds for the planting of forests in various
states of the Union and in Europe is be-
coming quite an industry in Northern Min-
nesota, according to reports from Bemidji
and other places. Fifty cents a bushel is
offered for the cones in most cases, which
furnishes a living wage to the boys and In-
dians who engage in the work and a good
profit for those in charge.
Jack pine cones are the principal kind col-
lected, although the cones of all varieties of
pine are marketed. According to State For-
ester Cox, the jack pine seeds are used in
Europe for crowding other trees in planting
forests.
California
Contrary to the impression apparently be-
coming current, that prospecting on national
forest lands is to be restricted by the forest
service, District Forester Coert DuBois, at
AMERICAN FORESTRY
San Francisco, has issued a statement, just
received by Supervisor E. W. Kelley, of the
El Dorado forest, that there is no intention
of changing the existing policy of the for-
est service which encouracres prospectors in
every possible way. Permits for prospect-
ing on national forest lands never have been
and will not be required.
The Act of June 4, 1897, which makes
provision for the administration of national
forests, specifically says that prospectors
shall not be prohibited from entering upon
national forest lands for the purpose of
prospecting, locating or developing the
mineral resources therein.
In harmony with the plan of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, to increase the effici-
ency of the forest service in California, there
will be a reorganization of that work be-
ginning with the new year. The increase
in the number of forest fires within the
past few years and the fact that the forest
rangers were compelled to cover such large
areas that they could only have personal
supervision of but a small nart of their ter-
ritory has made changes imperative.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is getting into the procession
as the following comment from the Okla-
homan, of Oklahoma City, indicates:
“The larger part of Oklahoma is of prairie
formation and, while in the eastern part
splendid forests are to be found, Oklahoma
has not enough trees.
“One citizen of this state who lives at
Nowata has purchased 5,000 trees, which he
will plant on his farm. The tree-planting
habit has not become epidemic in Oklahoma,
although in late years much progress has
been made in forestry.
“Since the school children have been taught
the value of trees, and have actually engaged
in planting them on Arbor Day, there has
been a general revival in the interest of
forestry and the prairies of Oklahoma are
beginning to be dotted with groves of trees
that will be as artistic as they are valuable.
“But we will never get too many trees.
Every citizen should arrange to plant some-
thing next spring, if it be only a single tree.
A tree to each person would make nearly
2,000,000 additional trees. As many will
plant hundreds and even thousands, only a
few years will be required to make the
state famous for its trees.
Vermont
The Vermont State Forestry Department
knows of three industries that desire to
locate in Vermont providing they are assured
of sufficient hardwood supply with whic
to make their product. This information,
given out by the Department, is probably
an indication that the industries are desirable,
and will not damage the state’s progressive
pebeaet in the matter of forest preserva-
ions.
STATE NEWS
Pennsylvania
There are 15,000,000 acres in Pennsylvania
better adapted for growing trees than for
pasturage or raising crops. About half of
this acreage is either barren and entirely un-
productive or the products from it barely
pay the expense of obtaining them. The
State has bought 945,000 acres of this land,
and the present desire of the Forestry Com-
mission is to continue these purchases until
not less than 6,000,000 acres have been ob-
tained. It is now waste land and to grow
trees on it calls for a long-time investment
without any interest until the trees are ma-
ture, which does not appeal to private capital.
The land is carefully investigated before it
is bought by the state and none is acquired
which does not have a clear title. The
average price paid has been about $2.25 an
acre and much of it can now be sold for
three or four times the purchase price, owing
to the healthy growth of young timber on
it. The public forestry work will be sup-
plemented, as soon as legislative consent
can be acquired, by assistance to private
timber land owners. It is proposed that
all private timber lands placed under the
direction of the State Forestry Department
shall be assessed at only $1.00 an acre for
a number of years, and in return for this
low assessment the tracts must be cared
for in accordance with the directions of the
Department.
Kentucky
The Governor of Kentucky, in his annual
message to the legislature on January 2,
said in part: “I believe it is imperative
that the General Assembly adopt a proper
and adequate policy of forest protection,
not only with the purpose of saving the
timber now standing, but of| reforesting
the cut-over, the burnt-over and unforested
districts of the state. A majority of the
states are maintaining bureaus of forestry.
“T recommend:
“First—A State Forester, to be appointed
by the Governor, who, by training and
experience, is thoroughly qualified to handle
technical forestry problems, as well as for-
estry educational work.
“Second—A campaign of education
should be inaugurated and the State For-
ester should lecture at Farmers’ Institutes
and encourage elementary instruction in
forestry in the public schools; also pre-
pare and distribute appropriate bulletins.”
New Jersey
The annual report of the New Jersey
State Forestry Commission, sent to Govy-
ernor Wilson January 8, shows that the
condition of forests in New Jersey are
improving; that forest fires have become
less destructive than in former years: that
many penalties have been imposed for
violation of laws which have been en-
forced, and that much good has been ac-
complished.
The commissioners are unanimous in the
belief that forestry has attained a permanent
place in this state. Seven years ago, when
139
the commission was created, the report says
that the woodlands of the state were so de-
graded that few persons believed it possible
to save the remnant. Fires in South Jersey
and reckless cutting in North Jersey were
responsible chiefly for this condition. It is
shown that today the situation is far more
promising. Interested owners are in con-
trol of the woodlands in the north, and the
security against fires in the south has demon-
strated the forests there still may be saved.
Oregon
State Forester F. A. Elliott, of Oregon, in
speaking of the necessity of the conservation
of the forest wealth of the state, says:
“Owing to lack of transportation facilities,
our lumber business has grown very slowly,
but last year we jumped from the eighth
place among the states to third place;
only Washington and Louisiana _ record-
ing greater lumber production. In a very
few years, at the most, we will be manu-
facturing more lumber than either of these
states, and this must continue as long as
our timber lasts. It is very important, then,
that we use every means within our power
for the protection of this, our greatest
natural resource, and see to it that there
is as little waste as possible in handling,
manufacturing and marketing forest
products.”
Montana
Advices received at Butte, Mont., state that
President Taft and Secretary of the Interior
Fisher have approved of the plan submitted
by Governor Edwin L. Norris and Attorney
General Galen recently at Washington, for
the creation in Montana of a state forest re-
serve, which will embrace from 400,000 to
500,000 acres of land.
New York
Bills providing for the reforestation of
lands in New York State have been pre-
pared for introduction in the legislature by
Senator George F. Argetsinger. For some
six months Senator Argetsinger has been
devoting much of his time to the study of
the question which he found to be complex
and in which there were many problems
which he found were not easy of solution.
The general vlan of the bills is to create
an incentive to land owners to plant trees
on land which is not now cultivated. To
provide this incentive the bills allow a re-
duction in the tax on land devoted to the
growing of trees.
One bill provides for the taxation of
auxiliary forest reserves and is a companion
measure to one defining and establishing
auxiliary forest reserves and providing a
penalty for the violations of the provisions
therefor.
In section one the bill establishing forest
reserves, all land set apart for the growing
of trees in accordance with the terms of
the bill are made to constitute a separate
and distinct class of lands to be known as
auxiliary forest reserves.
140
Florida
Several thousand camphor | trees have
recently been planted by the officials in charge
of the East Bay Florida ranger station at
the forest nursery located there and, accord-
ing to the statement of Forest Supervisor
Eldridge, the indications are that this valu-
able tree will do well in this forest, which
will prove much to this section of the state
if this be true.
Last year a few hundred of these trees
were planted in the nursery at East Bay
and Mr. Eldridge says they have shown
themselves well adapted to that section, and
it was principally due to the apparent suc-
cess of this first experiment that the gov-
ernment decided to try the experiment on a
larger scale and had the planting done this
ear.
x The government has maintained an ex-
perimental planting station for the camphor
tree near Lake City for the past four or
five years and the experiments conducted
there have met with such success that efforts
AMERICAN
FORESTRY
are being made on the part of the govern-
ment to induce private capital and individuals
to undertake growing them on a commercial
basis.
Indiana
In his annual report, C. C. Deam, Secretary
of the Illinois State Board of Forestry,
recommends that the state purchase such
lands as will not permanently support agri-
culture and devote them to scientific for-
estry. This is the only solution of the pro-
blem the board of forestry has to suggest.
The principal argument for such a plan
advanced in the report is that the state will
never be reforested by anv other means.
There are thousands of acres of eroded hill-
sides and worn-out fields in the state which
should be planted to forest trees, it says.
But investigation shows that in a majority
of cases the owners of these lands are too
poor to bear the expense of reforesting, so
that the matter is neglected and conditions
annually become worse.
NEWS AND NOTES
Mr. Graves’ Report
Henry S. Graves, United States Forester,
in his recently issued report, says of the co-
operation with states and private timber-
land owners:
“The most important work of the year
was in pursuance of Section 2 of the Weeks
law, which appropriated $2,000,000 for co-
operation with the states in protecting the
forested watersheds of navigable streams
from fire. Such codperation is extended only
to states which have provided by law for
forest-fire protection and have appropriated
funds for that purpose. The amount ex-
pended by each state must at least equal
that spent by the Federal Government. Prior
to July 1 agreements were entered into by
the Secretary of Agriculture, specifying as
the maximum amounts to be spent by the
Government during the remainder of the
calendar year, if needed, the following: In
New Hampshire, $7,200; in Minnesota, $10,-
000; in New Jersey, $1,000: in Wisconsin,
$5,000; in Maine, $10,000, and in Vermont,
$2,000. After the close of the fiscal year
similar agreements were concluded providing
for a maximum expenditure of $1,000 in
Connecticut, $5,000 in Oregon, $600 in Mary-
land, $1,800 in Massachusetts, and $2,000 in
New York.
; “The Federal funds were to be expended
in each instance for the salaries of patrol-
men exclusively. Codperative agreements
were entered into only after the State had
submitted a fire plan and a ma» showing
in detail the number and location of the
protective force to be employed, the location
of telephone lines, lookout towers and other
structures forming a part of the protective
system, the amount of State funds to be
expended for various features of the pro-
tective system, and how the Federal moneys
allotted to the state would be used to sup-
plement state expenditures. The agreements
provide for inspection, by officers of the
service, of the operation and efficiency of
the cooperative protective system.
“Past experience in examining woodlots
and privately owned timber tracts has shown
that the methods of forestry recommended
are actually put into effect in far too small
a percentage of cases. While the educa-
tional value of the cases where forestry is
practised is very great, it is important to
increase their number. An attempt to do
this is now made by giving greater attention,
in the investigation made and reports sub-
mitted to owners, to the pecuniary advantages
of good over poor methods of management,
and by studies of market conditions in order
to show owners how best to dispose of the
products of their woodlands. Primary con-
sideration is given to the applications and
needs of small owners, since they are more
disposed as a rule to put the methods recom-
mended into operation.
“As the number of state and private for-
esters increases, cooperation with private
owners is being gradually restricted. The
needs of applicants from states in which
it is still difficult to secure expert informa-
tion and advice are, however, so far as
possible, provided for. Examinations of a
single woodlot in a locality are not ordinarily
made. Instead the interest of several owners
in a community is sought by informing ap-
plicants that a field examination will be
made upon a joint application signed by a
number of owners in the same locality. The
cost of such examinations is shared by the
owners, on an acreage basis. In connection
"NEWS AND NOTES
with such examinations studies are usually
made of market or other conditions which
apply to the community as a whole, and of
the possibility of codperative shipments of
forest products. Public meetings with dis-
cussions of local forestry problems, the dis-
tribution of publications, the formation of
local forestry clubs if advisable, and the
collection of additional data needed for serv-
ice publications are valuable features of
this work.”
The Government has vigorously under-
taken the reforestation of Oregon and Wash-
ington and during December cones of the
Douglas fir have been collected on an enor-
mous scale. For the first time in the history
of the Pacific Northwest steps have been
taken to replace the forests now being cut
away. According to the present plans of
the National Forest Service this work will
be continued year after year. :
Gathering fir cones has become a new 1n-
dustry throughout this state. During Sep-
tember men, women and children picked the
cones, being paid 50 cents per bushel for
them. ‘They were then taken to the govern-
ment extracting plant at Wyeth, Ore., where
the seeds were extracted, and large areas of
the national forests will be reseeded during
the coming winter.
A total of almost 10,000 bushels of the
fir cones were secured by the forest serv-
ice or about 7,000 sacks, which will be
sufficient to plant about 7,000 acres. This
is but the beginning of this work, and each
succeeding season will see large additions to
the replanted areas as the seed is available.
Homesteaders in western Oregon and
Washington, where the fir trees are numer-
ous, made money gathering the cones, re-
ceiving three to five dollars per day in
many cases where the coniferous trees bore
heavy crops. ‘
Formerly the Government secured its fir
seed from Germany for the comparatively
smal) eforestation werk that has been done
in the West, but the foreign supply became
inadequate to the demand and, in fact, Ger-
many herself is now seeking to buy Douglas
fir seed in America.
Official Recognition
Official recognition of the British Columbia
Government has been extended to the West-
ern Forestry and Conservation Association
by William P. Ross, of Victoria, Minister
of public lands.
In a letter received by Judge A. L. Fle-
welling, president of the Forestry Associa-
tion, Minister Ross specifically indorses the
work of the association and incloses a $100
check as a government contribution to ex-
penses.
In reply Judge Flewelling wrote Minister
Ross as follows:
“Your letter is one of the most sincerely
appreciated testimonials we have ever re-
ceived. Our two-fold work of bringing about
141
better public sentiment toward protection of
forest resources and of guiding and encour-
aging liberal expenditures and improved
methods by forest owners is, we think, having
excellent results, but it is especially gratify-
ing to learn that you, on the other side of
the line, have found it worth noticing and
approving in such a substantial manner.”
A County’s Ambition
An effort to have 50,000 trees planted in
Onondaga County, New York, during the
coming year will be made by the Board of
Supervisors. Untillable lands will be used
for this purpose.
Not so very long ago the Board of Super-
visors appointed a committee on reforesting
and Charles S. Keller was placed at the head.
He has made a thorough study of the lands
of the county and reforesting, and has plan-
ned to make this one of the county features
next year. He has been in communication
with the Forest, Fish and Game Department
of the State, and is now in a position to
carry on the work of reforesting the county
on an extensive scale.
Minnesota’s Good Work
Note should be taken of the practical work
being done for forest conservation in Min-
nesota, where 30,000 acres of bare prairie
have been planted with trees under the State
law which allows a maximum bounty of $15
an acre for successful planting. The limit
for which this bounty is paid to one person
is $150 for 10 acres in the course of six
years, and it is estimated that only one acre
in 20 now being grown to timber receives a
bounty, but the law is said to give an effec-
tive stimulus to private enterprise.
A Government Timber Sale
The Government is advertising for bids
on a large body of timber on the Tahoe
National Forest, in California, with an offer
of terms which inaugurates an important de-
parture from the policy of the past.
About 73 million board feet of saw timber
is offered for sale, with a 10-year period for
the removal of the timber. The National
Forests contain a vast supply of merchant-
able timber, estimated at the equivalent of
over 500 billion feet board measure, a great
part of which is ripe for the ax or already
overmature. In many cases, however, the
purchaser has to make a very heavy initial
investment in transportation facilities. To
have this pay, he must be able to figure on a
large operation, requiring a number of years
to carry through.
The Tahoe sale will call for the construc-
tion of 20 miles of railroad, which will be
a common carrier and therefore decidedly
beneficial to the community—another reason
for making the sale which is taken into ac-
count. A minimum price of, $2.50 per thou-
sand feet for yellow pine, the amount of
which is estimated at 52 million feet, and
142
also for sugar pine, and of $1 per thousand
feet for all other species, is specified in the
advertisement. ‘The interest which has been
shown by lumbermen in this sale leads the
Forest officers to believe that one or more
bids will undoubtedly be received. The usual
conditions of cutting National Forest timber,
to insure a renewal of the forest and close
utilization of what is cut, will be incorporated
in the contract of sale.
English Forestry Association
The English Forestry Association has re-
AMERICAN FORESTRY
cently been formed, with the following offi-
cers: President, Lord Clinton; Honorary
Secretary, Mr. Duchesne; Council, the Earl
of Shaftesbury, the Earl of Chichester, Lord
Hastings, Mr. L. Courthope, M. Pe,
Mr. Chas. Bathurst, M.P., Colonel E. J.
Mostyn, Mr. S. H. Cowper-Coles, Mr. F. G.
Burroughes, Mr. Arthur Arnold, Mr. W.
Anker Simmons, and Mr. Gerard H. Morgan.
The objects of the association are to en-
courage the demand for English timber and
generally to be of service to English pro-
ducers of timber.
EDUCATIONAL
Better Forest Schools
Much progress has been made recently in
the movement aiming to standardize forestry
schools in this country. Chief Forester
Graves says of this work: “At present there
are some 20 institutions purporting to give
high grade training in forestry, but con-
siderable difference still exists in the amount
of training and in methods of instruction.
At the conference here several days ago
reports from 16 of the most important schools
in the United States on standardization were
discussed at length and a report was pre-
sented from a special committee appointed
to see what could be done along this line.
The committee was retained to pursue its
work.
“There is need also of properly-equipped
ranger schools. While high grade training
is being well taken care of, there is a lack
of schools of the lower grade for the train-
ing of rangers for work in the public service
and in private forests.”
Site for Forestry School
Dr. C. A. Schenck, director of the Bilt-
more forestry school, which is in winter
quarters in Germany, has requested the New
York State conservation commission to aid
him in procuring suitable quarters for the
school in the Adirondacks. The Biltmore
students will return to the United States
early in April, and it is desired to obtain
for them quarters near the large New York
State nurseries in Lake Clear Junction,
where they may have instruction and prac-
tical observations in tree nursery work.
Biltmore Students
The Bulletin of Biltmore students’ work
says: “The end of December finds us still
in Darmstadt, deeply engrossed in the studies
of the German Forests. Dr. Schenck has
completed his course in sylviculture, and has
headed us into the lines, the angles, and the
twists of surveying. Sylviculture, as taught
by Dr. Schenck, and in the surroundine con-
ditions, has proven a most interestine and
beneficial study. The practical experience
in making seed-beds, in transplanting and
out-planting, and the intimacy with German
forestry which we are obtaining through our
field work, have been most valuable auxi-
liaries to the course of lectures. Throush
centuries of experiments with many failures
and few successes, German sylviculture has
attained the highest degree of perfection.
Here we should be able to obtain the very
best training in the subject. And though
the United States cannot successfully practise
for financial reasons, the advanced German
type of sylvics for some time to come, we
can profit by their experience. American
conditions are continually contrasted and
compared with those of Europe bv the
faculty, and methods and solutions are sug-
gested; for we all appreciate the need of
practical foresters with practical methods in
America.”
Gifts to Yale Forestry School
The Springfield Republican says: “It is an-
nounced that Andrew Carnegie some time
ago promised a gift of $100,000 to the en-
dowment fund of the Yale forestry school
as soon as its endowment funds reached
$500,000, and only $40,000 is now needed to
complete that sum. Another promise of
$100,000 to erect a memorial building for
forestry purposes has been made by a person
whose name is not made public, and it is
expected that that fund soon will be paid
in. The future plans of the school include
the purchase, if the funds can be raised, of
a school forest with an area of several thou-
sand acres, to be used for practical forestry
work and to be situated as near as possible
to the school.”
Forest Service to Aid
Another example of that educational co-
operation between State and college that is
already so common in the West and is
rapidly becoming more common in the East,
is furnished by the University of Washington
which announces a short course in forestry
started on January 2. The course is de-
signed especially for forest rangers and
guards, for timber owners and for all persons
who want some knowledge of forestry and
who have only a limited time to give to the
subject. The National Government has set
its seal of approval on the scheme by promis-
ing the lecture services of some of its ex-
perts. Instruction will be practical in every
sense of the word and an abundance of
field work will necessarily be one of the
features.
CURRENT LITERATURE
MONTHLY LIST FOR JANUARY, 1912
(Books and periodicals indexed in the
Library of the United States Forest
Service. )
Forestry as a Whole
Encyclopedias, dictionaries and calendars
Forst—und jagd-kalender, 1912, v. 40, pt. 1.
237 p. Berlin, J. Springer, 1912.
Forest Education a
Jackson, Edwin R. Forestry in nature study,
with a key to common kinds of _ trees
by Wm. H. Lamb. 43 p. il. Wash.,
D. C., 1911. (U. S. Dept. of agriculture.
Farmers’ bulletin 468.)
Forest Legislation
New Hampshire—Forestry commission. State
of New Hampshire; forest laws and
organization of the forestry department.
63 p. map. Concord, N. H., 1911.
Washington—Legislature. Forest protection
law, to preserve forests and prevent and —
suppress forest fires, 1911. 25 p. Olympia,
Wash., State board of forest commis-
sioners, 1911.
Forest Botany
Trees, classification and description
Winkenwerder, Hugo. Short keys to the
trees of Oregon and Washington. 16 p.
Seattle, Wash., University of Washing-
ton.
Silviculture
Planting
Maldonado, Ernesto. Das dunas de Chanco
i Tongoi. 17 p. pl. Santiago de Chile,
Impr. Cervantes, 1908.
Pruning
Balfour, Isaac Bayley. Report on tree
pruning. 6 p. pl. London, Published by
His Majesty’s stationery office, 1911.
Forest Protection
Insects
Hopkins, A. D. The dying of pine in the
southern states; cause, extent, and rem-
edy. 15 pageumemwacm DD. C., 1911.
(U. S.—Dept. of agriculture. Farmers’
bulletin 476.)
Swenk, Myron H. A new sawfly enemy of
the bull pine in Nebraska. 33 p. il.
Lincoln, Nebr., Agricultural experiment
station, 1911.
Diseases
Kern, F. D. A biologic and taxonomic
study of the genus Gymnosporangium.
104 p. N. Y., 1911. (N. Y.—Botanical
garden. Bulletin, v. 7, no. 26.)
Selby, A. D. A brief handbook of the dis-
eases of cultivated plants in Ohio. 456
p. il, Wooster, O. 1910. (Ohio—Agri-
cultural experiment station. Bulletin
214.)
Fires
California—State board of forestry. A hand-
book of forest protection; forest laws,
rules for the prevention of fires, list
of firewardens, 1911; July issue. 63 p.
Sacramento, Cal., 1911.
Washington—Forest fire association. Fourth
annual report. 20 p. Seattle, Wash., 1911.
Western forestry and conservation associa-
tion. Proceedings of forest fire con-
ference of the forest protective organiza-
tions of the Pacific Coast, Portland,
Ore., Dec. 4, 1911. 34 p. il. Portland,
Ore., The Timberman, 1911.
Wyman, Thos. B. The relation of the min-
ing industry to the prevention of forest
fires. 7 p. Munising, Mich., 1911.
Forest Administration
Norway—Skogdirektoren. Indberetnine om
det Norske skogvaesen for 1910. 209
p. Kristiania, 1911.
Philippine Islands—Bureau of forestry. An-
nual report of the director of forestry
for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911.
42 p. ol., diagr., map. Manila, 1911.
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. The national forest manual;
claims, settlement, administrative sites.
AO fn, WEL, IDE (C5 iene
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. Report of the forester for 1911.
78 p. Washington, D. C., 1912.
Vermont—State forester. Third annual re-
port, 1911. 44 p. pl. Burlington, Vt., 1911.
Forest Utilization
Lumbering
Penny, John Compton, Comp. Tasmanian
forestry; timber products and sawmill-
ing industry. 2d ed. 98 p. il, map.
Hobart, Tasmania, Dept. of lands and
surveys, 1910.
W ood-using industries
Maxwell, Hu. The wood-using industries
of Louisiana. 16 p. New Orleans, La.,.
Lumber trade journal, 1912.
Forest by-products
Veitch, F. P. and Donk, M. G. Wood
turpentine; its production, refining, prop-
erties and uses. 76 p. il. Wash., D. C.,
1911. (U. S—Dept. of agriculture—
Bureau of chemistry. Bulletin 144.)
Wood technology
Warren, W. H. The strength, elasticity,
and other properties of New South
Wales hardwood timbers. 100 pb. il.
diagr. Sydney, 1911. (New South
Wales—Dept. of forestry.)
143
144
Auxiliary Subjects
Statistics and commerce ee
British Columbia—Bureau of provincial in-
formation. Yearbook of British Colum-
bia and manual of provincial informa-
tion. 358 p. pl. Victoria, B. C., 1911.
Southern commercial congress. Proceedings,
3d annual convention, Atlanta, (Gar
March, 1911. 1064 p. Wash., D. (Gy asl,
Conservation of resources.
Wisconsin—Conservation commission. Sec-
ond report. 75 p. Madison, Wis., 1911.
Physiography
Bowman, Isaiah. Forest physiography ;
Physiogranhy of the United States and
principles of soils in relation of _for-
estry. 0759 p. il, pl’ IN: \¥20J:. Wiley
& Sons, 1911.
Nut culture
Kyle, E. J. The pecan and hickory in Texas.
ge p. il, Austin, Mex 71911 | Glexas—
Dept. of agriculture. Bulletin 19.)
Periodical Articles
Miscellaneous periodicals
Agricultural gazette of Tasmania, Nov., 1911.
—Forestry notes; eucalypts, by L. Rod-
way, p. 567-8.
Botanical gazette, Dec., 1911—Light intensity
and transmission, by B. E. Livingston, p.
417-38.
Breeder’s gazette, Dec. 20, 1911.—Fenced
pastures in range flock husbandry, by
J. T. Jardine, p. 1292-3, 1346.
Breeder’s gazette, Jan. 10, 1912.—Growing
Christmas trees, p. 107.
Gardeners’ chronicle, Dec. 9, 1911.—Ulmus
plotii, by G. C. Druce, p. 408-9; The re-
moval of tree stumps, by A. P. Long; p.
411.
Journal of the Linnean society; Botany, Nov.
30, 1911—Supplementary list of Chinese
flowering plants, 1904-1910, by S. T.
Dunn, p. 411-506.
Philippine journal of science; €. Botany,
Noy. 11.—Alabastra Philippinensia, 3, by
C. B. Robinson, p. 319-58.
Phytopathology, June, 1911.—The rusts of
Tsuga canadensis, by P. Spaulding, p.
94-6.
Phytopathology, August, 1911.—Notes on
Peridermium cerebrum Peck and Perider-
mium harknessii Moore, by G. G. Hedg-
cock, p. 131-2.
Phytopathology, Dec., 1911—Injury to Pinus
strobus caused by Cenangium abietis, by
B. Fink, p. 180-3. ;
Revue horticole, Dec. 16, 1911—Populus lasio-
carpa, by S. Mottet, p. 564-5.
Science, Dec. 29, 1911.—A new record of a
chestnut tree disease in Mississippi, by
_C. Rumbold, p. 917. é
Science, Jan. 5, 1912.—Devastation of for-
ests in the White Mts., by F. W. Very,
p. 31-5. i
Smithsonian institution, Annual report, 1910.
AMERICAN
FORESTRY
—Progress in reclamation of arid lands
in the western United States, by F. H.
Newell, p. 169-98; Transpiration and the
ascent of sap, by H. H. Dixon, p. 407-25;
Forest preservation by H. S. Graves, p.
433-45.
Trade Journals
American lumberman, Dec. 16, 1911.—De-
velopment of natural resources con-
sidered a unit, by G. Pinchot, p. 42, R;
Far west timber protection; conserva-
tion considered in convention of coast
forest fire associations, p. 45-8.
American lumberman, Dec. 23, 1911—Winter
operations in northern woods; work at
camps in Michigan p. 40-1; Taxation of
American timber holdings by C. W.
Ward, p. 50-1.
American lumberman, Jan. 13, 1912.—Present
uses of wood waste, p. 46-7.
Canada lumberman, Dec. 15, 1911.—Logging
under government supervision; forestry
principles applied to lumbering operations
in western Canada, p. 32; Forest sur-
veys; what they cost, by C. A. Lyford,
p. 39; Lumber trade in United King-
dom, by J. H. Quail, p. 42.
Carriage monthly, Dec., 1911.—Great oaks
and their homes, by C. F. Shiels, p. 36-7.
Lumber review, Dec. 15, 1911—Wood blocks,
the ideal -avement. by W. H. Dean, p. 11.
Lumber trade journal, Jan. 1, 1912.—The
wood-using industries of Louisiana, by
H. Maxwell, p. 19-33.
Municipal journal and engineer, Jan. 4, 1912.
—Creosoting paving blocks p. 9-10.
Paper trade journal, Dec. 21, 1911.—The
future of our southern gums, by C. D.
Mell, p. 48.
Pioneer western lumberman. Dec. 15, 1911.—
A log lowering device, by F. G. Frink,
p. 29.
Railway and engineering review, Dec. 16,
1911.—Doueglas fir for structural pur-
poses, by G. M. Duncan, p. 1074-5; Ques-
tions in tie treatment, by F. D. Beal, p.
1075-6; ‘he wooden dowel situation in
Europe, by J. Thiollier, p. 1076-7; Fire
proofing for timber trestles, American
railway bridge and building association,
p. 1077-81.
Railway and engineering review, Jan. 13,
1912—Improved method of treating ties
and timbers, by W. F. Goltra, p. 29-35.
St. Louis lumberman, Dec. 15, 1911—The
sugi process, p. 24, 80.
St. Louis Lumberman, Jan. 1, 1912—Pre-
venting the sapstaining of lumber, p. 64;
Lumber problems, by C. H. Shattuck, p
67.
Southern industrial and lumber review, Dec,
1911—Tupelo, tupelo gum, or bay poplar,
by H. von Schrenk, p. 46-7; Douglas fir ;.
its present and future, by C. M. Duncan,
p. 48-9.
Southern lumber journal, Dec. 1, 1911—Cut-
ting logs in the woods as a basis of
better grades of lumber at the mill, by
AL JeiClarkesipent4=5e
lay vou nominated anv friends for
membership in the Association ?
#€ not—why ?
Che more members tt has the greater
will be the Assorciation’s tnfluence tn
forest conseruatton.
Nominate at least one person for mem-
bership. It requires but a little thought,
a little effort—and ruery little helps.
‘KIVA
American Forestry
VOL. XVIII MARCH, 1912 No. 3
THE NEW ITALIAN FOREST POLICY
By DR. GUIDO A. R. BORC HESANI
N his recent treatise on public forest econ. ny, Prof. Albert, of the For-
i est Academy of Eberswald, gives th. follow.ng summary of the prin-
ciples underlying the German forest policy: “to stimulate the con-
sciousness, in every branch of the national economy, that the real interest of
agriculture is synonymous with that of sylviculture.”
Now the state of affairs has been just the reverse of this up to the present
in Italy, as in every country whose economic development is backward, such
as Spain, Greece, ete. It is customary in the agricultural-pastoral class to
consider the forest as antagonistic to pasturage and to farming; and when
the Government intervened for the purpose of putting a stop to the deleterious
effects of this ignorant attitude, it only aggravated this sterile antagonism by
imposing purely negative restrictions.
And yet for sylviculture also—as the present Minister of Agriculture in
Italy, the Hon. Nitti, justly remarked for agriculture—the problem is a prob-
lem of production. Like all problems of production, however, it is resolved at
bottom into a technical and organization problem. This, in fact, is the weak
point of Italian sylviculture, the main source of all the evils that afflict it and
indirectly disturb the whole of the national economy: the real reason of its
apparent sterility. We possess merely a modern forest technique which cor-
responds economically to our conditions and needs; we have not an active,
sound and normal forest production, on the basis of a provident and sus-
tained preservation.
It is natural, therefore, that in the face of a form of production which
is inferior and disorganized, other productive forms which are better organized
and, although less modern, are steadier and more consistent, should prevail,
albeit in a somewhat parasitic manner. That is to say, it is natural that the
Italian mountaineer (and two-thirds of Italy are mountains), who does not
know how to estimate and utilize the intrinsic value of the forest,—the
maximum volume growth—should prefer to break it up for the purpose of
cultivating it, however badly, as long as the erosion of the soil allows him;
or that he should send his sheep and goats to the forest to undermine its
147
148 AMERICAN FORESTRY
existence, when he does not burn it in order to gain a poor and temporary
pasture ground; because the only thing he knows is how to grow a little corn
or obtain a small quantity of wool or of milk.
The problem, therfore, is not so much a matter of wasting time in the
consideration of more or less useless juridical questions, as to whether or no it
is the case to deal with the forest from the point of view of its secondary
effects, but rather to study a way of placing forest production on a sure
technical basis, because where a forest is naturally suitable, it will also be
economically satisfactory.
ITALY’S ENORMOUS IMPORTATION
Economic bases are not lacking when there is the desire to utilize them.
Timber is the product which has most increased in price on the international
market, having increased by 300% from 1860 up to the present day. At the
present time, Italy imports $45,000,000 worth of forest products every year,
that is to say, one-fourteenth of her total imports. Our most important im-
porter, after Austria, is the United States, for a sum of about $5,800,000.
The excedent of the importation upon the exportation of forest products in
Italy is $17,000,000, about one-seventh of the total excedent of imports upon
exports; and this difference is exceeded only by that of metals and mineral
products, especially coal. But while the latter is a deficit with which Italy
can do nothing directly, the former deficit is our own fault and we could re-
pair it, instead of paying so many millions abroad, much more than we pay
for wheat and flour and meat, the scarcity of which is so justly lamented.
A few figures will be sufticient index of the deficiency and inferiority of
forest production in Italy, brought about by the negligent way in which it has
been conducted. Whereas in countries which have a progressive sylviculture,
like Germany and Austria-Hungary, the annual timber product of an acre of
forest is a total of 45 cubic feet; in Italy this product is only 30 cubic feet.
an A more serious side of the question, however, is that we produce only
¥.(0 Cubic feet per acre per annum of the product which has really the great
est value—timber—while the other producing countries nearly quintuple this
amount, having a timber product of 18 cubic feet. The consequence of this is
that our timber consumption is also abnormally restricted, being 3.7 cubic
feet per inhabitant per annum, instead of 15 cubic feet. as Me the industrially
progressvie countries of Europe, like England, Germann and Switzerland
here is a vast difference between these figures and those Of the United Stat a
Where the annual consumption per inhabitant is 160 cn feet i
This enforced restriction in the consumption of wo )
timber, is a serious impediment to many national industries. It w i
Left that the Second Italian Forest Congress, held at mia ee
ate oe ae the purpose of indicating the direction taken by the positive
I ollcy allirmed in the first Congress at Bologna, gave particular atten-
tion to the problem of forest production. This is the fuaneation of the It li
forest policy as of every other, because it alone puts this policy on a ee
od, and especially of
A TREE IN THE GREAT ITALIAN STATE FOREST, TUSCANY.
THE NEW ITALIAN FOREST POLICY 151
sound basis; otherwise,—it is useless to deceive ourselves—if the criteria of
unsound forest administration followed in Italy up to the present be con-
tinued, any forest policy or action whatever is foredoomed to certain failure,
being in antagonism with the very essence of national economy.
NEED OF NATIONAL POLICY
In fact, also for Italy, a policy which recognizes and promotes the
economie importance of the forest is the only concrete, truly national policy.
This is the fruitful principle of every sound forest policy, in Germany,
Austria, Switzerland, Rusia, India, Japan, Australia, and let us hope also in
America; and we must adopt it in Italy also, following the Scandinavian,
English and Australian example and the strenuous defenders of the forests in
America, if we wish to reconstitute a productive and permanent forest
wealth. We must preserve and develop this wasted forest wealth of ours by
means of rational utilization, if we do not wish to suffer one of these days
from the threatened scarcity of wood which is already pressing upon us.
Dr. Fernow, in his suggestive and learned History of Sylviculture, thus
briefly defined (1) the reasons of Italian forest impotence:
“The difficulty of determining what is and what is not necessary to re-
forest, what is and what is not absolute forest soil make ostensibly the great-
est trouble and occasioned delay, but financial incapacity and political influ-
ences bidding for popularity are probably the main cause of the inefficiency.”
But at the first Great Italian Forest Congress which brought together in
June, 1909, at Bologna, under the patronage and with the strong interest of
H. M. the King of Italy, all the highest personages of the political, agricul-
tural and economic worlds of the Italian Nation, the principle of the positive
intervention of the State was proclaimed for the first time in Italy, and
crystallized in the following vote, proposed by the Minister of State, Hon.
Luzzatti:
“The Congress decides that in conjunction with all the prohibitive and
limitative bonds must be associated a positive policy of the State, which has
up to the present been lacking.”
A STATE FOREST LANDS ENTERPRISE
And it was as a matter of fact in actuation of the vote of the Bologna
Congress, which found a wide echo in Parliament and in the country, that
the law entitled “Provisions for the State Forest Lands and the Guarding
and Encouragement of Sylviculture,” was passed in June, 1910, by the Cham-
ber and Senate. This law, which materialized the vote of the Forest Con-
gress of Bologna, has as its main object the creation of a State Forest Lands
Enterprise, instituted under the form of an autonomous undertaking, for the
purpose of “providing, by means, of the amplification and inalienability of
State forest property and by giving the example of a good industrial regimen,
for the increment of sylviculture and the commerce in national forest products”
(Art. 9).
152 AMERICAN FORESTRY
As far as the safeguarding of sylviculture is concerned, it is provided
that the forest belonging to the communes, provinces, public institutions,
corporations, associations and share companies must be utilized in accord-
ance with the prescriptions of the forest authorities.
For the reconstitution of extremely deteriorated forests, the Ministry is
authorized to grant the technical direction gratuitously and to give bonuses
of from $4 to $8 per acre.
Barren lands, or those covered with grass or bushes, which are submitted
to a rational reafforestation by their owners or by societies of owners are de-
clared exempt from the Jand tax for 15 years if planned for coppice, and for
40 years if laid out for high forests.
The Forest, central and local authorities also should give gratuitous as-
sistance to forest growers for the defense of small mountain properties and
for the encouragement of the foundation of associations and societies of for-
est owners.
The sum of $6,600,000 is ascribed on the budget for the first five years
from the putting into force of the law; after which period the necessary in-
creases will be settled fixed in the agricultural budget.
Now, as we have already stated, when once the principle of the positive
intervention of the State was affirmed, it was necessary to establish in what
way this intervention should be brought to bear on the lofty task of bringing
about the resurrection of Italian forest culture, and of regulating the regimen
of the waters compromised by the deforestation.
And it was thus, at the Second Italian Forest Congress, held at Turin
last August, that among the other reports. discussed and approved was that
of Messrs. Maganzini and Valentini, civil state engineers, illustrating the
plans for the application of the new law for mountain basins, approved in
July of this year; which law was prepared by Mr. Maganzini himself, who is a
member of the Superior Council of Public Works, and fixes a fund of $12.-
000,000 for the regulation of the fluvial basins, most of which are torrential.
REFORTS ON THE SITUATION
A report of the Superior Forest Inspector, Manfren, and the Under In-
spector, Di Tella, was then approved; this report established the necessity
for a system of forest statistics. Another report that was approved was that
by the writer of the present article, materializing the technical problems of
Italian sylviculture in the following manner, in order that sure and efficient
working plans might be prepared:
1. To improve and render less costly the technics of afforestation;
2. To improve existing forests, and more particularly:
(a) to insure the most rapid regeneration of the forests, after the
removal of the cutting products;
(b) to cultivate the most remunerative tj : ies ;
(c) to bring to full density forests . toe nee
(d) to produce plants of good form and quality ;
(e) to obtain the greatest volume increment possible contempo-
Ck ene
. ¥ vet
Gad
e 4, =
TREES IN THE ITALIAN STATE FOREST, TUSCANY.
‘NOLONIHSVM ‘AX'TIVA VNXSNVA ‘GUVHOUO W’IddV ONONOA
Del
#
THE NEW ITALIAN FOREST POLICY 155
raneously with the fuller density of the forest and the better quality of
the wood.
As to this end affirmed as the principle of every positive forest policy
that:
“A forest must be considered and guarded as a productive capital to be
submitted to regular management, as a protection against the erosion of the
soil and a regulator of the circulation of the waters.”
And expressed the desire that the institution of a Forest Experiment Sta-
tion, with the following definitive aims and relative endowments, should be
rendered compulsory in the bill presented to Parliament for the reform of
forest instruction :
(a) to prepare the yield-tables of the principal tree species, native
and acclimatized ;
(b) to study the acclimatization of new remunerative forest spe-
cies ;
(c) to study and improve the methods of forest plantation ;
(d) to study the technical properties of Italian timber products
with the object of a better utilization; and finally, recommended that
in order to get a preliminary knowledge of the elements of forest produc-
tion in Italy, which is of such great economic importance and urgency,
the inquiry into the private forest production started by the Federazione
Pro Montibus be intensified and extended as much as possible.
In this way we shall have learnt the lesson taught by Dr. Fernow, and
the seeds planted by the Congresses of Bologna and Turin will take root and
develop to the benefit of the entire Italian nation, the forest economy of
which, on account of its geographical formation, its climate, its commercial
exchanges and industrial development, should form a third part of the entire
economy of the nation.
The Italian Forest Congresses will be continued and organized every
two years by the Pro Montibus Federation (Piazza Borghese 5, Rome, Italy),
which was constituted precisely on the occasion of the Bologna Congress for
the purpose of promoting more particularly the improvement of sylviculture,
reafforestation, the systematization of the mountain forests and forest econ-
omy in general. Its President is Hon. G. B. Miliani, a strenuous and great
paper-mills and lands owner.
The man who makes the greatest success of orcharding at the present
time is the man who is giving the most attention to the contrei of insect pests
in his orchard. While this may not be absolutely true in ali cases it is true
in the majority of them, at least.
Neat summer the forests of Michigan will have the added protection of
a big force of Michigan Forest Scouts, the boy organization now being per-
fected by Major W. R. Oates, State game, fish and forest warden, as a means
of interesting the lads in the conservation of the woods as well as teaching
them woodcraft in a practical way and then putting their knowledge to a
practical use.
THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT
By C. J. BLANCHARD
Sratrstician, U. S. RecLAMATION SERVICE
O the bulk of our citizens the Great American Desert is still a region
apart, and illusions concerning it which obtained in the days of Webster
and Clay still persist. The average citizen of the East, whose vacation is
usually spent abroad, and there are more than 200,000 unpatriotic Americans
who annually seek their recreation in the Old World, regards our rainless coun-
try as the habitation only of hostile savages and deadly reptiles. Millions of
our people, crowded in our great cities, have never felt the uplift of its unmeas-
ured distances and its far-flung horizons. To those the desert means desolation,
thirst and loneliness; a waste place, forbidding and terrible, wherein civiliza-
tion has no place. Instead of a level plain of sun-baked, shifting sand, our
desert is a region of varied and interesting topography, with every gradation of
climate from semi-tropic to north temperate. It posesses all the climates of
Europe, while its scenic wonders have no rivals in any country. In our desert
proper are located all the important National parks, whose 5,000,000 acres of
territory embrace more natural wonders than can be found in all other parts of
the world.
To those of you who are accustomed to taking your vacations abroad, I
wish it were possible to convince you that in our own country there are moun-
tains which in sublimity and grandeur equal any in the Old World. The
traveler may enjoy the wonders which a prodigal Nature has lavished upon us
with a greater degree of ease than he finds in Europe tours.
Infinite variety characterizes the colors of the desert, for this is a land
where the atmosphere itself has color. Strange and incomprehensible are the
magical changes of tint in rock and bush and cloud at different hours of the
day. These colors are often so transitory that the eye receives impressions
which the mind refuses to accept as real.
The West needs more people and more money. If we could divert one-half
of the present tourist travel from Europe toward the West we would hold in
circulation in this country more than $250,000,000 ; all of which is now annually
expended abroad. The knowledge of the West and its resources gained by the
tourist on his trip to view our scenery would increase his confidence in western
securities and would encourage larger investment. The lure of this new coun-
try is so compelling that many who come would remain and take their part in
its upbuilding. The returning tourist would direct others to seek the pleasures
which have been enjoyed by him.
Two economic problems of obvious importance confront the people of the
country today, viz: increasing the opportunities for our citizens to acquire
156
PEACH ORCHARD ONE YEAR OLD ON THE “MAPLETON BENCH.” WASATCH MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND.
STRAWBERRY VALLEY PROJECT, UTAH,
WORLD.
tae
a0
ist
THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT 159
homes of their own, and a larger production per acre of staple crops. While we
have not yet reached the acute stage in the struggle for existence which pre-
vails in many parts of the old world and the Orient, we are not far removed
from that critical period when over-population and under-production shall be-
come vital questions with us. The enormous increase in the cost of the neces-
saries of life during the past decade, and the consumption by our own people of
nearly all of our cereals and meat products, furnish abundant evidence of the
imperative need of better farming on the present cultivated acreage and the ad-
dition of new areas.
Notwithstanding the relatively large increase in our cultivated areas, and
consequent augmentation of products, the growth of population has more than
kept pace. There has been a continuous and rapid rise in farm land values,
with a resulting decrease in the opportunities for men of moderate means to
acquire homes. Naturally the centralization of a large percentage of our popu-
lation in cities has continued. Unquestionably it is true that we are not short
of land, but of what avail is it if this land is beyond the reach of the great
masses of our people by reason of inflation in values, or because Nature has not
made it ready for the plow.
The National Irrigation Congress has to its credit the initiation of one
constructive legislative measure, the Reclamation Act, which in time will be
regarded as the most valuable work of our national lawmakers since the
passage of the Homestead Law, which opened to settlement the Mississippi
Valley. It has under consideration now another measure of equally great im-
portance, the drainage of the vast areas of swamps.
THE DESERT OF TODAY
The desert of our old geographies no longer has a place on the map. Its
boundaries have shrunken until they are almost indeterminate, while its terrors
are only traditions.
Today the homes of more than 300,000 happy families, surrounded by 13,-
500,000 acres of irrigated land, have been established, and the harvests con-
tribute annually $300,000,000 to the wealth of the farmers.
The magic of irrigation has transformed valleys long vacant and voiceless
into prosperous and populous agricultural communities. It has created hun-
dreds of cities, towns and villages, many of which have become financially and
commercially great. It has brought to the remotest parts of the desert the
benefits of transportation by steam and electricity.
National irrigation has already gone beyond the stage of prophecy. The
material and substantial results flowing from the law places the work of the
Government on a practical and solid foundation. Facts, not theories, furnish
the arguments for continuing the work, and for increased appropriations to en-
large and extend its scope.
A brief summation of the activities of the bureau shows the magnitude of
the work accomplished. These data are assembled to October 31, 1911. Con-
struction is going on or has been completed on 29 projects, involving an expendi-
160 AMERICAN FORESTRY
ture of $65,470,000. In the eight years of actual work the Service has dug 7,000
miles of canals, many of which carry whole rivers. These canals placed end to
end would reach from New York to San Francisco and back to New York. The
tunnels excavated, mostly through mountains, have a length of more than 19
miles. The excavations of rock and earth amount to the enormous total of 77,-
200,000 cubic yards. As much of its work is located in regions heretofore al-
most inaccessible, it has been necessary to build and maintain 570 miles of
wagon roads and 1,700 miles of telephones. The Service has in operation 275
miles of transmission lines, and is furnishing its surplus power and light to
several cities and towns.
It has completed three of the greatest irrigation dams in the world, and
the storage capacity of its reservoirs, several of which are now full, is 10,000,-
000 acre-feet, or enough water to cover that many acres a foot deep.
In its construction work the bureau has purchased 905,827 barrels of ce-
ment, and its own mill manufactured 340,000 barrels, effecting a net saving of
$600,000 by so doing.
VAST INCREASE IN LAND VALUES
Water is now available for 1,086,000 acres of land, upon which approxi-
mately 14,000 families are residing in their own homes. As a result of the in-
vestment already made by the Government, land values have increased more
than $105,800,000. The astonishing increase in land values resulting from the
reclamation of desert land is shown in a recent sale of a forty-acre farm adjoin-
ing the Government townsite of Rupert on the Minidoka project in Idaho. This
tract of land in 1904 was sage brush desert and valueless. This spring it sold
for $11,000. It was filed upon as a homestead, and the original entryman had
paid back to the Government not more than three annual instalments of his
water right, or less than $8.00 an acre. On several projects a single crop has
enabled the settler to repay all his obligations to the Government.
The gross value of crops grown on the projects in 1911 is estimated at
$24,000,000.
The growth and development of the towns on the reclamation projects
are proceeding along lines which have promoted numerous communities in
southern California now recognized as nearly ideal centers of population. In
substantial business blocks, in commodious schoolhouses, numerous churches
and in artistic and beautiful homes, these new communities are far in ad-
vance of those of many older sections of the country.
The small farms intensively cultivated and grouped about these vil-
lages and towns give the effect of suburban rather than rural conditions.
Cheap power developed from the great dams or from numerous drops in the
main canals is now utilized in the operation of trolley lines which reach
out into the rural districts and bring the farmer in close touch with the city.
It turns the wheels of numerous industrial plants, and various enterprises,
in which the farmers’ are part owners, for storing, handling, and manufac-
turing the raw products of the farms. The same power is used in the lighting
. 4 at fis ' »
SALT RIVER PROJECT, ARIZONA, BEFORE
MOUNTAINS IN THE DISTANCE. (See next page.)
yt
‘NOILVOINAL WALAV LMASHG SALOVO AWNVS HHL
‘INT GUL AHL NI AONVHO Abd ALON
THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT 163
and heating of the towns, and for cooking in the homes. On several of the
projects the farmers are applying for electric power, and on many farms
the housewife has made it a useful servant in her domestic duties. This
important and very valuable asset will in time become the property of the
land owners, and will return considerable revenue to them.
The compact settlement which is the inevitable result of irrigation,
brings to the farmer conveniences and luxuries which heretofore were un-
known to the country. The daily delivery of mail, circulating library, cen-
tralized graded schools, frequent association with neighbors in the manage-
ment of their various organizations for marketing products, and in the opera-
tion of the irrigation system, have made farm life varied and interesting. In
no small degree these same factors have been responsible for a noteworthy
increase in the number of city dwellers who are turning to the soil for a liv-
ing. The question “Can a business man without previous experience in agri-
culture succeed on an irrigated farm?” finds an answer today on a thousand
Government farms where former city dwellers are making good. They demon-
strate that a good business training is a very important adjunct to successful
farming in the irrigated country.
On a number of the projects every acre of land is occupied. So great has
been the hunger for farms in some sections that the work could not be pushed
fast enough to supply the demand for homes. Those projects possessing the
most favorable climate naturally attract the most people. Idaho, California,
Oregon, Washington and Colorado, for this reason and also on account of
generous exploitation on the part of State and other organizations have re-
ceived the largest influx of settlers. Every acre of land on these projects for
which water is available has been filed upon.
On the Minidoka project in Idaho there were 1,014 farms, and practically
every one was taken up before water was ready. On the Yuma project in
Arizona the first unit opened had ten applicants for each farm.
Today the 354 Government farms awaiting settlers are in the Northwest
in the states of South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.
WORK FOR THE FUTURE
For the next few years the activities of the bureau will be directed to
rounding out the plans for completing the projects already taken up.
Among the spectacular works which will engage the attention of the en-
gineers are the construction of two enormous dams, each of which is com-
parable with the great Roosevelt dam, and each of which in certain features
exceeds the latter.
In New Mexico the work of erecting a huge masonry dam across the Rio
Grande will require at least five years of active labor and a large force of
men. This structure in some respects is one of the remarkable storage works
of the century. It will cost more than $6,000,000, but it will insure the future
development of 100 miles of valley, comprising 180,000 acres of extremely fev-
tile and productive country.
164 AMERICAN FORESTRY
The Arrowrock dam in Idaho, upon which construction has begun, stands
in a class by itself among the engineering works of the world. In its greatest
height, 351 feet, it ranks all others. Its cubical contents will be 500,000 cubic
yards.
Appreciating the difficulties which all settlers encounter during the first
few years on the desert land, and the outlay of money required to establish
a home and prepare the land for crops, the Secretary of the Interior in sev-
eral instances has formulated a plan for graduating the payments, making
the early payments small until the crop returns suffice to meet the charges
for building and operation.
There is little or no disposition on the part of the farmers to break faith
with the Government. The delinquents are remarkably few and our eastern
brothers have no reason to fear that the West will not meet its full obligation
in returning the loan which the Federal Government is making. The percent-
age of actual failures is surprisingly small and the causes therefor are inher-
ent in the individual rather than in any fault in the works or in the country.
Given a little capital and an abundance of grit and industry, and there is
little cause for failure on the part of any individual.
In the great construction work in which the Reclamation Bureau has
been engaged, it has had its troubles and has made its mistakes. It entered
upon a field new and untried, and covering a vast area. A fair judgment
upon the work as a whole I believe will be favorable, and will furnish argu-
ments for its continuance.
*From address before the National Irrigation Congress.
During January 214,749 acres of land in the State of Idaho believed to
be underlain by phosphate rock were withdrawn on recommendation of the
United States Geological Survey. This makes a total outstanding with-
drawal in Idaho of 1,167,137 acres of phosphate land. In Wyoming 1,266,688
acres are now withdrawn as phosphate land, in Utah 107,745 acres, in Mon-
tana 33,950 acres, and in Florida 35,640 acres, a total of 2,611,140 acres.
The American Historic and Scenic Preservation Society is preparing to
carry out the wishes of the late W. P. Letchworth by turning the meadows
and agricultural lands of Letchworth Park, at Portage, into forests for the
purpose of demonstrating just how timber can be produced and the depleted
wood lands restored.
Prussia has a forest of 7,000,000 acres. It is very similar to what our
Appalachian region would be if we added to it some of the pine lands farther
south. In 1865 these forests yielded a net profit of 72 cents an acre. In 1900
the profit was $1.58. In 1904 it was $2.50, and this year it is expected to be
around $5.
There is a prevailing tendency among orchardists to underestimate the
danger from hold-over blight in the pear and apple, and with this mistaken
idea has crept in a certain amount of carelessness in the attention which is:
gwen to diseased trees.
INVESTIGATING FOREST INSECTS’
By DR. L. O. HOWARD
CHIEF OF THE BurREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY
but there is one bad piece of news, and that is that the Southern pine
people are going to suffer a lot of damage during the summer in the
South. We have been trying to stir the people up, and we have told them
what to do this winter. Many of them are going to do it, but not all of them.
That is the only bad piece of news. The rest of the news is very good.
The timber owners of the Northwest, with the co-operation of the Forest
Service and our own Bureau are doing a lot of administratively experimental
work in the way of destroying threatened invasions of the bark beetles in
that region, as well as in other parts of the country. The forest insect service
of the Bureau of Entomology has studied the question for years, and has
elaborate plans which it hopes to put into effect if we can only get the co-
operation of all parties interested.
I should say that another very good item of news is that a new Governor
has been elected in the State of New Hampshire. One of his predecessors,—
I will not mention his name; in fact, I have forgotten it—was hardly as
enlightened a man on the subject of forestry and other questions as the present
incumbent of the office, and when the gypsy moth got across the State border
into New York, I called on the new Governor and found him in his store. I
told him who I was and told him of the harmful effects of this gypsy moth.
I said I would like to talk with him a little, and perhaps he would like to
talk with me and get my views as to how to spend the State appropriation.
He said, “Sure, Doctor, you may, but before you begin I want to tell you
about myself. When I was a boy, I was living with an old aunt on a farm.
Boylike, I thought I knew the whole thing, and so I thought I would give my
aunt advice as to how to run her farm. The old lady listened to me with
perfect courtesy, and then went and done just as she darned pleased.” I took
it in proper spirit, but I do not think I would be greeted that way by the
present Governor.
By the way, that former Governor appointed a man in charge of the work
who had crude ideas. It was stated in the newspapers that this man had a
queer idea in regard to the brown tail moth, which was that if all the cities
and towns in the State of New Hampshire should shut off their lights about
the time the brown tail moth started to fly about, the light of the moon would
attract them and they would fly so high that they would die from exhaustion.
The present Governor has discharged that man and has appointed a sound man.
There has been some good news about the southern gypsy moth situation
during the last year. Of course, you are all familiar with our attempts to
import the European and Asiatic parasites of this creature, and then depend
G .. news about forest insect investigation is, on the whole, very good,
165
166 AMERICAN FORESTRY
upon their spreading quickly over the country; but the important thing is
that even if the parasites do not get control in a number of years, it will
still be possible to get a very good situation in regard to forests in New
England, because of recent facts discovered about the life and character of
the Asiatic moths. There are large owners of pine trees who are particularly
apprehensive of the loss of their trees; in fact, the gipsy moth, once on their
pine tree, in a pine grove not particularly well cared for, would increase to
such an extent that in two years they would kill the tree.
We have found by careful study that the young caterpillars hatched from
the egg-mass high up on the trunk of the trees try to eat the leaves and they
find they cannot. Then they fall to the ground and eat the oak scrub, until
they get full grown, and then they climb up and eat the leaves, thereby killing
the trees in two years. Therefore, we put a tanglefoot band around the tree,
and we found there was no despoliation, even though the tree above was
plastered with egg-mass. In investigating the matter further, we found that
there were other varieties of trees which the caterpillars acted on in the
same way, such as maples and chestnuts. Where those trees were growing
in a mixed grove of trees, the oak scrub and brush were all eaten from the start,
but with the eggs laid upon the other trees, the same procedure was followed.
They had to find subsistence for the early part of their lives upon the oak
scrub, and then they climbed the trees. Therefore, it becomes a system of
forest management. An oak forest alone cannot stand the loss; but where
you have a mixed forest, and you eliminate the oaks and birches to a con-
siderable extent, you are going to be able to have a forest that will not be
harmed by the gipsy moth.
The insect situation on the whole is very good at the present time, and
we are elaborating methods of control, which, by the co-operation all over the
country of the different States, will enable us to handle this serious matter.
*Address at the annual meeting of the American Forestry Association.
Bids have just been opened at the Forestry Bureau for the cutting of
stumpage timber under Government supervision on the Sitgreaves and Apache
National Forests and the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. The cutting com-
prises 600,000,000 feet, 300,000,000 feet on the Indian reservation and 300,-
()00,000 feet on the tivo national forests.
The largest tract of timber that the Government has ever offered will be
advertised by the Forest Service shortly on the drainage of the north fork of
the Joaquin River in the Sierra National Forest. Hight hundred million feet
are in the tract, consiting for the most part of sugar and yellow pine, white
fir and cedar. Its development will probably mean the construction of about
70 iniles of railroad. A line can be built in on the Southern Pacific at Friant.
A rich citizen of San Antonio, who owns extensive gardens, has an-
nounced his intention of giving away thousands of trees and shrubs. Not all
of his neighbors are on the receiving list, however, for this man will not give
a tree or shrub to other rich people. He will present such things to the owner
of a home that is worth less than $2,500. Persons who own costly residences
TIMBER SALES ON THE PLUMAS NATIONAL
FOREST, CALIFORNIA
By RUFUS 8S. MADDOX
IMBER sales on National Forests are of so recent origin that their real
© meaning is known only where they are being made. When the forests
were first set apart lumber companies were dubious about attempting
purchases, the cutting of which must be conducted by Forest Service methods ;
but today many companies are operating who are supplied by timber bought
from the Government. Timber, when made accessible by a railroad, has a
greatly improved market. The Western Pacific Railway through California
opened up a large area of forest land—both private and public—the timber
from which lumbermen are buying, not only because of its accessiblity, but
because they have learned, and are still learning, that they can make profits
by operating under Government regulations.
Government sales are managed on one general plan and with one object
in view, viz., to provide for and maintain a future stand through measures
adopted in logging the present crop. This plan of management eliminates at
once the old time method of slashing down a portion of the forest, removing
such as is wanted and leaving the area demolished. It is recognized that the
market conditions help determine to what extent inferior grades can be
handled; in other words, how close the utilization can be made. Formerly,
where timber has been abundant and no restrictions put upon the operator,
the largest and quickest profits were often aimed at regardless of the con-
ditions after logging. In conservative lumbering or logging by Forest Service
methods, therefore, it is necessary that in contracts made with lumber com-
panies certain provisions be made as to what must and what must not be
done. For example: none except marked trees shall be cut, brush must be
piled, stumps must be cut not over a certain height, care must be had in
felling and removing the timber so as to damage the reproduction and re-
maining stand as little as possible, and the timber used as far as practical.
Of the timber sales now under operation on the Plumas National Forest
the two largest are to the Feather River and Marsh Lumber Companies, having
headquarters at Portola and. Loyalton, California, respectively, and their
plants are perhaps fairly typical of the medium size mills in the Sierra Nevada
Mountains. They each have five-year contracts (contracts allowing them five
years to remove the timber) with the Government totalling 105,000,000 feet
board measure, consisting of western yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa and
Pinus jeffreyi), sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga
Taxifolia), while fir (Abies concolor) and incense cedar (Libocedrus de-
currens), the former sale being for 30,000,000 feet and the latter for 75,000,000
feet.
167
168 AMERICAN FORESTRY
On these sale areas (as well as on all Government sales) all the timber
that is to be removed must be marked by a forest officer. He is responsible
for the work whether done by himself or by some one assisting him. Upon
his judgment depend the amount and kind of trees that are to be left to form
the remaining stand and to restock the open areas. He must know the silvical
characteristics of the different species and their relative values. His work
does not consist simply of putting the Government stamp on the trees that he
wishes removed—that is by far the smallest part of his work. The various
conditions of the stand, slope, maturity of timber, soil, etc., present the
problems that are difficult, and he must solve them according to his judgment,
and treat that portion of the forest in accordance with his decision. Because
of the fact that all the marked trees must be felled, he is directly and entirely
responsible for the stand remaining, except the damage that may occur during
the progress of logging.
After the timber has been marked the Government field supervision of
the operations devolves upon the expert lumberman assigned to this forest
(Mr. P. A. Kennedy), who sees that the specifications of the contract are
abided by, some of the main features of which are that the brush is piled,
eare taken of reproduction, and stumps cut low. His time is taken up in
keeping an oversight on the operations. He inspects the work of the fallers,
sees that care is had to prevent breaking from falling; that stumps are cut to
service requirements; that the trees are used well up into the tops; in other
words, that the utilization from the stump is as close as possible. Under his
direction the brush is piled. The crews of brush pilers are shown by him just
how the work is to be done and they follow his instructions. His duties do
not necessitate his being constantly at the heels of the lumber jacks. They
understand that his instructions are to be obeyed, not that he is a “boss,” but
because it is the policy of the companies to live up to their contracts, and their
employees know that his instructions have reference only to the fulfillment of
the contract.
THE SCALING OF THE LOGS
The expert lumberman is also responsible for the scaling of the logs. Since
his duties require him to be in the woods so much of the time, it is necessary
that he have a scaler for each of these sales. They are Forest Service men
assigned to that duty under the supervision of the lumberman, who assumes
the responsibility. This does not mean that the sealers are irresponsible. It
means that the lumberman is responsible for the work done by them, just as
the supervisor is responsible for the work done by the expert lumberman
or any other man on the forest force. The scaling is done where it is most
convenient to the companies. They also have scalers of their own, and it is
very good evidence that the Government scale is satisfactory to them, since
no complaints have been made by them.
Each company has a camp of about one hundred men, who get out from
40,000 to 50,000 feet per day (per camp). The work is done quite systematically
on the plan of “division of labor.” The felling, trimming, bucking (sawing
LUMBERMAN P. A. KENNEDY AND HIS HORSE ON YELLOW SIX-HORSE TRUCK HAULING LOGS ON FEATHER RIVER
PINE STUMP CUT ON FOREST SERVICE METHODS ON THE LUMBER CO’S SALE AREA, PLUMAS NATIONAL FOREST
FEATHER RIVER LUMI Co’S SALE AREA ON THE GIVES AN IDEA OF DUSTY LOGGING ROAD, ae
PIL.UMAS NATIONAL FOR
STEAM LOADER ON MARCH LUMBER COMPANY’S LOGGING RAILROAD,
PLUMAS NATIONAL FOREST.
sat)
ON GOVERNMENT TIMBER ON
40,000 PER DAY.
TIMBER SALES ON THE PLUMAS NATIONAL FOREST 171
he trees into logs), snaking, and brush piling are each done by a crew of men
vho do that and that alone. One feature of the logging, common throughout
he Pacific Coast, is the one-man bucking. Two men sawing with the same
aw is, so far as I know, never seen except in the case of the fallers. Hach
yucker has his own saw, furnished by the company, and he uses it alone. The
imber is soft and not difficult to saw. Pitch is the worst hindrance and that
s readily overcome by kerosene, a bottle of which is carried by each man with
L saw.
The milling season for the two companies begins in May and lasts until
ibout the middle or last of November, but logging in the woods may continue
onger, depending upon the rain and snow. Up to the present the winter
ogging has been limited entirely to decking the logs in the woods until the
nilling season opens in the spring.
THE WORK OF THE COMPANIES
The Feather River Lumber Company to date has been logging altogether
vith horses, the number required being about fifty or sixty. Their timber is
ocated chiefly on mountain sides sloping into canyons up which logging truck
roads are built. A skidder with his team of two or four horses and an
assistant is provided for each six-horse team truck. They skid the logs from
the mountain sides to landings on the logging roads and help the truck driver
load each trip. During the past season the length of the average haul was
about two and one-half miles. Six 6-horse trucks making three trips per day
supplied the mill cutting an average of 40,000 feet per day, thus making the
loads average about 2,200 feet each.
Because of the long, dry summer the logging roads become very dusty
and for this reason the 3-trip instead of 4-trip haul was established. Not only
is the dust very severe on the horses, but it also necessitates a smaller load
than would be hauled on a firmer road.
The logging done by the Marsh Lumber Company is on a different plan,
being that of donkey engines and high wheels. The high wheels are a sort of
cart made up of a tongue, two high wheels varying in height from 8 to 12
Feet, and a large axle to which the logs are swung. They are used on the most
level ground, on short hauls not exceeding one-quarter of a mile from the
logging railroad. The donkey engines are used to snake the logs from the
rough and steep places into chutes that extend from the logging railroad up
the ravines and canyons. Horses snake the logs in the chutes to the logging
railroad where they are loaded on to the cars by a steam loader.
The Feather River Lumber Company is now making an addition to its
method of logging. A standard gauge railroad is being constructed to their
main body of timber and a pond dug for the logs at the mill. In connection
vith their planing mill they have recently installed an apartment for getting
put sash and door stock, a product that must be free from knots. By filling
ills for sash and door stock they are now able to get out a large per cent of
‘lear lumber which was formerly shipped directly from the stack and sold
172 AMERICAN FORESTRY
common stock. The common lumber is now sawed into short pieces of
specified dimensions, thus enabling the knots to be gotten rid of. From two
carloads of common one car of clear can thus be vbtained. The former, I am
informed by one of their officials, sells for about $160 per car, the latter for
about $1,000 per car; also some of the knotty lumber from which the clear is
cut can be used in the box factory, which they are now building in connection
with their planing mill.
DISPOSAL OF THE BRUSH
The long, dry summer and the well exposed situation of their lumber
yard make it unnecessary to have drying kilns. The lumber dries evenly
and rapidly in the stack, whence it goes directly to the planer. The Western
Pacific and the Nevada, California and Oregon Railroads have each a spur
into the lumber yard, making transportation easy to local and distant markets.
Perhaps, to the nonconservative lumberman and to people unacquainted
with the danger from fire in slash, it may seem not only unnecessary, but
even an imposition upon a company to have to pile the brush so that it may
be burned; but for safety to the forest and for the promotion of rapid restock-
ing after logging, the disposal of the brush by piling and burning is both an
economic, and in fact, the only business-like way to handle it, since there is
not yet any way to utilize it. The cost of the brush piling devolves, of course,
upon the operator, but at a small amount per thousand feet, amounting on
these two sales to between 15 and 20 cents. The cost of this brush piling,
however, is taken into account when reckonings by the forest officer are made
for the cost of logging upon which the stumpage prices are recommended
before the sale is made; it, therefore, can not be called an extra expense put
upon the operator, not an expense which has had no consideration.
The burning of the brush has thus far been done by forest officers, although
the companies agreed in their contracts to furnish help when called for. The
brush burning does not consist merely of burning brush. If so, it would be
most quickly and most readily done in dry weather, but with every chance
for a forest fire, and also the actual destruction of a great deal of the repro-
duction as well as a great many trees.
The fall of the year is the time aimed at in which to dispose of all the
brush from the sales. Speed is not an essential factor in this kind of work.
The fall rains or snows must have set in in order for the least damage to
result. Usually by that time (the middle or last of November), the forest
officers can be shifted so as to take charge of the work instead of depending
upon outside help. Ordinarily, when a light snow one and one-half to two
inches deep has fallen, the time is ideal for burning. Naturally, the air is
cold and no fire can spread; no great amount of heat is conducted to the
seedlings, large reproduction and trees. The snow on the piles melts, runs
through the dry brush, and prevents the blaze from becoming so intense. The
brush from these two sales for the past season’s cutting has already been
disposed of. The light snow that remained through the ten days of this work
A VIGOROUS PROTEST 173
(November 11 to 22), afforded almost ideal conditions and the amount of
damage done to the reproduction caused from the disposal of the brush from
about 10,000,000 feet was almost negligible.
As a protective measure against fire, about four miles of fire lines on
the Marsh Company’s sale area was constructed during the fall by men not
in the service, but employed by the service for this work, under the supervision
of a forest officer. The construction of the line consisted of ciearing a trail
eight feet wide of all debris and piling it so as to be burned. The line was
made between the sale area and private land, a good deal of which was slash
from the Marsh Lumber Company’s own private cutting. This system of pro-
tection will be conducted on all the sale areas of the forest. The fire lines
not only afford ready help in case of forest fire, but also make up a fine
network of useful trails on many portions of the forest as the timber is
removed.
A VIGOROUS PROTEST
R. GIFFORD PINCHOT, one of the vice-presidents of the American
(D Forestry Association, has issued an appeal to Congress in which he
makes a vigorous protest against the proposed reduction of the an-
nual appropriation for fighting forest fires, from $1,000,000 to $200,000.
He points out that the value of the forests of this country is estimated at
fifty million dollars with a potential value of a billion dollars, not con-
sidering the protective value of the forests on the stream flow.
Mr. Pinchot says that the emergency forest fire fund of the Forest
Service should be at least $500,000. He says:
“The protection of public property and of the lives of settlers, their
wives and children, as well as of public servants in the National forests,
lies close to the public welfare. It is easy to malign the Forest Service
as certain members of Congress are accustomed to do. But it is much easier
to malign the Forest Rangers than it is to do their brave and efficient work
on the fire line. We must not let false economy further imperil the safety
of the public resources and the protection of human lives.”
During the month of January more than 30,000 acres of land in Montana
and Oregon were recommended by the United States Geological Survey for
designation as enterable under the Enlarged (320-acre) Homestead Act, and
23,097 acres previously designated under this act were reported to the Secre-
tary of the Interior as not enterable and canceled as such, detailed examina-
tion having shown the lands to be susceptible of irrigation.
PROGRESS IN FORESTRY PLANTING IN THE
NEBRASKA SAND HILLS
NE of the largest tree nurseries maintained by the Federal Government
() is located at Halsey, Nebraska, (and is maintained) in connection
with extensive planting experiments to determine the possibility of
producing a forest growth within the sand hill region of western Nebraska.
But a very small per cent of the sand hill land is fit for agriculture, the
greater portion being a rolling hill country covered for the most part with
coarse grass that is but indifferently suited to grazing. When the sod is
broken up the fine sandy soil drifts badly—so badly, in fact, that hundreds
of “nesters” who have tried to make a start in this region have moved out
only when their fields have blown into the next section or county. This may
seem to those unfamiliar with this region an extraordinary statement. How-
ever, when one understands that the soil has the appearance of fine sea-sand ;
also that the wind blows fiercely throughout this entire country, the state-
ment does not appear so overdrawn. On a bright day in spring in the sand
hill section of Kansas, with what is known in that country as only a brisk
wind, it is possible to locate all of the ploughed land for from 15 to 20 miles
around by the dense clouds of sand that stand out against the blue heavens
like pillars of gray smoke.
Experiments carried on at Halsey for the past seven years have proven
pretty conclusively that success can be secured in plantings, provided only
good sturdy stock is used and the plants are put in with care.
THE ANNUAL PRODUCTION
The capacity of the nursery has been raised to an annual production of
2,000,000 plants, and as transplanted 1—2 and 2—1 stock is used, some time
will be required to get the nursery up to this output. The sandy soil which is
readily worked, make excellent seed and transplant beds, provided it is heav-
ily fertilized with well-rotted manure and an abundance of water is used. It
is next to impossible to use water to excess, as the soil is so light that within
one hour after completely flooding the soil can be worked to advantage. An
abundance of water is secured from the Loupe River by pumping, and irriga-
tion is used throughout the nursery except on the seed-beds, for the period of
two or three months after sowing. The beds are made on a level with the
paths. If irrigation is started and it is found that the paths are lower than
the beds, they are filled in so the water will run directly over the bed and not
in the paths.
The beds are sown during the month of April, so the plants which are
produced at a density of from 6,000 to 8,000 to the bed, 12 ft. by 4 ft., will get
the full benefit of the entire growing season.
The beds are sown and covered with burlap, which is placed directly upon
174
—
Kar
+
a)
FROM SIDE HILI, ABOVE NURSERY HOUSE, SHOWING JACK AND SCOTCH PINE,
1904-05-06-07 PLANTING. HALSEY NURSERY, NEBRASKA NATIONAL FOREST.
¥
S
a
SEVEN-YEAR-OLD JACK PINE. NOTE THE LOOSE SAND IN THE
FOREGROUND. NEBRASKA NATIONAL FOREST.
NOTICE THE FURROWS IN THE PLANTATION TO THE LEFT. THE SOIL HAS ENTIRELY
DISAPPEARED IN THAT PORTION OF THE GUARD EARLIER PLOWED. DISMAL RIVER
DIVISION, NEBRASKA NATIONAL FOREST.
TO EAST, AND THE MAIN FIRE GUARDS ARE FROM
ON TO THESE ARE CROSS GUARDS FROM EAST TO
THE WIND DIRECTION IS FROM
NORTH TO SOUTH AND IN
Wrap NIT RACH T nT TAT Beene
WEST. NEBRASKA NATI TL FOREST.
PROGRESS IN FORESTRY PLANTING 177
the ground. The beds are then covered with a slat shade frame about 12 to
14-inches above the surface of the bed and the sides are protected with
boards. As soon as germination starts the burlap is removed and the ground
kept moist. The boards protecting the sides of the beds are also removed soon
after germination is complete.
Where the plants can be developed to sufficient size, say six to seven
inches in height the first year, good results can be secured by transplanting to
the transplant beds the following spring. Where the plants are left two
years in the seed beds a greater loss is experienced in transplanting, to say
nothing of the cost of keeping them the extra year in the seed beds.
Where the ground has been put in good shape, five men and four boys, using
the “trencher” spade and the transplanting boards, can put in from 20 to 24
thousand per day, and do it well.
IMPROVED METHOD OF PLANTING
As soon as the ground is free from frost in the spring, the field stock
is taken up, heeled in, and covered with a layer of coarse hay. The field
planting is started just as soon as a gang of men can be secured, and when a
sufficient amount of field stock is ready to keep the field gang going. Eight
men with six horses, and using the trencher plough, can field plant from 11
to 14 thousand trees per day. This method gives a figure per man far in ex-
cess of that where the spade or dibble is used and a correspondingly low fig-
ure of cost. The results in living trees from the two methods of planting are
about equal.
The question of the protection of these plantations from fire is of first
importance. In locating the plantation, the first step has been to develop
a complete system of fire guards that will protect the young pines from the
fires in the tall coarse grass. These may be started by lightning, through the
carelessness of a “nester,” or by railroad engine sparks. As the prevailing
winds are from west to east, the main guards are from north to south and
protect the plantation on the west. On the south and east reasonable pro-
tection is assured by the Loupe and Dismal rivers. The main guards are 175
feet wide with a ploughed strip one rod wide on the outer edges.
During the early winter, a time when the winds are not bad, particularly
at night, the grass between the ploughed strips is burned off. It takes two
years after such a burning for the grass to become sufficiently thick to burn
again. In addition to four main guards, which are about one mile apart, there
are cross guards running east and west that divide the plantation into com-
paratively small blocks and thereby give ample means of checking or con-
fining a fire that may start within the plantation proper. These cross guards
are single ploughed areas one rod in width. Owing to the fineness of the
sandy soil the guards can practically be made permanent by disking the first
and second years after ploughing, to destroy the sod and weed growth. After
this sod is destroyed the soil drifts and the guards become “blowouts” that
require very little cultivation.
As the plantation becomes larger the guard system will be extended ac-
178 AMERICAN FORESTRY
cordingly. This can be done at no great cost, since the original ploughing
ean be contracted for $6.00 per acre and the disking can be done for far
less.
It is not surprising that the settlers of this region take a keen interest
in this work, as practically every land locator in this vast, treeless, wind-swept
region feels the necessity of a shelter wood that will protect his buildings,
garden and small fruits. A picnic is held at the Halsey Nursery each year
and the settlers come many miles to observe the progress of the work.
The Kinkaid Act that was passed by the last Congress, provides that the
Government shall distribute trees from the Halsey Nursery to settlers who
have taken lands in that region. To provide for this distribution, the output
of the nursery will be greatly enlarged, and it is hoped that by another year
or two, 25,000 pine trees of different species will be ready for distribution
under this Act. Some time will elapse before the nursery can fully meet the
demands for this distribution, since from two to three years are required to
produce a hardy transplant fit to survive under the rigorous conditions of the
region
THE CHESTNUT BLIGHT CAMPAIGN
By PERCIVAL S. RIDSDALE
OLLOWING heated discussions as to the value of fighting the de-
al structive chestnut blight, for which scientific men have been unable to
discover a remedy, the Chestnut Blight Conference, held at Harris-
burg, Pa., on February 20 and 21, decided to endorse the work of the Penn-
sylvania Commission which has directed the cutting down of affected trees,
urged the national government, the State governments, and Canada to follow
the example set by the Keystone State, and called upon Congress to pass the bill
providing an appropriation of $80,000 for the use of the Department of
Agriculture in investigating the disease and endeavoring to find some method
of eradicating it.
It was also decided, in order to overcome the financial loss caused by
the cutting down of affected trees and to stimulate trade in chestnut timber,
to ask the Interstate Commerce Commission to permit railroads and other
transportation companies to lower freight rates for the distribution of the
unaffected timber and as much cutting as the market will permit was urged.
It was deemed wise to also arrange for more systematic publicity and
educational work so that small wood lot and other private owners may be
instructed how to detect the disease and what to do when they discover its
presence.
There is no doubt but that great good will result from the meeting.
Twenty-one States were represented, some of them by a number of delegates,
and Canada also sent one expert to learn what he could of the disease.
Several papers were read and addresses made on various phases of the blight,
its introduction into this country and the methods employed by various
THE CHESTNUT BLIGHT CAMPAIGN 179
persons and organizations in fighting it, and these were followed by most
interesting discussions.
Several able men expressed the opinion that it is merely wasting the
people’s money to fight the blight when there is no certainty that the
methods employed would prove effective. On this point there were some
heated discussions, the men opposing it contending that no progress would
have ever been made in anything had it not been that optimistic men had
tried various plans for accomplishing the results desired. ‘Had we waited,’
declared I. S. Williams, deputy commissioner of the State Forestry De-
partment of Pennsylvania, “until it was possible to build a perfect engine,
we would not have locomotive engines, trains and steamboats today.” His
views were generally shared by a majority of the other delegates and it was
decided that any methods tried in an effort to eradicate the disease were of
benefit. Many, it was said, might prove failures, but they would show how
not to fight the blight, while there is always the possibility that the right
method would be discovered during the experiments.
THE METHOD OF FIGHTING
What has been most effective so far in the effort to check the disease
has been the cutting down of diseased trees as soon as they are discovered,
and the establishing of dead lines on the borders of land to which the disease
has spread. This has resulted in greater good than any other method and is
now being generally adopted.
There were a number of advocates of cutting down, at once, every stand
of valuable chestnut timber in affected territory and marketing it, in order
to prevent the blight extending further, but it was pointed out that this
would be no assurance of the blight not appearing in other localities.
As to the means by which the blight spreads opinions differed. Some
believe that woodpeckers, other birds and squirrels are the chief mediums
for distributing the parasite while the majority held that the spores are so
very light that particles of them can be carried long distances on a light
wind. The concensus of opinion was that the wind is a far greater aid in
the distribution of a blight than is any other medium. It was also admitted
that the holes which the woodpeckers bore in the trunks of trees in search
of grub worms permit easy ingress of the chestnut blight parasite, with the
result that it soon penetrates beneath the bark.
Members of the Pennsylvania Commission urged the adoption of their
plan of preventing the spread of the disease. This is to at once cut down
and destroy any affected trees, and to as far as possible establish a dead
line and confine the affected area within it. This appears to be the only
plan at all effective so far in checking the blight.
Members of the Commission also wanted the convention to know that
out of the State appropriation of $275,000 for investigating the disease only
a little over $20,000 has so far been spent.
180 AMERICAN FORESTRY
As to the value of the trees and the cost of the destruction already
caused by the blight there was not much dispute. It was reported that the
loss in Pennsylvania so far is about $10,000,000. The annual cut of chestnut
in the United States is valued at about $20,000,000, and the total loss so
far is estimated at $25,000,000.
Dr. Hugh P. Baker, of the Pennsylvania State College, estimated the
value of the chestnut timber of the country at $300,000,000 and said that
the loss so far is two thousand times what has been spent for protection.
He said that each State needs an annual appropriation of from $20,000 to
$50,000 to fight the disease and conduct its investigations.
It was also reported that affected timber cut down and marketed is
of far poorer quality than healthy trees and that the railroads have reported
that diseased chestnut timber made into railroad ties does not hold the
spikes tightly.
Governor Tener, of Pennsylvania, opened the convention with an ad-
dress in which he dwelt upon the necessity of vigorous efforts being taken
to prevent the entire destruction of our chestnut trees by the blight. Dr.
R. A. Pearson, of New York, was elected chairman of the convention, and
F. W. Beasley, of Maryland, and 8. D. Detwiler, of Pennsylvania, the sec-
retaries. Addresses were made by Dr. J. K. Collins, of the United States
Department of Agriculture; Prof. F. C. Stewart, of the New York Agri-
cultural Experiment Station; Prof. W. Howard Rankin, of Cornell Uni-
versity; Prof. H. R. Fulton, of Pennsylvania State College; Dr. Caroline
Rumbold, of Pennsylvania; Prof. Nelson F.. Davis, of Bucknell College;
Samuel B. Detwiler, of the Pennsylvania Chestnut Tree Blight Commission ;
Dr. Hugh P. Baker, of Pennsylvania State College; Dr. J. Russell Smith,
of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, many of the State foresters
and experts reported conditions in their own States, took part in the
numerous discussions or participated in asking questions regarding specific
conditions.
Altogether the convention was a most enthusiastic gathering and one
which it is certain will result in great progress being made in the fight
against the destructive blight.
W. B. Greely, silviculture branch of the Forest Service, in speaking of
the killed timber which had been sold recently, gave the following figures:
In the last 18 months the Government has sold 365,000,000 feet in western
Montana and northern Idaho. The most recent sale, two weeks ago, was @
tract of 25,000,000 feet on the Two Medicine River, on the Lewis and Clarke
National Forest. This consisted mostly of logpole pine, Douglas fir and
Hingelman spruce. Fifty-five million feet was recently sold on the St. Joe
River in Idaho. This was mostly white pine.
FOREST SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO
HE School of Forestry of the University of Idaho was organized in
September 1909. Idaho has approximately 150,000,000,000 feet of ex-
cellent timber practically untouched by the ax and saw. The State also
has vast areas of absolute forest land, now treeless, which should be placed
under forest management and made to produce to its utmost that for which
it is best adapted, namely, forest products.
Because of these enormous forest interests it was realized at the outset
that forestry would soon occupy a prominent place among the courses offered
at the University.
In addition to the extensive timber holdings of private owners, and of
the State, large corporations control over 2,000,000 acres, and the National
Forests include over 20,000,000 acres. The administration of these vast forest
regions calls for the services of many men trained in forestry subjects. In
the northern part of the State, covered as it is with heavy forests now ready
to be utilized, the present demands are along the lines of protection, develop-
ment and utilization. In the southern part of the State, which is practically
treeless, farm forestry, grazing and reforestation problems are most urgent.
In fact, Idaho demands two classes of foresters trained for very different lines
of work.
In view of the varied demands of the State it seemed wise to organize
two four-year courses in forestry, one in the College of Letters and Sciences
and one in the College of Agriculture.
This has been done and the plan is working in a very satisfactory manner.
The two courses contain exactly the same forestry subjects but the first named
aims to prepare technical foresters, having as collateral courses a liberal
training in mathematics, languages, physics and chemistry. The students
completing this course have an excellent foundation for research work should
they desire to specialize in any of the utilization branches. They are also
valuable as forest assistants and are sought by the lumber companies.
The course in the College of Agriculture is somewhat lighter in the
number of credits required and aims to develop the student more fully along
biological and agricultural lines. These students are well prepared to fill
field positions, dealing with grazing, farm forestry, protection and reforesta-
tion. The demand for men of this class to fill positions as rangers and deputy
supervisors will be large in Idaho for years to come.
Very little if any additional expense has been incurred by offering the
two courses instead of one as we meet the demands of the northern half of
the State by co-operating with the faculty of the College of Letters and
Sciences while those of the southern half are met by co-operation with the
College of Agriculture.
A short course of ten weeks is offered for rangers, a course in general
forestry for the students of the various departments of the University, and a
short course in farm forestry for students in the College of Agriculture.
‘ 181
182 AMERICAN FORESTRY
Dr. C. H. Shattuck, head of the department, has been a student of forestry
since the movement first began to attract attention in this country. To a
thorough scientific training at the University of Chicago, where he took his
doctorate in botany, and special courses in forestry at the Biltmore Forest
School, he has added years of practical experience in field work in the main
forest regions of the United States. He is devoting his attention to lumbering,
utilization, and management.
Prof. H. A. Wadsworth is a graduate of the Idaho Forest School, 1911.
He is devoting special attention to forest engineering, protection and men-
suration. He has been in the employ of the Forest Service during the past
four summers and has had an excellent opportunity to study the practical
problems in his lines as they occur in the field.
The entire time of both instructors is occupied in teaching forestry
subjects only. All mathematics, language, biological and argicultural sub-
jects, etc., are taught by the specialists in charge of those departments.
Special lectures and courses are given on various forest subjects by Forest
Service officials and other specialists. Throughout all the work of the forestry
courses emphasis is placed on laboratory exercises and work in the field. As
far as it is possible the student is made to learn by doing.
NATURAL ADVANTAGES
The finest forest of white and yellow pine, larch, and cedar to be found
in the world are easily accessible to Moscow, while heavy forests of spruce,
white and red fir, and other species can be reached in a few hours.
Some of the largest sawmills ever built, with all that is latest and best
in equipment and methods of operation, are close at hand, while pulp and
paper mills and other secondary wood-using establishments are within easy
reach. Moscow is in the heart of what will soon be one of the greatest wood-
using centers in the country.
EQUIPMENT
The forest laboratories are equipped with ample apparatus for thorough
work in such courses as require indoor study. A very full line of microscopes
and microscopic and lantern slides is available for use in the study of plant
tissues—mechanical and other structures peculiar to different woods, as well
as for the study of the pathology of woody stems and leaves and the life
histories of insects and fungi injurious to trees. The department has also a
full line of forest insects and fungi known to be injurious to the forests of
the State, an herbarium of trees and shrubs of the Northwest and a complete
collection of the tree seeds of American trees. A collection of several hundred
species of the most valuable woods, both native and foreign, is also available.
A great variety of logging, lumbering and foresters’ tools and instruments
is at the disposal of the students. The department is also equipped with
LARGEST KNOWN WHITE PINE TREE. PROPERTY OF
POTLATCH LUMBER CO., 20 MILES FROM MOSCOW,
IDAHO. 207 FEET HIGH. 425 YEARS OLD.
UNIVERSITY OF
;
Ma ct OF
#
Ae
Pi
THE SAME Ti
IDAHO STUDENTS IN FOREST ENGINEERING ABOUT TO REMOVE A
TREE IN THE WAY OF A TRAIL.
ING BY
UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO STUDENTS.
FOREST SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO 185
a Gurley mountain transit, compasses, levels, plain tables, traverse boards,
etc., for use in forest engineering. Ovens, baths, retorts, scales and chemicals
are at hand for use of the students in timber physics and by-products work.
Students in timber testing have access to a 200,000-pound capacity Olsen
universal testing machine in the department of civil engineering. This ma-
chine is completely equipped for tension and compression tests with beam
extensions for transverse tests of full sized beams up to sixteen feet in length.
An arboretum and demonstration plot of about five acres has been set
apart for work in silviculture, where about one hundred and forty species of
forest and park trees are being grown. A nursery and greenhouses are also
available for use of the students in silviculture. The University has secured
six hundred and forty acres of excellent timber land near Moscow, and the
students spend part of each school year at practical work in this forest. The
library is supplied with the best works on forestry and related subjects, and
the reading tables contain the leading periodicals and trade journals on
lumbering and other phases of forestry. These are carefully reviewed each
week when the entire department assembles for work in the forestry seminar.
FOREST CRAFT
Throughout the entire course the students are taught the ways of woods-
men, such as taking natural trail observations, observing game signs, orienta-
tion at night or on cloudy or smoky days, cooking, making and breaking camp,
care of horses, and camp equipment, care of health, and means of protection
against wild animals, insects, and fire; also methods of camping and sleeping
in deep snow, first aid to injured, and simple remedies for colds and other
ailments.
N. B.—Since the above was written the timber owners and lumbermen
of northern Idaho have agreed to a plan to pro-rate their timber holdings
in the State to the extent of $58,000.00 for the purpose of erecting a forestry
building at the University of Idaho. It is the plan of the University au-
thorities that the building and equipment will cost $100,000.00 and will be
as complete as possible in every detail.
Mr. Emil P. Secker has been appointed commercial agent of the Depart-
ment of Commerce and Labor to make investigations with respect to trade
conditions in the lumber industry in foreign countries. Mr. Secker will make
certain preliminary investigations in the United States, covering a period of
about six weeks, with a view to securing information which will aid in his
investigations abroad.
MEETING OF THE CANADIAN FORESTRY
ASSOCIATION
By E. A. STERLING
ing in the Parliament Building, Ottawa, on Feb. 7 and 8. In point of
attendance and enthusiasm, it was one of the most successful meet-
ings ever held, and our Canadian friends have reason to be proud of the
growth of the Association and of the interest which is being manifested in
forestry matters throughout the Dominion.
oe Canadian Forestry Association held its thirteenth annual meet-
The two days’ meeting was characterized by the large number in attend-
ance and by the comparatively small number of papers read, which, how-
ever, resulted in very interesting discussions from a large number of those
present. The following papers were read: “A Progressive Forest Policy
Requires an Investment of Capital,’ H. R. McMillan, M. F.; “The Attitude
of Railroads Towards Forest Fires,’ by E. A. Sterling, F. E.; “The Aims
and Objects of the Canadian Forestry Association,” by E. Stewart, F. E.
Dr. B. E. Fernow’s paper in regard to forest fires, and the report of his
committee appointed by the Association to consider this question, were of
particular interest. Lack of organization as regards forest fire protection
pertains in the forests of Canada as it does in the United States, but all
seemed agreed that with proper organization and co-operation between the
various interests, the fire damage could be very materially reduced, if not
entirely controlled. The lumbermen and forest officials of various provinces
pointed out the difficulty of procuring good men in remote districts who
could be depended upon for proper patrol and other precautions for the
prevention of fires. Unfortunately, some of the appointments have been
more or less political, and the result is that men entirely unfamiliar with
the woods have attempted to serve as guardians of the forests.
The address given by Mr. Pinchot on the second day’s meeting struck
to the very heart of the question of Forest Service organization. Mr.
Pinchot spoke frankly and clearly in regard to the difficulties which had
been encountered in developing the Forest Service in the United States, and
on the basis of his broad experience in building up such an organization,
he was able to point out the essential factors on which an efficient service
must depend. He emphasized the necessity of keeping free from all political
entanglements, and favored the placing of heavy responsibility on com-
paratively young men. Another fundamental point which he made was the
necessity of giving the field men a square deal, because under ordinary con-
ditions, when they are given no opportunities to get in personal touch
with the office, their recommendations are liable to be turned down without
sufficient consideration. Trying to get the field men’s point of view, and
186
MEETING OF THE CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION = 187
the transfer of office men to the field and field men to the office, was recom-
mended.
On the evening of February 7 the joint banquet of the Canadian Forestry
Association and the Canadian Lumbermen’s Association was held in the
Parliamentary Restaurant, attended by about 200 members and friends of
the two organizations. Among the prominent men in attendance were
Premier Borden, Sir Wilfred Laurier, Hon. Sidney Fisher, Mr. H. M. Price,
Mr. Gifford Pinchot, Hon. Geo. E. Foster, Mr. Alexander McLauren, President
Lumbermen’s Association; Mr. Wm. McNeil, a prominent lumberman of
Vancouver; Dr. B. E. Fernow, Dean of the Forestry Department of the
University of Toronto; Mr. R. H. Campbell, Superintendent of Forestry for
the Dominion of Canada; Mr. Aubrey White, Deputy Minister of Lands
and Forests, and Sir Frederick Borden. Mr. Geo. Y. Chown, President of
the Forestry Association, acted as Chairman, and toasts were proposed to
the King, to Parliament, to the Lumbermen, “Our Guests,” the Forest
Services, and the allied interests.
Among the Canadian members present there was a friendly exchange
of persiflage on the recent political changes, but good fellowship and en-
thusiasm were the keynote of the convention. The earlier speakers, among
whom were Hon. Mr. Fisher, Right Hon. Borden, and Sir Wilfred Laurier,
paid high tribute to Mr. Pinchot as representing the highest conservation
and forestry interests in the States. Mr. Pinchot, in replying to the toasts,
“Our Guests,’ made a most excellent address on general conservation
questions.
The officers elected by the Forestry Association for the ensuing year
were: Honorary past president, Sir Wilfred Laurier; honorary president,
Rt. Hon. R. L. Borden; patron, His Royal Highness the Governor-General ;
president, John Hendry, Vancouver; vice-president, Hon. W. A. Charlton,
M. P., Toronto; territorial vice-presidents—Ontario, Hon. Mr. Hearst;
Quebec, Hon. Jules Allard; New Brunswick, Hon. J. K. Fleming; Nova
Scotia, Hon. George H. Murray; Prince Edward Island, Hon. J. A.
Mathieson; Manitoba, Hon. R. P. Roblin; Saskatchewan, Hon. A. E. Brown;
British Columbia, Hon. W. R. Ross; Yukon, Commissioner Black, McKenzie,
F. D. Wilson; Keewatin, Lieutenant-Governor D. C. Cameron; Ungava, the
Arehbishop of Montreal.
Board of Directors—William Little, Hiram Robinson, Aubrey White,
EK. Stewart, H. M. Price, W. B. Snowball, Thomas Southworth, Hon. W. C.
Edwards, Hon. Sydney Fisher, R. H. Campbell, J. B. Miller, G. C. Edwards,
Dr. B. E. Fernow, Ellwood Wilson, F. C. Whitman, G. ©. Piche, Aleck
Maclaurin, Carl Riordon, Mgr. Matthieu, Bishop of Regina; A. P. Stevenson,
William Pearce, William Power, C. E. E. Ussher, Denis Murphy, C. Jackson
Booth, William Price, M. P., J. W. Harkom, A. S. Goodeve, M. P., Senator
Bostock, W. C. T. Hall, J. S. Dennis.
Secretary, James Lawler.
Treasurer, Miss M. Robinson.
Assistant secretary, Mr. F. W. H. Jacombe.
SECURING STATE FOREST LANDS
By W. M. HAYS
Asst. Secy. Dept. or AGRICULTURE
E have been so busy with this national forest movement and with this
(7) Appalachian movement that we have not looked forward, and we have
not thought that possibly we could have other quite as large movements
or nearly as large movements in this same forest promotion. I have a sug-
gestion along this line, which is, that by some means, the Federal Government
and the State Government co-operate in the broadest way in securing lands
that cannot be secured as Federal lands, but can be secured as State lands,
and that the Federal Government, possibly by paying a part of the interest
on the bonds, encourage the States themselves to purchase the lands. Broadly
speaking, there are something like one billion nine million acres of forest in
this country, of which less than a hundred and seventy million acres are
under the Forest Service. That is something like nine per cent. There are
somewhere from ten to twenty millions acres in the hands of the States; but
our Forestry Service could not give me anything like a close estimate, because
some of these lands have been purchased recently and some are on timber lands
that are ceded as school lands.
If we could get some large area of fifty millions or a hundred millions of
acres, which would be one-twentieth part of the whole forest area of the
country, if we could get some large area purchased by the States, the Federal
Government paying a part of the expense, say, half of the interest on the
bonds for a given period of years, until the forest became productive so that
the States would have an income from them, it might be wise on the part of
the Federal Government to do that.
There are many reasons for that, one or two of which I will mention.
For instance, suppose the State of Minnesota were to create the forest land;
the profit would eventually go to Iowa and South Dakota, and North Dakota,
as well as to Minnesota; and if they were grown somewhat at a loss, or as
a public enterprise, these other States might properly help in paying the cost.
So that if the encouragement of timber-growing is to the advantage of our
cities as well as to the States, these cities might help in paying some of this
first money, this investment, in some such form. Using the process you use
now for those lands you are purchasing in the Forest Service, six dollars an
acre, we will say, as an average, and three and a half per cent an acre, will
mean only ten per cent or at most twenty per cent per acre that the State
and Federal Government would pay. In terms of ordinary appropriation,
that would mean about five millions of dollars, at the most, from the Federal
Government. So that this is not out of proportion to the ordinary expenditure,
and it will look to the taking up of a large area of forest land that there is
now no way of taking up in a public way. It would take up a great deal of
land that we cannot hope that private enterprise will take up, and will enable
the growing of forest crops on that area.
188
PEOPLE HELPING THE FORESTERS’
By Cuter Forester HENRY S. GRAVES
HE three big problems of the Forest Service are: Protection of the
OC timber against fire; continuation of forests or reforestation, and de-
velopment of the natural resources.
And the spirit with which the people are helping us solve these is really
remarkable. Not only settlers in the National forests and owners of land
adjoining are helping us put into practice our theories, but even the private
owners of timber lands have realized that it is to their benefit to preserve the
forests and to continue them.
In a few years the loss of timber by fire should be reduced to practically
nothing. We have always estimated that $50,000,000 worth of timber was
destroyed each year by fire. Last year, I should judge, it was $20,000,000 or
less. We were fortunate in having only a few fires last year, but still they
were big ones.
The co-operation of the people in helping us minimize the risk of fire
accounts largely for the big reduction in loss. The Forestry Service is build-
ing new trails in the forests, putting up telephone lines, establishing look-
outs and taking other precautionary measures. The owners of adjacent lands
are following our example. In many places, particularly in the states of
Washington, Oregon and Idaho, private owners are spending more money
for protection than the Government.
Private owners are also adopting our plan of forest continuation. Not
many years ago a forest had been cut down for its timber, the land was left
an unprofitable and unproducing waste. Now owners are taking care that
new timber will grow where the old stood. When we find it expedient to cut
the timber in the national forests we carry out this plan of reforestation. If
the scheme were generally adopted no one need fear that the timber supply of
the country would ever be exhausted.
In order to encourage forest continuation, the States should see to it that
the tax on growing timber is not too heavy. It requires forty years and over
for a tree to become of merchantable size, and if the owners are forced to
pay a big tax they will not find it worth their while to grow timber and will
abandon the scheme.
It is easy to see the value of forest continuation. In the old days the in-
dustries and cities depending on the cutting of timber disappeared with the
forests. Should the forests be kept growing the industries wil! live with
them.
People have also realized by this time that our protective policy is one
of development and we are not meeting with the opposition of a few
years ago.
*Address at meeting of the National Forest Supervisors of California and Western
Nevada
189
THE WORK OF THE ASSOCIATION
By HON. ROBT. P. BASS
PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN Forestry ASSOCIATION
E have entered upon a definite policy of public forestry development. We
(1) are still in the very primary stages in the application of forestry to
privately owned timber lands. We are in the middle stage of development
in regard to the practice of forestry by the various State governments. We
are undoubtedly in a critical position in regard to the timber supply in this
country. Our use of timber per capita in the United States is greater than
in any other civilized country in the world. Our natural resources in that
respect are rapidly becoming depleted. Fortunately, we have gradually ap-
preciated the conditions which are to confront us in the future, and if we are
to develop an economically sound basis as between the supply and demand of
forest products, we must develop the science of forestry to the highest degree
attainable. In this, it seems to me that the American Forestry Association
can be of the greatest use.
The best development of the science of forestry can only come through the
co-operation of all the forces which can be brought to bear to develop that
science, namely, the Federal Government, the various State and local govern-
ments—that is, the town and county governments, according to conditions in
the different communities—and the private owners of timber lands. To
bring these various forces together into one co-operative unit is, to my mind,
the next fundamental step in the development of forestry in this country,
and in that work it seems to me that the American Forestry Association can
play a very important part. In order to do this, it needs to extend its scope
to reach all parts of the country, to serve as an educational medium through
which not only the few interested in forestry, but all those who have any
relation to the lumbering interests, and to all the interests which are involved
in the produce of our woodlands may be reached and taught how they may
best make use of the resources at their hand.
The American Forestry Association has before it, to my mind, a great
work, and it is the earnest desire of the men now active in the management
of the association to seek the co-operation of as many public-spirited men
throughout the country as they can reach in this work. They believe it is a
work which will be of real benefit to an enormous number of people in this
country, and they want the help of all men who can spread the doctrines for
which they stand in carrying out the ideas of scientific and of practical forestry.
190
WYMAN’S SCHOOL OF THE WOODS
By THOS? Bo WYMAN
O train young men in forestry, as it is actually practiced; lumbering,
as done bv successful operators; milling, of hardwoods and softwoods,
and the woodcraft necessary to properly accomplish forest work,
Wyman’s School of the Woods was organized at Munising, Michigan, July Ist,
1909. Munising is on the south shore of Lake Superior about midway, east
and west, of the upper peninsula, and is recognized as having more contributing
timber resources than any city in the State of Michigan.
Large corporations have undertaken reforestation and arrangements have
been made to employ the students in this work and in the nursery work
auxiliary to it.
Organized forest protection is carried on in these forests as is also
cruising and estimating, woods, surveying, mapping, scaling, compass work,
camping, ete., in all of which students are drilled by force of requirements.
The only endowment of the school is this huge forest; an endowment of
such worth that it can not be over estimated in its influence upon forest
education.
In addition, the school maintains comfortable quarters at Munising for
the theoretical lecture work, draughting, mapping, etc.
A library of several hundred technical and practical works, a reading
table to which come the scientific magazines, trade papers and out-of-door
periodicals, and fully equipped lecture rooms and draughting rooms offer
opportunities for study and practice. All of the best instruments used in
forest work are owned and used by the school.
The great lecture room, the great laboratory, the great library, the great
store-house of forest knowledge, is the forest; and in it the students spend
every moment possible, for new points are always arising which can best be
explained by practical demonstration.
The courses at Wyman’s School of the Woods are broad in gauge and are
designed to cover the full field of forestry in twenty-four months of actual
attendance. Upon satisfactorily completing both the theoretical and practical
work students are granted a certificate of efficiency in logging engineering.
The course is designed in such a manner that students who are unable to
take more than a single year of study should be qualified for positions as
rangers, compassmen, etc., at salaries commensurate with the duties and re-
sponsibilities of the position.
The full courses are open to graduates of approved high schoois and others
of business training whose qualifications are satisfactory to the directorate.
All subjects are arranged in sequence and as closely to season as possible.
Hence, students are allowed to enter at the beginning of any subject.
A summer course, covering ten weeks, is also offered. This course is to
offer to those students who are “thinking of forestry” an opportunity to
learn, by contact with the forest, the nature of advanced study and of actual
work. No special qualifications are required for entry to this course. It is
purely an out-of-door training school and the entire time is spent in camp.
191
THE APPALACHIAN WORK
By WM. L. HALL
Or THE Forest SERVICE
HE Forest Service is now practically getting into the routine part of
the Appalachian work, and I think this year’s appropriation will run
over one million dollars. If it should turn out that purchases are to be
made in the White Mountain region the Forest Service itself would be in a
position to report upon the land. It has examined it to the extent of a
hundred thousand acres or so, at a valuation of perhaps from six to eight
hundred thousand dollars.
Should it turn out that we cannot purchase lands in the White Mountains
this year, then we expect that we will complete examinations in the Southern
Appalachians, enough to consume the appropriation of two million dollars
which is available for this present year; so that, in any case, we believe it
will be possible to use the money which Congress has put into our hands.
When this proposition was under consideration for the ten or twelve years
it was before Congress, it was pointed out by those who thought it was unwise
that, if this law were passed, we would encounter all kinds of difficulties.
It was said, in fact, that it was a scheme of the land grabber; it was a scheme
of the speculator, and that when we actually got into the work of acquiring
land we would find that the speculator had gone in advance of us and had
gathered in the lands, and would turn them over to the Government only at
a great profit. We have not found that to be true. In a few cases locally,
we have found that men have gathered in considerable bodies of land, ex-
pecting, possibly, that the Government would come in as a purchaser eventually.
That has not been hard to deal with. Generally, we have found the land
owners have not discounted the action of the Government at all, and are ready
to deal with us on a frank and businesslike basis.
The passage of this law, however, did in a measure set acting a certain
class of men, men who were very anxious to become closely acquainted with
the $11,000,000, and they have attempted to operate in various ways. Some
of them have attempted to impersonate Government officials in filing their
options on land; others have attempted to get options in their own names
with the idea, of course, of making a good profit; others are endeavoring to
show that, as agents, they can save the Government a great deal of money,
and also obtain enormous prices for the owners of the land. But, with a
stiff backbone against all that sort of thing, we are able to make progress,
and we shall undoubtedly be able to make progress, and carry out effectively
the law as it was the intention that it should be carried out, and as it was
the expectation of the entire country that it should be carried out in a rea-
sonable and businesslike way, doing justice alike to the land-owners who
have land to sell and to the whole people whose money was to be used for
the purchase of those lands, and only at a reasonable price.
192
CONSERVATION THROUGH LEGISLATION
By MRS. pe B. RANDOLPH KEIM.
N conformity with the promise of his annual message to Congress,
a the President of the United States, in a more elaborate considera-
tion of the conservation of our national resources in a special com-
munication to that body, stated the issue and the argument in furtherance
of this great national movement in support of the best interests of the present
and safe-guarding of the necessities of the future. As a basis of argument and
interest in advocacy of the conservation movement it may be said the public
domain today amounts to 731,354,352 acres, about 70 per cent of the area of
fifty years ago, and represents largely mountain ranges and arid or semi-arid
plains, the most desirable area having been absorbed. In behalf of the sons
of America desiring to go West and establish themselves and children, were
passed the homestead and other praise-worthy acts. The lax methods of
distribution and the impression by many that the public domain was legitimate
prey for the unscrupulous led to the passage of large areas of valuable land
and many of our national resources into the hands of persons who felt little
or no responsibility for promoting the national welfare through their develop-
ment. The title to millions of acres of public lands thus went into private
hands to the detriment of the interests of actual settlers. The right to recover
most of such selfishly if not fraudulently obtained lands has unfortunately
ceased by reason of statutes of limitations.
The public lands in former times were regarded as a national asset, to be
utilized for the payment of the public debt and as a reward for the soldiers
and sailors. Apparently overlooking these purposes immense areas were given
away in promotion of schemes of wagon and railroads. As their uses were
designed to open the great West to accessibility and settlement they had a
reason, but the reckless manner of the bestowal made the well intended
project an expensive method of reaching a desirable end. Since the best part
of the arable public domain has thus vanished present efforts are directed
toward the conservation of the resources of what remains and the prevention
of further spoliation.
The object now in view is the maintenance and extension of the forest
resources and the enactment of laws amending absolete statutes so as to
retain governmental control over that part of the public domain in which
there are valuable deposits of coal, oil, phosphates, etc., and to preserve and
control under conditions favorable to the public of lands and water power
sites along the streams in which the fall of water can be made to generate
power to be transmitted in the form of electricity many miles to the point of
its use. In concert with the policy of the national administration the efforts
of associations of the people have contributed an important share of effective
service by awakening public attention and arousing popular co-operation and
193
194 AMERICAN FORESTRY
effort. The investigation of violations of the public land laws and prosecution
of land frauds have gone far toward calling a halt upon the reckless pro-
cedure in the past. The withdrawal of coal lands for proper classification
and valuation and the withholding of power sites for the time being opens the
way to effective action and results. Within the past year the withdrawal
of power sites has been applied to one hundred and two streams or two
hundred and twenty-nine per cent more than were covered by previous with-
drawals.
The statutes relating to the disposition of the precious metals and lands
strictly agricultural are accepted as well adapted to the purpose, but are
not suited to existing best public opinion as to the disposition of public lands
to private ownership and to prevent monopoly or improper use of these
lands or their products. One of the chief causes of the reckless disposition
of the public domain in the past has been the lack of classification according
to value or use. The U. S. Geological Survey, which has long been in the
official contact with the public domain from a scientific and economic view-
point, after years of exploration, investigation, survey and mapping by expert
employees in these respective branches without going further possesses a vast
quantity of collected and digested material and applied information. It has
the equipment office and field to enable it to promptly extend its operations
along up to date lines of public opinion and interest in the conservation of
our natural resources. The disposition of agricultural lands as such reserving
for different ownership or regulation the coal, oil, asphaltum, natural gas,
phosphate or any other non-precious metallic substances is the motive of
public policy now proposed. The separation of the title to the surface and
the title to mining privileges beneath with the right to use so much of the
surface as may be required to operate the subterranean mineral deposits
presents a proposition which, it is thought, will compass the exigency of the
new situation. To accomplish this and it is proposed in the future to utilize
the land laws as they stand for the disposition of agricultural lands and
the coal, iron or other minerals beneath to be disposed of by lease or royalty
and requiring a fixed amount of development each year with special pro-
visions to prevent monopoly. A duplex system of this character applied to
the public lands possessing much novelty may be reached by laws at first
experimental and subject to improvement as practical working suggests. The
adoption of a system appliable to the valuable water power sites in all the
public land states presents difficulties arising out of local sovereignity as
affected by territorial governments becoming states. As the power in streams
passing through public lands can only be made available by using the lands
adjacent for the construction of plants for the generation of power and
right of way for the transmission of lines, legislation should be asked imposing
such conditions in the disposition of lands so situated as may be necessary
both in the creation and utilization of the power. It will be seen the question
of conservation of our naural resources as a sentiment or abstract proposition
and as an aggressive policy supported by the people along practical lines
presents opposite conditions. To accomplish the latter interchange of views
and associated effort will prepare the way to the accomplishment of definite
results, which can be attained through national legislation.
PRIVATE FOREST OWNERS
By A. D. HOPKINS
Or THE BurnAU OF ENTOMOLOGY
BELIEVE that the American Forestry Association is capable of render-
ing great service to the cause of forest conservation in this country. I
believe that the people of the country who are directly interested in
the forest resources have had enough information on the need and importance
of conservation. They have been sufficiently warned of the dire consequences
of forest destruction, inundation and erosion. Indeed, there has been too much
agitation and activity in the interests of certain restricted federal and State
forest legislation, and not enough in the interest of the private owner, who
is willing to be converted to the natural ideas, if he could be made to see
that they would contribute to the wealth of his county or his State, and, at
the same time, pay him.
The private owners want the facts about the best methods to protect
and increase and utilize forest crops. In other words, they want to know
what to do and how to do it, and if it will pay. These are the people who
are in need of information and instruction on the essential facts and principles
of successful forest management. The officials of public forests are supposed
to know all of those and to be competent to select and carry out the proper
conservation policy for the forests in their charge.
Therefore, they are not so much in need of the association, but think
that all others who are working on the scientific and practical problems of
forest protection or forest management, with a view of demonstrating to the
private owners the improved methods which would be to their advantage,
should have the association back of them. The products of the privately owned
forest are relatively as important to the people of the country as are the
products of the privately owned farms, and, therefore, the owner of a forest
deserves the same help as that so liberally extended to the owner of the farm.
A large part of the appropriation for forest insect work in the Bureau of
Entomology at present is being directed to demonstration of methods of
control and to practical instructions by practical men in the field for the
direct benefit of groups of private owners in different sections of the country.
By dint of very hard work we have met with some success; with the moral
backing of an association such as the American Forestry Association, our task
would be greatly simplified.
195
AN APPROVAL
By Hon. ADOLPH O. EBERHART
GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA
Editor of AMpRICAN Forestry.
EPLYING to your letter of January 17th, containing a copy of resolu-
{2 tions adopted by the annual meeting of the American Forestry Asso-
ciation and asking for an expression of an opinion from me regarding
them, I beg to say that the federal appropriation to which resolution number
one refers has resulted in great good to this State. We received $10,000 last
year under a co-operative arrangement, and this amount has enabled the
State Forestry Service to do far more than the amount itself would indicate,
as it has made possible a larger field force throughout the fire season. The
great success of our Forestry Department in controlling fires last year was
due in no small measure to this assistance.
With reference to resolution number two, no doubt Minnesota has suf-
fered greatly through an unfortunate situation of taxation. of forest lands.
In my opinion the custom of taxing growing or standing timber repeatedly
is unnecessary, aS well as unfair. The state, as a whole, would derive the
same revenue through taxing the product after the timber is cut and by so
doing would insure permanence of the timber industry. As it is now, the
owner of standing timber finds it expedient because of the taxes to cut his
timber as soon as possible, and in the cheapest possible manner, thus result-
ing in waste. The right way to tax forest property is to tax the land itself
annually in accordance with its real value. The crop should be taxed but
once, and that when cut.
As to resolution number three, while it is undoubtedly important in lo-
calities where it applies, it does not particularly affect this State.
As to resolutions four and five, both these subjects are thoroughly cov-
ered by the operation of our reorganized Forestry Department, which is en-
couraging the co-operation of timber owners, and is also carrying on an
educational campaign to bring about successful reforestation.
THE 1911 INDEX
The 1911 index for AmMERIcAN Forestry is now ready and subscribers may
have it mailed to them by writing for it.
Wireless telegraphy will become a factor in the prevention of forest fires
in Montana, if experiments planned by R. P. McLaughlin, forest supervisor,
are successful. It is propesed to establish a station and open communication
with the wireless plant at the Kalispell High School. If the experiment is
successful several stations to be operated in connection with the telephone
system already in operation, will be organized.
196
STATE NEWS
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania’s methods in fighting the San
Jose scale, the codling moth and other ene-
mies of fruit trees, have attracted the at-
tention of two of the Southern states in
which commercial orchards are being de-
veloped. The system adopted has been
imitated in others, but now word has been
received that men are coming here to see
how trees are handled.
An incorporated concern which is working
under the direction of Virginia’s State
Bureau of Economic Zodlogy, has asked
State Zodlogist Surface if he can provide
demonstrations for men who have been de-
tailed to come to Pennsylvania to observe.
Dr. W. E. Hinds, State Entomologist of
Alabama, has written to Dr. Surface asking
for an outline of his division’s work and
for instructions such as are given to the
orchard workers.
The Maryland State authorities have also
highly commended the Pennsylvania system.
This State held twenty-six demonstrations
for the killing of scale and moth last year
along the same lines as the 900 that are
held in this State.
New York
A public hearing was held by the Forest,
Fish and Game Committees of the Senate and
Assembly on the bill to amend the Conserva-
tion Law relating to Lands and Forests, Feb-
ruary 20 and 21. The greatest public interest
has been manifested in the reforestation pol-
icy of Governor Dix and the Conservation
Commission, since it promises to restore the
forest areas of the state to an extent re-
quired by the industrial, commercial, sani-
tary and recreation needs of a rapidly in-
creasing population. The people are astound-
ed to learn that there are about 2,300,000
acres, eight per cent of the State’s total area,
which now have no profitable growth. All
this is virtually idle soil and should be planted
to forest, for which it is best adapted.
The Conservation Commission’s bill, now
before the Legislature, seeks not only to en-
large the state’s authority with reference to
the reforestation of public lands, but also
aims to encourage tree planting by private
land owners.
There are several important changes in the
forestry law proposed by this bili. but the
two most progressive features undoubtedly
are those relating to the regulation of timber
cutting on certain private lands, and to afford
taxation relief to the owner who reforests
denuded or idle soil.
North Carolina
Through the efforts of the North Carolina
Forestry Association, which was organized
last February with the specific object of
“promoting the protection of the forests of
North Carolina from fire and from de-
structive insects, and of promoting their per-
petuation by wise use and by the reforestation
of cutover and abandoned lands,” two county
associations were organized last fall to take
up and encourage the work of control of the
southern pine beetle, which has latterly be-
come so alarmingly prevalent through the
South Atlantic states.
With the assistance of The Greater Char-
lotte Club, a meeting was held in Charlotte on
November 24, at which Messrs. E. B. Mason
and F. B. Snyder, of the U. S. Division of
Forest Insect Investigations; Mr. J. S)
Holmes, State Forester and Secretary of the
North Carolina Forestry Association; Mr.
W. S. Lee, a Vice President of this Associa-
tion; and several other local men made ad-
dresses. The result was the organization of
the Mecklenburg Pine Beetle Association, to
assist the farmers and other timberland own-
ers in carrying out the methods of control
recommended by the U. S. Bureau of Ento-
mology. The following men were elected offi-
cers: Messrs. W. S. Pharr, president; Sum-
mers Alexander, first vice president; W. S.
Abernethy, second vice president; and Rufus
M. Johnston, secretary and treasurer.
It was suggested at this meeting that Mr.
EB. T. Clark, county demonstrator for the U.
S. Department of Agriculture, be secured to
mark the trees for cutting at the various
places through the county where control
operations were to be carried out. Subse-
quent negotiations have resulted in the per-
mission of the Department for Mr. Clark to
do this work.
Two weeks later a similar meeting was
held in the adioining county of Gaston, at
which the two above-named entomologists,
Messrs. Mason and Snyder, and also the State
Forester, were present. The meeting organ-
ized itself into The Gaston Forestry Asso-
ciation, the chief object of which was stated
to be the control of the southern pine beetle
as advvocated by the U. S. Bureau of Ento-
mology. Its secondary, though more perma-
nent object, is to support all forestry move-
ments of local interest and value and to co-
operate in every possible way with the State
Forestry Association. Mr. A. C. Stroup a
vice president of the North Carolina Forestry
Association was chairman of the meeting
and was elected secretary of the county asso-
ciation. The other officers were: W. W.
Farries president; R. N. Johnson, first vice
president; and J. F. McCarver, second vice
president.
New Jersey
The United States Department of Agricul-
ture has notified the New Jersey State For-
197
198
est Commission that an allotment of $2,000
will be made to New Jersey to aid in the
work of controlling forest fires during the
present year. Last year the State received
$1,000 from the appropriation, which was ex-
pended in establishing a fire patrol in the
northern part of the state.
California
According to the statements of J. A. Boyle,
special investigator of the State Forestry Of-
fice, at Santa Barbara, Cal., two investigators
are working in the northern part of Cali-
fornia making an extensive investigation of
the system of taxing timber lands. The in-
vestigation is an exhaustive one and will
cover all the timber lands in California. It
is being made at the request of the National
Conservation Commission at Washington, D.
C. It is understood that after the investiga-
tion in California has been completed, the
work will assume a national scope. On ac-
count of the vast timber holdings in the
northern part of the state, the work is of
great importance and will be carried on in
a searching and thorough manner.
Forest rangers of the Redlands (Cali-
fornia) section have begun planting 15,000
eucalyptus trees on the foothills of the moun-
tains, north of Del Rosa and West High-
lands. It is the first eucalyptus planting in
the local mountains, but it is expected many
more trees will be planted in the foothills in
the next few years.
West Virginia
West Virginia forests are said by experts
to be remarkable for their extent, their va-
riety, and the number of species of trees.
Certainly it is stated that in no other forest
area in America can a greater variety in
species and size be found. The early settlers
of the state, careless of the future, decimated
the soft woods in the erection of their homes
and in making their “clearings.” But the
hardwood, better than the soft woods sur-
vived the ordeal, and their seedlings are to-
day ready for the ax and the saw. The first
movement for the systematic and effective
conservation of West Virginia’s forests was
begun twenty-five years ago. Today the
state’s timber is of enormous value and the
buyers from all the world’s markets are con-
stantly in the field in an effort to secure it
against future consumption.
Michigan
Upper Michigan pine forests are fast be-
coming a memory, as the lumbermen are con-
tenting themselves with hardwood and hem-
lock, where in years gone by they would dis-
dain to cut anything but the stately white
pine.
_ The last big tract of pine in Luce county—
big as such tracts are nowadays—is being
cut this winter by F. Chesbrough and is being
banked on the Taquamenon River. It con.
sists of 3,000,000 feet of the finest cork pine.
The timber is so located that logging opera-
AMERICAN FORESTRY
tions are difficult. It is a 12-mile haul from
the camps north of Newberry to the river.
At the big union meeting of teachers and
grangers at Hesperia, Mich., in February,
Prof. Filibert Roth, of the Forestry Depart-
ment of the University of Michigan, advo-
cated the establishment of a state bureau of
forestry. At the present rate of cutting tim-
ber, he said, the state would be stripped of
this resource in a short time and a bureau of
forestry would tend to educate citizens to
plant trees before the state’s forests are all
gone.
Florida
P. T. Day, of Cleveland, O., the largest
naval stores operator in the West, predicted
in Savannah, Ga., recently that if the present
profligate destruction of trees in Florida is
continued that state will be totally denuded
of pines in a few years. He said the matter
had been brought to the attention of the De-
partment of Agriculture and that the govern-
ment officials had concurred in his predic-
tion.
Wisconsin
State Forester E. M. Griffith of Wisconsin,
returning from a visit to Washington, D. C.,
says that there is a favorable outlook for the
passage of Congressman E. A. Morse’s bill
to add to the state forest reserves 216 islands
in the forest reserve area in Vilas and Oneida
counties of Wisconsin. A letter from Con-
gressman Morse gives further encourage-
ment for the success of the measure. The
islands contain 167 acres and the state de-
sires to add them to the reserves for their
conservation.
Under the terms of the bill, they would
be used only for forest reserve purposes
if given to the state.
Mr. Griffith secured from the forestry
service at Washington an extension of its
contract with the Wisconsin Forestry Board
for supplying a federal forest patrol to work
with the state guardians, the contract involv-
ing $5,000 annually.
Minnesota
To arrange for co-operation between the
railroads and the State Forestry Service dur-
ing the dangerous fire season of 1912, State
Forester Cox called a meeting of railroad
officials and forest rangers at Brainerd to
outline a plan for fire prevention and pro-
tection. Although two months or more
probably will elapse before the season for
forest fires begins, Mr. Cox proposes having
arrangements completed for protecting
Northern Minnesota when that time arrives.
During the dangerous season there will be
fifteen rangers and nearly two hundred pa-
trolmen on the lookout to prevent damage
by forest fires.
New Hampshire
A_ systematic campaign against the gypsy
moth in New Hampshire has been started by
STATE
the state moth department. It is the inten-
tion of the state agent to bring every re-
source to bear against the pest so far as an
econmical administration of state funds will
allow.
It is especially the desire of the moth de-
partment to conduct the work for the benefit
of the state as a whole, rather than for any
one locality, and to make the state funds do
the greatest possible service both for the
present and for the future. With this in
mind, the “scouting” or inspection part of the
work has been organized.
Washington
State Treasurer J. G. Lewis, of Washing-
ton, has segregated the $24,111.46 which was
the state’s share of all receipts from the sale
of property, rentals, etc., in the forest re-
serves in Washington for the year ending
June 30, 1911, and the amounts will be dis-
tributed among the various counties accord-
ing to the area of national forests they con-
tain, as compared with the extra area in the
state.
Colorado
Failure to secure the appropriation made
by the last legislature to provide a horticul-
tural and forest school on the Teller Indian
School property may yet lose Colorado the
buildings and the grounds valued at $450,000.
President C. . A. -Lory, (ofthe pomite, Sen.
cultural Board, has written to the local board
in charge of the property, advising them of
the alleged seriousness of the condition. The
property was granted to Colorado by Con-
gress on condition that it be converted into
an educational institution to which Indians
were to be admitted on equal terms with
whites. So far the state has for lack of
funds been unable to comply with conditions
imposed by the act of Congress, but President
Lory believes if the extension work can be
carried out as planned, with the $5,000 prom-
ised by the state auditor, the state can retain
possession of the property.
Tennessee
Problems arising from the destruction of
southern forests by insect pests and fires will
be disctissed at a forest conference in Nash-
ville, Tenn., April 8-10, at which Henry S&S.
Graves, chief of the Forest Service, will pre-
side.
This conference will be held as a part of
the Southern Commercial Congress, which
then will be in session. Lumbermen, manu-
facturers and southern legislators will be in-
vited to participate in the discussions in
which legal and other mea:.. of forest per-
petuation will be considered.
Montana
More adequate laws for the protection of
the forests of Montana are needed, and un-
less the next legislature is prevailed upon to
pass stringent fire laws the future of the for-
ests will be in a most precarious condition, is
NEWS 199
the opinion expressed by State Forester
Charles W. Jungberg in his annual report.
He asserts that this protective legislation was
not passed last winter because “pressure was
brought to bear by interests that hold the
main part of the timber outside of the na-
tional forests, to defeat all forest legisla-
tion.
Kentucky
Advocates of the awakening of interest in
forestry in Kentucky have put before the
Legislature aproposal that there shall be
created a non-salaried commission of five
members with the Governor a member of the
commission; that there shall be a trained for-
ester whose duty shall be to enlist the inter-
est of private owners of land, to organize a
fire warden system, and to develop a forestry
policy for the state. It is further proposed
that adequate fire protection provisions be
enacted, and that the State be authorized to
own land for experimental purposes and to
reforest denuded watersheds at the sources
of important streams.
Indiana
Optimistic reports concerning the good
work of the Indiana Forestry Association
were made at a recent meeting of the di-
rectors of that organization at the office of
Charles W. Fairbanks. Mr. Fairbanks was
re-elected president, and other officers were
re-elected as follows: Vice-president, Mason
B. Thomas, Wabash College, Crawfordsville,
and secretary, George B. Lockwood, Marion.
William A. Guthrie, of Indianapolis, was
elected treasurer to succeed Hugh J. Mc-
Gowan, who died.
In his report, Mr. Fairbanks said the work
of the Association had been carried on with
gratifying results since its organization. The
people generally had manifested interest in
the movement, he said, and prospects were
very bright. Mr. Fairbanks said the news-
papers of the State had done important work
in educating the people concerning the pur-
poses of the Association.
Oregon
The Portland, Oregon, office of the For-
est Service has recently inaugurated a study
of the production and consumption of pulp
and pulp products in the Pacific Northwest.
This study is now being actively pursued by
three representatives of that Government
Bureau. All of the pulp mills actively
operating are furnishing data regardine their
cutting, and information regarding the con-
sumption of paper and other pulp products
is being solicited from distributers and con-
sumers.
Ohio
The Forestry Department of the Ohio
State agricultural station is hoping its recom-
mendations for legislation requiring the re-
a
forestation of Ohio woodlands will bear
fruit in the present constitutional convention.
One proposal introduced by Delegate Mil-
ler makes it mandatory for the legislature
to protect insectivorous birds and such
animals as destroy natural enemies of agri-
culture and trees. He also would require
the legislature to encourage reforestation
and make sufficient appropriations for agri-
cultural education. Without waiting for
the convention or legislature to act, how-
ever, Director C. E. Thorne, of the station,
is out co-operating with owners of wood-
lots to reclaim them for reforestation. The
Forestry Department offers aid to any such
persons applying for it. “Investigations in
thirty Ohio counties,” says Thorne, “show
that only 15 per cent of woodlots are re-
served from pasturage.”
200 AMERICAN FORESTRY
Massachusetts
State Forester Rane, of Masachusetts, is
sending his warning to the owners of wood-
land in the western part of the State, that
they beware of the chestnut tree blight which
is making its way eastward from New York
and Pennsylvania, where thousands of acres
of valuable timber have been destroyed by
this new pest.
The advance guard of the pest has al-
ready made its appearance in the Berkshires.
It is believed that with the advent of warm
weather it will sweep eastward, and destroy
every piece of standing chestnut in the State.
A serious financial loss is thereby threatened,
for the State Forester estimates the chest-
nut growth of Massachusetts at more than
$7,000,000.
NEWS AND NOTES
Supervisors Meet
The district supervisors of the Forest Serv-
ice in California and Western Nevada held
a very successful annual convention in San
Francisco, starting January 22, at which Chief
Forester Henry S. Graves, as well as a num-
ber of lesser forestry officials, were present.
Representatives of nearly fifty prominent
lumber companies and large owners of tim-
ber lands attended one of the sessions and
held a joint conference with the forest of-
ficers. As a result of this conference a
number of the leading lumber men and
timber owners agreed to take immediate ac-
tion toward the formation of an association
similar to the Western Forestry and Conser-
vation Association. They also organized to
aid in protecting the forests from fire, and
will work with the Forest Service to this
end. Addresses were delivered by Chief
Forester Henry S. Graves, Coert DuBois,
Assistant District Forester Headley, Super-
visors Rogers, Redington, and Rider, F. C.
Thompson, Assistant District Forester
Woodbury, Swift Berry, J. A. Mitchell, Wil-
liam C. Hodge, Forest Assistant Shaw, John
H. Hatten, L. A. Barrett, and a number of
others.
District supervisors also held conventions
at Portland, Oregon, and Denver, Colo.,
Chief Forester Graves attending the former.
Chinese Forestry Students
Bound for Germany, where for the next
year they will study the science of forestry
at an agricultural college, Mr. Arlu Liang,
the son of Dr. Cheng Tung Liang Cheng,
Chinese Ambassador to Berlin, and_ his
cousin, Mr. Foo Tsu Liang, left this country
a few days ago. )
The young men each nineteen years old,
have been three years in the United States,
Mr. Arlu Liang studying at Worcester Acad-
emy and Mr. Foo Tsu Liang at the Mas-
sachusetts College of Agriculture. Both have
given much of their attention to the study
of forest conservation.
Mr. Arlu Liang said that he and his cousin
were leaving on short notice, a cable mes-
sage from his father having arrived telling
him to start for Germany on the first steam-
ship available. He said he and his cousin
were to study forestry in one of the German
agricultural schools, in accordance with a
plan formulated by his father.
His father, he declared, was greatly in-
terested in saving the forests of China,
where little is thought of forest conservation
and where thousands of feet of valuable
timber are wasted every year. He de-
clared that it was his father’s intention to
begin an active campaign for the preserva-
tion of Chinese forests as soon as political
conditions are tranquil in the country.
Crater National Forest
The Crater National forest is the subject
of an interesting treatise by Findley Burns,
in a bulletin published by the United States
Forestry Service. The topography of the
region, the supply of water for power and
for irrigation purposes, the “crop” of timber,
grazing regulations and_ settlement are
covered quite fully in the bulletin.
It is shown that the forest contains 10,-
197,000,000 board feet of merchantable timber
and is capable of turning off an annual yield
of 90,000,000 feet. The water supply which
can be conserved in the forest is said to be
sufficient to irrigate 240,000 acres in addi-
tion to developing large power projects.
Practically the whole forest is timbered.
The only treeless portions are a few alpine
areas on the crests of the higher moun-
tains, some lava beds, mountain meadows
scattered here and there, and brush land, the
result of fire. Of the entire forest, 70 per
NEWS AND NOTES
cent is covered with merchantable timber,
20 per cent bears stands of unmerchantable
timber, largely young growth, and 10 per
cent is grass or brush land and barren areas.
Mr. Sterling’s Change
Mr. E. A. Sterling, for some years in
charge of the forestry work of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad, resigned on kebruary 15 and
opened offices as a consulting forest and
timber engineer at 1331-2 Real Estate Trust
Building, Philadelphia. Mr. Sterling is very
well known all over the United States as
one of its leading foresters thoroughly con-
versant with all branches of the work and
he is expected to make a great success of
his new work.
State Land Prices
Junius E. Beal, of the Public Domain Com-
mission of Michigan, writes: “We have just
made a step in advance at a meeting of our
Public Domain Commission in putting a
minimum price of $2.00 an acre on state
lands to be sold. Heretofore a great deal
of Michigan land has been sold at a dollar
an acre. We will boost it again before long.”
Serious Situation
A dispatch from Banning, Cal., says: “One
lone ranger remains on duty in the great
Angeles ‘national forest north of Banning,
and other rangers having been furloughed
for the reason that the treasury of the For-
est Service is many thousand dollars short of
having enough money to pay running ex-
penses.
Te situation in the national forests here-
about is regarded as extremely hazardous,
as there are many square miles of fine forest
literally at the mercy of fortune. Lack of
rain has made the forest very dry and should
a fire be started there is no telling when
it could be vanquished. The unprotected
watershed supplies many prosperous fruit
colonies, including Banning, Beaumon, Red-
lands and the Bear valley water shed, which
supplies the Riverside groves.”
Want Fire Protection
Strongly urging Congress to preserve in-
tact the $1,000,000 appropriation for forest
fire fighting, the Western Pine Manufac-
turers’ Association went on record at the
annual meeting at Spokane,. Wash., with a
resolution that will be telegraphed to all
Senators and and Congressmen of the west-
ern states.
The measure, as passed unanimously, re-
cites the disastrous fires of 1910 in Idaho
and Washington, tells of the death of 100
men on the fire lines and demands in the
strongest terms that the appropriation be
made to prevent a repetition of the disaster.
Some fifty manufacturers were on hand
when President William Deary, of the Pot-
latch Company, called the association to
201
order, and nearly $50,000,000 of capital in-
vested in timber operations was represented
Preventing Forest Fires
Seeking greater protection from fire in the
forest preserves of New York State, the Con-
servation Commission introduced in the Leg-
islature a bill making it a misdemeanor to
start a campfire on or near forest lands with-
out first clearing away the brush and leaves
for at least ten feet on all sides; to start
a fire on or near forest or brush land and
leave it unquenched; or to throw or drop a
lighted match, cigar or cigarette into any
combustible material without immediately
extinguishing it.
The Moth Pest Bogey
Writing of the situation in Massachusetts,
Allen Chamberlin says: “Things are cer-
tainly looking up in the gypsy moth war. It
is a joyful spectacle to see the State forester
standing before a committee of the Legisla-
ture and asking for a reduced appropriation,
and it is no less cheering to hear the Fed-
eral Government’s entomologist saying that
the imported parasites are actually beginning
to give an account of themselves. This does
not mean that the day has been saved, and
that we can lay down our arms in the near
future and let the ‘bug’ go hang, but it
does indicate that the seven years of per-
sistent effort and the expenditure of more
than two million dollars. of State money,
together with fully as much more of munic-
ipal and private funds, has been to some
purpose, and that the greatest danger has
been passed.”
After the Bark Borer
With the assistance of the Government
Bureau of Entomology, Henry Ireland,
United States Forest Supervisor from
Sumpter, Oregon, is seeking a_ bug to catch
a bug that is “destroying the pine forests in
the Blue Mountains and other Eastern
Oregon districts. The insect which the super-
visor is after is commonly called bark-borer.
Although it appears in nearly all the for-
ests Ste the state, it is kept down by natural
checks in most localities and it is only in
the pine forests of Eastern Oregon that it
has become alarmingly destructive. Mr. Ire-
land said that in one district infested by
the borers they had moved southward over
a broad area for about 40 miles since 1907,
destroying about 40 per cent of the yellow
pine timber they attacked.
160,000 Acres Secured
Solicitor George P. McCabe, of the De-
partment of Agriculture, has drawn up the
purchase contracts for the 160,000 acres of
land bargained for by the Government in
the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
Within the next few months Uncle Sam
will have a national forest comprising 160,-
202
000 acres of land, the Government officials
and owners having agreed upon the price.
This is just a beginning of purchases to
be made under the Weeks law in the South-
ern Appalachian and White Mountains. Two
hundred thousand more acres are now being
examined by forestry experts with a view
of locating desirable lands for additional
purchases. E
The lands already purchased will cost the
Government about $1,000,000, the amount pro-
vided for purchases the first year.
One Cent a Tree
It costs 1 cent to plant a tree ia Canada,
according to a report submitted to the In-
ternational Dry Farming congress by Nor-
man M. Ross, of Indian Head, Saskatchewan,
and just published in the annual congress
handbook.
Mr. Ross is chief of the tree-planting
division of the Dominion forestry department.
He states that the Dominion forest nursery
station at Indian Head is annually distribut-
ing to settlers in western Canada, free of
charge, more than 2,250,000 seedlings and
cuttings and that, during the last 10 years,
the tree-planting division has _ furnished,
roughly, 18,500,000 trees and cuttings to 14,-
882 settlers, an average of 1,240 to each ap-
plicant.
Low Prices for Trees
Efficiency and increased production at the
New York State nurseries will enable the
Conservation Commission to offer trees
especially adapted to reforesting lands in
New York State, to private land owners this
spring at greatly reduced rates.
These offers should apneal to land owners
throughout the State which is so badly in need
of reforesting. Careful investigations of the
Commission show that there are 2,300,000
acres in the State which are not producing
any valuable growth, practically all of which
could be profitably used in growing trees.
Chinese Forestry
Large corporations even in China, where
the neglect of forestry has been notorious,
are now beginning to grow their own timber.
Chinese railroads have put considerable tracts
in young trees to furnish their lines with
ties and trestle timbers. The growth of
trees is slow, but it is also sure and the
market for forest products continues to in-
crease in proportion to the shrinkage of the
supply simultaneously with the expansion of
AMERICAN FORESTRY
the demand. It is high time that individuals
consider the question of growing their own
trees.
Railway Ties
Statistics prepared by the Forestry Service
of the United States show that of the 125,-
000,000 crossties bought by the railways last
year almost 80 per cent were hewed ties.
The sawed tie, while occasionally produced
by mills built pz rticularly for this purpose, is
more generally a by-product of general lum-
ber operations.
A Wise Action
A timber company which has purchased
250,000 acres of land in Western North
Carolina will place the entire tract under
the supervision of the United States For-
estry Bureau. This is a departure from the
methods usually employed by timber com-
panies. It is significant of the advance of
the conservation movement.
Another feature of the enterprise wil be
the complete utilization of all the sawdust
and other waste from the several mills that
are to be operated.
The Philippine Forests
The most striking element of weath in the
Philippine Islands is the forests. They cover
an area of 50,000,000 acres and of that area
40,000,000 acres are untouched and waiting
for the American capitalist. In other words,
the forests of the Philippines would more
than cover the entire New England states,
New York and Pennsylvania. Much of the
wood is of the most valuable kind. Owing
to the remote position of the Pacific island
possession and the difficulties and great cost
of bringing the woods to this country little
has been done, however.
A Laudable Effort
Forest Service men who are blinded or
otherwise disabled and the dependants of
men killed in fighting forest fires can ex-
pect no compensation from the government.
To remedy this condition Senator Dixon
(Rep., Mont.), is making a sturdy effort to
have the Forest Service employes included
in the law which awards compensation to
victims of hazardous government employ-
ment. The law proposes amendments in
behalf of employes of the Bureau of Mines
and the Forest Service.
EDUCATIONAL
Prof. Roth at Cornell
Professor Filibert Roth has accepted an
appointment as professor of forestry and
head of the Forestry Department in the New
York State College of Agriculture at Cor-
nell University. He moves to Ithaca next
summer. This makes the third professorial
appointment in forestry at Cornell in about
a year. Professor Walter Mulford and As-
sistant Professor John Bentley, Jr., who are
already at Ithaca, will be with Mr. Roth,
and the Department plans to give a thor-
ough technical course to students wishing to
make forestry their life work. The Depart-
ment will also continue its plans for uni-
versity extension work in forestry and the
teaching of elementary forestry to general
agricultural students and others at Cornell.
Professor Roth has been for nine years at
the head of the Forestry Department of the
University of Michigan. Mr. Roth was at
one time in charge of all the national forest
reserves under the Land Office.
Each an Officer
The story of the club that was organized
with an office for every member, was il-
lustrated at the University of Missouri when
the Forestry Society of the University of
Missouri, composed of forestrv students,
was founded. The officers are: E. L. Ander-
son, Goodwater, president; Victor C. Fol-
lenius, St. Louis, vice-president; Murrell W.
Talbott, Appleton City, secretary; James Pix-
lee, Cameron, treasurer. Next summer the
students will take a two weeks’ camping trip
to the Ozarks and will “cruise” the timber
lands owned by the University of Missouri,
about 50,000 acres. Students will estimate
the number of board feet, map roads to get
the timber out, and make general observa-
tions and notes on the condition of Ozark
forests, what varieties flourish best, and how
the Ozark forests should be managed to get
the maximum return and preserve the for-
ests as valuable assets—conservation in the
open.
Forestry for Children
Charles C. Deam, Secretary of the Indiana
State Board of Forestry, has announced the
annual prize competition, open to school chil-
dren of the State, for essays bearing on
forest subjects. The subject of the essavs
and the conditions imposed are such that it
will be necessary for the children to visit
and study woodlands. Prizes aggregating
$40 are to be given. Four $10 prizes will
be given; one to pupils of the seventh grade,
one to pupils of the eighth grade, one to
freshmen and sophomore high school pupils
and one to junior and senior high school
pupils. The subject of the essay is to be
“Woodlot Conditions in the County in Which
I Live and Suggestions for Their Improve-
ment.”
A Course in Forestry
One of the branches of practical work in
which the Science Department of the New-
town (Mass.) High School has manifested
much interest is the study of forestry, which
is being carried on in connection with the
botany department. The student learns the
kind of soil best adapted for each plant or
tree; the proper way to set out these trees,
how to insure their successful growth through
trimming, and the extermination of various
insects and pests. Certain trees are set out
and carefully watched by the pupils during
their growth. The different kinds of pests
which appear are examined and studied in
the botanical laboratory. A large tract of
land has been set aside by the City Forestry
Department for the students to set out trees
in and study their growth. Part of the land
is to be for forestry and the remainder for
a garden.
New Forestry Department
Temporary organization for a_ forestry
club, which is to be the forerunner of a
forestry department in the University of
California, has been effected. The Board of
Regents is to be shown by the interest in
this branch that there is need of a school
here. A fund has already been appropriated
for a forestry professorship. C. S. Robin-
son has been elected temporary chairman.
A committee of six to draft a constitution
has been appointed as follows: J. T. Saun-
ders (chairman), Professor Jepson, A. E.
Wieslander, W. P. Smidt, William Powell
and F. B. Herbert.
At Missouri University
The course of forestry at Missouri Uni-
versity has been so arranged that more than
eight months will be spent in practical for-
est work. A permanent camp will be estab-
lished in the Ozark Mountains on the uni-
versity’s 50,000 acres of wooded land. This
field work is expected to piace the Missouri
forestry school in the highest rank of such
schools. ‘Technical study of the principles
of forestry will be given at the university,
but training of foresters in such subjects as
timber estimating, tree planting, lumbering,
forest surveying, logging, roads, trails, fire
lines, and working plans, will be given in
the woods.
203
204
Prof. S. F. Clark, of Williams College,
reports that he is on the lookout for a sutt-
able tract of forest land where the students
may experiment in forestry.
Syracuse University will establish a State
College of Forestry and has engaged Dr.
Hugh P. Baker, for some years at Pennsyl-
vania State College, as its head. Dr. Baker
is a graduate of the Yale Forestry School
and also took a degree at Munich. He is
one of the most able foresters in the country
and has scored a great success at Penn State.
In the Ranger course of the School of
Forestry, Colorado College has achieved a
distinct success. This course has attracted a
large body of men from the National for-
ests of Colorado and Wyoming. With six
weeks of field work, including studies of
the growth and development of forest trees
AMERICAN FORESTRY
and mapping and estimating timber, the
course has been of the greatest practical
value.
A Summer Course
In connection with the regular Summer
Forest Camp, which is held in the Ozark
Region, from June 15 to August 15, the
Department of Forestry of the University
of Missouri will conduct a Summer Forest
School for lumbermen, woodsmen and tim-
berland owners. Short courses will be given
in silviculture and the care and protection of
forests, in methods of timber estimating, log
scaling, rough methods of woods surveying
and in laying out logging roads and trails,
in timber and topographic mapping and in
methods of marking timber for cutting to
secure reproduction and for improving the
condition and growth of forests.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Many of our readers frequently desire to secure some expert advice regarding various
features of forestry work, and do not know to whom to apply for the information.
The Editor has accordingly decided to establish this column in which he will be glad to
publish such questions as may be sent to him, and give the answers, whenever the questions
relate to any detail of the work which this Association is doing or such information as it
can give.
.
The Editor requests that communications be written on one side of the paper only and if
possible, be typewritten.
New York City
Editor, American Forestry:
I notice your having introduced into Con-
gress a bill in reference to the chestnut tree
blight. At a recent meeting of lumbermen
in Cincinnati we were asked to gather some
statistics regarding chestnut and oak lumber
and I shall be pleased indeed to have you
send me what information you have, more
especially upon the subject of chestnut
blight.
E. F. Perry,
Secretary National Wholesale Lumber
Dealers’ Association.
Pamphlets and reports of various experts
mailed to Mr. Perry.—Editor.
Westerville, Ohio
Editor, American Forestry:
I am especially anxious to get data relative
to State reforestation, the cost of reforesting,
proceeds arising therefrom, and any other
matter that will be helpful.
Mrs. Mary E. Lee.
Experts opinions on these questions mailed
to Mrs, Lee—The Editor.
San Antonio, Tex.
Editor, American Forestry:
We have under consideration from an in-
vestment point of view the purchase of large
tracts of timber, and in this connection, of
course, in the forefront there is the question
of supply and demand. Could you give us
any data to assist us in the matter and the
special demand for mahogany and tropical
timber.
THE CoNnsolipATED COMPANY.
Reports on trade supplies and the price
lists of lumber at various points mailed to
the Consolidated Company.—The Editor.
Denver, Colo.
Editor, American Forestry:
In the event that I should set out in my
yard in Denver Douglas fir or yellow pine
trees of 3 and 4 inches in diameter, in good
soil, how long should it be before they would
become large enough to be valuable shade
trees, would it be within 15 to 20 years?
G. E. BartLert.
About fifteen years. Would advise Douglas
fir as a shade tree—The Editor.
New York City
Request by Mrs. George S. Simith, 301
West 67th Street, for information regarding
the culture of the Persian (English) walnut
tree:
This is now being answered by Mr. E. R.
Lake, of the Bureau of Field investigations
in Pomology.
CURRENT LITERATURE
MONTHLY LIST FOR FEBRUARY,
1912
(Books and _ periodicals indexed in the
Library of the United States Forest
Service)
Forestry as a Whole
Jacquot, A. La forét;
nature et les sociétés.
Berger-Levrault, 1911.
son role dans la
324 p. Paris,
Proceedings and reports of associations, Na-
tional and State forest officers, etc.
India—Forest department. Review of forest
administration in British India for the
year 1909-10. 49 p. Simla, 1911.
Junta central de bosques y arbolados de la
Republica Mexicana. Revista forestal
Mexicana; boletin mensual, v. 1, no.
1-12. Mexico, Imprenta y fototipia de
la Secretaria de Fomento, 1909-10.
Mexico—Secretaria de Fomento—Direccion
general de agricultura. Boletin, pt. 3:
Revista forestal, v. 1, no. 1-4. Mexico,
1911,
Royal Scottish arboricultural society. Trans-
actions, vol. 26, pt. 1. 163 p. pl. Edin-
burgh, 1912.
South Australia—Woods and forests depart-
ment. Annual progress report upon
State forest administration in South
Australia for the year 1910-11. 12 p. pl.
Adelaide, 1911.
Western Australia—Woods and forests de-
partment. Annual report for the year
ended 30th June, 1911. 10 p. pl. Perth,
1911.
United States—Department of agriculture—
Forest service. January field program,
1912. 32 p. Wash., DiiC, 1912,
Forest Education
Forest schools
India—Imperial forest college, Dehra Dun.
Progress report for the year 1910-1911.
26 p. Calcutta, 1911.
Forest Legislation
United States—Congress—House-Committee
on agriculture. Agricultural appropria-
tion bill; hearings, Forest service, Dec.
18, 1911. 68 p. Wash., D. C., 1912.
Forest Botany
Trees, Classification and description
Lambert, W. A. Trees and how to know
them; a manual with analytical and
dichotomous keys of the principal forest
trees of the south. 46 p. il, pl. Rich-
mond, etc., 1911.
Woods, classification and structure
Hough, Romeyn B. American woods, pt. 12
Lowville N. Y., The author, 1911,
Silvics
Studies of species
Ashe, W. W. Chestnut in Tennessee. 35 Dp.
Nashville, 1912, ( Tennessee—Geological
survey. Bulletin 10-B.)
Pearson, G. A. The influence of age and
condition of the tree upon seed produc-
tion 1n western yellow pine. 11 p. Wash.,
C,, 1912. (U. S—Department of
agriculture—Forest service. Circular
196.)
Forest experiment stations
India—Imperial forest research institute.
Progress report for 1910-1911.
Calcutta, 1911.
Japan—Department of agriculture and com-
merce—Forestry bureau. Contributions
concerning forest investigations, no. 9.
160 p. pl. Tokio, 1911. (In Japanese.)
28 p.
Sweden—Forstliche -versuchsanstalt. Mit-
teilungen, heft 8. 302 p. il. Stockholm,
1911.
Silviculture
Broilliard, Charles J. B. Le traitement des
bois en France; estimation, partage et
usufruit des foréts. 3d ed. 685 p. Paris,
Berger-Levrault, 1911.
Planting
Great Britain—Royal commission on coast
erosion and afforestation. Third and
final report of the royal commission ap-
pointed to inquire into and to report on
certain questions affecting coast erosion,
the reclamation of tidal lands, and af-
forestation in the United Kingdom. pt.
1-2. London, Published by His Majesty’s
stationery office, 1911.
Forest Protection
Insects
Tkachenko, M. Prusskoe lyesnoe khozyaistvo
i shelkopryad “monashenka.” (Prussian
forestry and the “nun” moth.) 67 p.
St. Petersburgh, Russia, 1910.
Hopkins, A. D. The dying hickory trees;
cause and remedy. 5 p.il. Wash., D. C.,
1912. (U. S—Department of agricul-
ture—Bureau of entomology. Circular
144.)
Hopkins, A. D. Insect damage to standing
timber in the national parks. 10 p.
Wash., D. C., 1912. (U. S—Department
of agriculture—Bureau of entomology.
Circular 143.)
205
206
Diseases of trees
Gifford, C. M. The damping off of conifer-
ous seedlings. 31 p. il, pl. Burlington,
Whig while (Vermont—Agricultural ex-
periment station. Bulletin 157.)
Massachusetts—State forester. The chestnut
bark disease. 10 p. pl., map. Boston,
1912.
Forest Management
Foster, J. H. Improving the farm woodlot.
1p. Durham, N. H., 1912. (New Hamp-
shire—Agricultural experiment station.
Press bulletin 11.)
Foster, J. H. Report on the forest, lands
of the State hospital for the insane,
Richland co., S. C. 11 p. Columbia,
Suelo:
Hawes, Austin F. The management of Ver-
mont forests with special reference to
white pine. 43 p. il. Burlington, Vt.,
1911. (Vermont—Agricultural experi-
ment station. Bulletin 156. Forest serv-
ice publication no. 4.)
Forest Economics
Statistics
Macmillan, H. R., and others.
ucts of Canada, 1910; lumber, square
timber, lath and shingles. 39 p. Ottawa,
1911. (Canada—Department of interior
—Forestry branch. Bulletin 25.)
Macmillan, H. R., comp. Wood-using in-
dustries, 1910; agricultural implements
and vehicles; furniture and cars; veneer.
42 p. Ottawa, 1911. (Canada—Depart-
ment of interior—Forestry branch. Bul-
letin 24.)
United States—Bureau of the census. Cross-
ties purchased, 1910. 8 p. Wash., D. C,,
Forest prod-
1912. (Forest products no. 8.)
United States—Bureau of the census. Poles
purchased, 1910. 7 p. Wash., D. C.,
1912. (Forest products no. 9.)
United States—Bureau of the census. Pulp-
wood consumption, 1910. 10 po. Wash.,
D, C.,, 1912. (Forest products no. 1.)
United States—Bureau of the census. Slack
cooperage stock, 1910. 8 p. Wash., D. C.,
1912. (Forest products no. 3.)
United States—Bureau of the census. Tight
cooperage stock, 1910. 12 p. Wash.,
D. C., 1912. (Forest products no. 6.)
United States Bureau of the census. Veneers,
1910. 6 p. Wash., D. C., 1911. (Forest
products no. 5.)
United States—Bureau of the census. Wood
distillation, 1910. 5 p. Wash., D. C.,
1911. (Forest products no. 7.)
Forest Administration
National and State forests
National forest reservation commission. Re-
port, 1910-11. 8 p. Wash. D. C., 1911.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Forest Engineering
Clark and Lyford. Forest surveys; what
they are, wherein they serve, what they
cost. 12 p. Montreal, Desbarats print-
ine’ 'co., 1011.
Forest Utilization
Lumber industry
Otis, McAllister & Co. Maderas de comercio
de California, Oregon, Washington, Es-
tados Unidos. 17 p. il. San Francisco,
Cal., 1912.
Yellow pine manufacturers’ association.
Yellow pine; a manual of standard wood
construction, 96 p. il. St. Louis, Mo.,
1911,
Wood-using industries
Bond, Francis M. Forest products laboratory
series; progress report on wood-paving
experiments in Minneapolis. 19 p. il.
Wash., D. C., 1912. (U. S.—Department
of agriculture—Forest service. Circular
194. )
Oakleaf, Howard B. Washington’s sec-
ondary wood-using industries. 8 p.
Seattle Wash., Pacific lumber trade jour-
nal, 1911.
Simmons, Roger E. The wood-using in-
dustries of Illinois. 164 p. tables. Wash.,
D. C., Forest service, 1911.
Wood technology
Cline, McGarbey. Forest products laboratory
series; strength values for structural
timbers. 8 p. Wash. D. C., 1912. (U.
S.—Department of agriculture—Forest
service. Circular 189.)
Auxiliary Subjects
Conservation of natural resources
New York—Conservation commission. An-
nual report, Ist, 1911. 33 p. Albany,
N. Y., 1912.
Irrigation
congress. Official pro-
Dec. 5-9, 1911. 359 p.
Donnelly & Sons Co.,
National irrigation
ceedings, 19th,
Chicago, R. R.
1912.
Periodical Articles
Miscellaneous periodicals
Agricultural journal of the Union of South
Africa, Dec. 1911—The rain tree of Peru
once more, p. 712-14.
Bulletin of the Pan-American union, Jan.
1912.—The cacao of the world, p. 75-85.
Gardners’ chronicle, Dec. 16, 1911.—The re-
moval of tree stumps, by A. J. Bliss,
p. 440.
Gardners’ chronicle, Dec. 30, 1911—Experi-
ments in regard to thinning, by H.
Rogers, p. 468; The removal of tree
stumps, by F. G. Brewer, p, 476.
Gardners’ chronicle, Jan. 6, 1912.—Street
trees in Canada, p. 3.
CURRENT LITERATURE 207
Journal de la jeunesse, Oct. 21, 1911.—
L’homme_ destructeur et les _foréts
Américaines, by Pierre de Mériel, p.
526-30.
National wool grower, Jan, 1912.—Relation
of forest to flockmaster, by A. F. Potter,
p. 19-21.
Review of reviews, Feb. 1912—A great liv-
ing tree museum, by Chas. M. Dow, p.
203-8.
Revue horticole, Jan. 16, 1912.—L’Arnold
arboretum by D. Bois, p. 28-32; Le
Washingtonia robusta en Tunisie, by L.
Guillochon, p. 38-9.
Science, Jan. 12, 1912—Tier-like arrange-
ment of the elements of certain woods,
by Samuel J. Record, p. 75-7.
Scientific American, Dec, 23, 1911.—Artificial
silk; makin lustrous yarn from wood
pulp, by H. W. Ambruster, p. 576-7.
Scientific American, Jan. 13, 1912—Watch-
ing for and preventing forest fires, by
D. A. Willey, p. 41, 48, 56.
Torreya, Jan, 1912—Undescribed species of
Cuban cacti, by N. L. Britton and J. N.
Rose, p. 13-16.
Trade journals and consular reports
American lumberman, Jan. 27, 1912.—Substi-
tute woods for pencil manufacture, by
H. S. Sackett, p. 46; Application of for-
estry science to the lumber industry, by
A. Cary, p. 66; A remarkable wire rope-
way, by J. A. Seager, p. 73-4.
American lumberman, Feb. 3, 1912.—Uniform
inspection of crossties, by R. D. Lusk,
p. 42-3; Timber resources of Santo
Domingo republic, p. 44-6; Forestry in
the southern hardwoods; address before
Hardwood Manufacturers Association, by
W. B. Greeley, p. 54-5; Forest service
supervisors in conference, p. 66.
American lumberman, February 10, 1912.—
Imitation of high priced furniture woods,
p. 42; A possible utilization of yellow
pine stumpage, by M. Cline, p. 47-8;
Conservation, by J. B. White, p. 48-9;
Best methods of getting lumber from
tree to car, by C. E. Slagle, p. 49-50;
Modern manufacturing of maple floor-
ing, p. 68-9.
Canada lumberman, Jan. 15, 1912.—Extrav-
agant lumbering; time to halt, p. 30-1;
Cost of sawing mill waste products, p.
31-3; The timber trade in Great Britain,
p. 36-7; Patrol and fire fighting, by F. J.
Davies, p. 43.
Canada lumberman, Feb. 1, 1912—Progress
of forestry in Canada, by H. R, Mac-
Millan, p. 65, 70, 72.
Carriage monthly, Jan. 1912.—Seasoning of
timber for wheels, by W. P. Kennedy,
p. 92-4.
Engineering magazine, Dec. 1911.—Preserva-
tion of timber; treating of crossties,
by W. F. Goltra, p. 433-6.
Field & Stream, Jan. 1912.—Gifford Pinchot’s
report on Forestry to the Camp Fire
Club; Feb. First article of series on
American Forestry.
Hardwood record, Jan. 25, 1912—African
cedar, p. 35; Boxwood and its uses, p.
36.
Hardwood record, Feb. 10, 1912—A new
tropical hardwood, p. 49.
Journal of electricity, power and gas, Feb.
3, 1912.—Preservation of power trans-
mission poles, by W. R. Wheaton, p. 92.
Lumber world review, Jan. 25, 1912—The
influence of the big sawmill, by R. S.
Kellogg, p. 28-9.
Lumber world review, Feb. 10, 1912.—The >
Biltmore forest school, p. 26-7.
Pacific lumber trade journal, Jan. 1912.—Re-
view of the forest protection campaign,
by E. T. Allen, p. 43; Complex problems
of by-product utilization, by C. H. Shat-
tuck, p. 60; Past year witneses first elec-
trical logging, by E. J. Barry, p. 113.
Pine cone, Feb, 1912—A history of white
pine, p. 1-2; Forestry and fire protec-
tion, p. 3-5.
Pulp and paper magazine, Jan. 1912.,—Use
of native woods, by Lewis, p.
13-14; Mould growth on wood pulp, by
F. Barnes, p. 27-9.
Railway and engineering review, Jan. 20,
1912.—Treating seasoned vs. unseasoned
ties, by F. J. Angier, p. 63.
St. Louis lumberman, Jan. 15, 1912.—Prob-
lems to be solved in utilization of wood
waste, by W. B. Harper and others, p.
52-3; Forestry of a railroad, p. 83.
St. Louis lumberman, Feb, 1, 1912—Wood,
the peerless building material, by A.
Hamilton, p. 53.
Southern industrial and lumber review, Jan.
1912. — Lumber selling opportunities
abroad as reported by our American
consuls, p. 13, 17, 91; Unlimited raw
material for paper in United States, by
C. W. Lyman, p. 79-80.
Southern lumberman, Jan. 20, 1912.—The pro-
duction of the wooden crosstie, by A. R.
Joyce, p. 33; Wood preservers in three-
day convention, p. 33-34; Cutting and
seasoning timber, by A. Meyer, p. 34.
Southern lumberman, Jan. 27, 1912.—Specifi-
cations and analysis of creosote oils, by
H. von Schrenk, p. 43-4.
Timberman, Jan. 1912—Plan for maintain-
ing uniform speed in ‘handling logs on
steep ground, p. 26; Influence of the
Panama canal on development of lum-
ber industry, by J. N. Teal, p. 33-5; The
Panama canal and its influence on Pacific
coast forest products, by J. H. Bloedel,
p. 35-6; Railroads open up hitherto inac-
cessible central Oregon timber wealth,
by J. M. Lawrence, p. 39-40; Successful
construction and operation of five mile
log flume in Idaho, by W. D. Starbird,
p. 46; Proposed steel vessel, capacity
2,000,000 feet, for the lumber trade, by J.
Dickie, p. 47-8; Utilization of by-prod-
ucts, by C. H. Shattuck, p. 52.
United States daily consular report, Jan. 24,
1912.—Red mangrove bark in Madagas-
car, by J. C. Carter, p. 385-7.
208 AMERICAN FORESTRY
United States daily consular report, Feb. 8,
1912.—Sale of crossties abroad; Ger-
many and England, by R. P. Skinner and
J. L. Griffiths, p. 598-600.
United States daily consular report, Feb. 12,
1912.—Canadian pulp and pulp wood,
by F. M. Ryder, p. 650-2.
Wood craft, Feb. 1912—The design and
construction of historic console tables, by
J. Bovington, p. 127-9; The woods used
in the finishing department, by A. A.
Kelly, p. 129-32; Winter quarters of the
Biltmore forest school, p. 134-5; Wooden
shoe making in Europe, by F. W. Mahin,
p. 159.
Wood worker, Jan. 1912—Making wooden
shoe pegs, p. 42.
Forest journals
American forestry, Feb. 1912.—The progress
of forestry, by R. P. Bass, p. 75-81;
Opportunities for foresters, by A. Cary,
p. 82-94; The present situation in for-
estry, by H. S. Graves, p. 95-104; The
annual convention and_ resolutions,
American forestry association, p. 133-4;
The progress of forestry in Wisconsin,
by E. M. Griffith, p. 107-17; Unlimited
raw material for paper making in the
United States, by C. W. Lyman, p. 118-
22; Two features of forestry; the part
that colleges and experiment stations
may play in its development, by F. W.
Rane, p. 123-8; The American mental
attitude on conservation and its growth,
by B. A. Johnson, p. 130-2.
Bulletin de la Société centrale forestiére de
Belgique, Jan. 1912—Chéne rouvre ou
chéne pédonculé, by Ney, p. 1-9; Com-
merce d’importation et d’exportation
des bois en 1910, p. 9-20; Influence de
Yombre et de la lumiére sur l’epanouis-
sement des bourgeons du hétre et de
quelques autres feuillus, by P. Jacard,
p. 21-6; Utilization de l’azote de Vair
par les plantes, by T. Jamieson, p. 26-44.
Canadian forestry journal, Nov.-Dec. 1911.—
The future of British Columbia lumber-
ing, by J. F. Clark, p. 157-9, 163; For-
estry and the lumber business, by J. E.
Rhodes, p. 164-8.
Centralblatt fiir das gesamte forstwesen,
Nov. 1911.—Die walder Dalmatiens, by
L. Adamovic, p, 491-506; Bemerkungen
zur gattung Pseudopolygraphus, by W.
Baer, p. 506-8.
Centralblatt fiir das gesamte forstwesen,
Dec. 1911.—Zur bildung von mittelzahlen,
by N. von Lorenz, p. 541-58: Eschenholz
zu ski, by G. Janka, p. 558-85.
Forest leaves, Feb. 1912—Tree planting in
New Zealand, by H. D. Baker, p. 101-2;
Coppice growth and the chestnut tree
blight, by T. L. Hoover and S, B. Det-
wiler, p. 102-4; Forest instruments by
Pennsylvania foresters, p. 106-7; Prac-
tical work on the woodlot, by C. H.
Goetz, p. 107-8.
Forestry quarterly, Dec. 1911—The Yale
transplanting board, by J. W. Toumey p.
539-43; The rise of silviculture, by
Jentsch, p. 544-56; Witter reconnais-
sance in Californian mountains, by R. F.
Hammatt, p. 557-62; The hand-loggers
of British Columbia, by L. Margolin, p.
563-7; Rotation of cutting to secure a
sustained yield from the crown timber
lands of British Columbia, bv L. S.
Higgs, p. 568-73; Report of committee
on forest fires, Canadian forestry asso-
ciation, p. 577-88; Canadian volume
tables, by E. Wilson, p. 589-94,
Forstwissenschaftliches _ centralblatt, Jan.
1912.—Weglauglossen, by Knauth. ide
1-10; Die herstellung forstlicher bestand-
subersichts—und wirtschaftskarten by ‘I.
Glaser p. 10-27.
Indian forester, Jan. 1912—The expenditure
on forests in India and its relation to
the revenue realized, p. 1-17; Depart-
mental teak extraction in the Zigon
Division, Burma, by E. V. Ellis, p. 18-27;
A new species of mildew, by A. L. Chat-
terji, p. 28-30; Neglected rubbers; how
Hevea has ousted all the other varieties,
p. 34-8; The legend of the rain-tree, p.
38-40.
North woods, Jan. 1912—The work of the
service, by D. P. Tierney, p. 4-7; The
duties of a patrolman in the State serv-
ice, by W. Kueffner, p. 9-12.
Philippine agriculturist and forester, Sept.
1911—Lumbering in Bataan, by F.
Franco, p. 132-4.
Quarterly journal of forestry, Jan. 1912.—
Growing larch for profit, by A. Slater,
p. 1-11; Tree guards, by E. R. Pratt, p.
11-13; The Monterey pine in Brittain, by
planting, by C. P. Ackers, p. 20-2.
Revue des eaux et foréts, Jan. 1, 1912.—Les
frais de régie et de surveillance des bois
communaux, by F. Lombard, p. 4-11;
Le mouvement forestiér a létranger;
Suisse, by G. Huffel, p. 11-15.
Revue des eaux et foréts, Jan. 15, 1912.—
L’initiative du contre-feu, by J. Dinner,
Pp. 33-5; Foréts coloniales; la forét d’
Analamazaotra, by Louvel, p. 35-48.
Zeitschrift fiir forst—und jagdwesen, Dec.
1911—Die witterung in Eberswalde im
jahre 1910, by J. Schubert, p. 907-16 ;
Blattergewicht und_ blattfliichen einiger
buchen, by E. Ramann, p. 916-19.
JOE BEACH, FOREST RANGER, WITH A LIVE WOLF ON HIS SADDLE, TAKING IT
INTO CAMP SO IT COULD BE PHOTOGRAPHED AFTER RECOVERING
FROM ITS WOUNDS, BUT IT DIED.
‘OdVUO'IOD “LSHAOA IVNOILVYN
ATIAGVA'T HHL NI MONS 4HL YANN Garang SdVaL OML NI LHOAVS SHLOAOD OMI
American Forestry
VOL. XVIII APRIL, 1912 No. 4
THE WAR ON PREDATORY ANIMALS
By PERCIVAL 8. RIDSDALE
66 E was the biggest grizzly I ever saw. He reared up about fifty feet
‘a from me and kept coming. I pumped seven shots into him, the last
one when he was so close that his blood spurted over me, and he fell
dead at my feet.” This is the modest statement of forest ranger Dwight L.
Moody in describing the killing of the most famous grizzly known on the
eastern slope of the Rockies. Moody accomplished what hundreds of men
had failed to do in years of trying and, had the last shot not been effective,
he probably would not have lived to tell the tale.
This grizzly weighed 1450 pounds, more than a large horse, and for nearly
twenty years had been hunted in vain by ranchers and rangers. It is esti-
mated that he killed stock worth $2,000 a year and in the twenty years of
his depredations cost the ranchers and stockmen some $40,000. Is it any
wonder that they wanted him killed, spent days in trying to get him, and
finally offered rewards amounting to $800 to the man who bagged him?
Old Toto, as he was called, roamed in the southern section of Utah, in
what is known as Dixie Land, and he waxed wise, and fat in his many years
of high living and sagacious raids upon the stock. Many parties were or-
ganized in an effort to hunt him down but all failed, although some claimed
to have gotten shots at him at too great a distance to be effective. Finally,
in 1907, the ranchmen were so harassed by his persistent killing,—the old
brute was wise enough to usually select tender two-year-olds,—that they ap-
pealed to the Forest Service to help them in getting Toto. Dwight L. Moody,
a ranger who is an experienced hunter, was assigned to the job with an
indefinite leave of absence from his regular duties.
“Pll get him,” he said when he started, with several days’ provisions and
a 30-30 Winchester. This gun is a repeating rifle carrying seven cartridges.
Three days later Moody made good.
He came upon Toto’s big trail the first day out, followed him for two
days into the heart of the mountains and late on the third day overtook him.
Toto was in a thick scrubby growth of quaking aspens, on a hilly slope. He
had apparently been asleep, for he jumped up suddenly as Moody approached,
stood on his hind quarters and saw the ranger fifty feet away. Moody is a
211
212 AMERICAN FORESTRY
quick and a sure shot. He fired as the big bear arose to his towering height
and the bullet struck rather high in the shoulder. With a terrific roar of
pain and rage Toto charged down the slope, slashing at the aspens with his
fore paws. These aspens were from three to four inches in diameter, and
close together, yet in his charge Toto tore through them and snapped them
off as if he was rushing through a field of corn. ©
Moody fired steadily, and as it was afterward found every shot took
effect in the neck, shoulders or chest. Some knocked Toto down or staggered
him, but they did not stop his deadly charge and with blood pouring from his
wounds and wild with rage he lurched onward until, when Moody fired the
last shot in his magazine, putting the bullet through Toto’s brain, the blood
from the wounded bear spurted over him and he had to jump back to avoid
being crushed as Toto fell dead at his feet.
THE NEED OF EXTERMINATION
This is but one of the many thrilling stories told of the adventures of forest
rangers in their persistent fight to exterminate predatory animals, yet the
records of these thrilling escapes from death, these daring attacks, or pro-
longed hardships, are not found in the records of the Forest Service. It is
no part of the duty of the brave and hardy rangers to exploit themselves. All
they do is to report the number of animals killed and to tell how region after
region is now being rid of the animals that prey upon the stock and the
property of the ranchers and the farmers.
That the extermination of these animals is necessary is evident when it
is stated that Toto killed, it is estimated, $40,000 worth of stock; that a full
grown wolf will destroy about $1,000 worth of stock a year, and that the
average family of wolves will get about $3,000 worth yearly. Mountain lions,
lynxes, wild cats, coyotes and others are almost equally destructive. It is
estimated that in Wyoming and Montana wolves kill from fifteen to twenty
per cent of the increase in the herds. They usually select the calves and
yearlings for slaughter, but if these can not be had cows, and often full
grown steers are attacked and killed.
The problem of exterminating these predatory animals is one that calls
for determined and persistent labor by men who are skilled hunters, who
thoroughly know the country in which they operate and who are familiar
with the habits of the wild animals. Bullets, traps and poison are used and
the rangers have done most effective work. Thousands of animals have been
killed and already several districts have been entirely ridden of these beasts
of prey.
THE ANNUAL KILL
in the report of Chief Forester Graves for 1911, it is shown that in the
Rise of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska,
Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington,
and Wyoming 7,971 animals harmful to stock and to game were killed. These
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THE WAR ON PREDATORY ANIMALS 217
included 213 bears, 88 mountain lions, 172 wolves, 69 wolf pups, 6,487 coyotes,
870 wild cats, 72 lynxes, 2 wolverines, and 6 foxes.
It is interesting to note that only one animal was killed in Minnesota, a
bear. 1,430 were killed in Idaho and 1,432 in Utah. Most of the wolves were
killed in New Mexico, most of the bears in Oregon, most of the mountain
lions in Arizona, and most of the coyotes in Colorado, Idaho, and Utah.
Chief Forester Graves says: “The total number killed was 12.5 per cent
less than in 1910. There was a falling off of 21 per cent in the number cf bears,
10 per cent in the number of mountain lions, 53.5 per cent in the number of
wolf pups, 11 per cent in the number of coyotes, 25 per cent in the number of
wild cats, and 45 per cent in the number of lynxes. There was, however, an
increase of 25 per cent in the number of grown wolves killed. These reductions
are probably due to a general reduction in the number of predatory animals
infesting the National Forests and adjacent ranges.
“The work has served as an example and a stimulus to the settiers within
and adjacent to the forests, who have themselves killed many thousands of
animals. On the Wallowa National Forest, in Oregon, the spread of rabies
among the coyotes during the summer of 1910 caused widespread apprehension
and resulted in serious losses of live stock. At the request of the settlers,
the district forester assigned several of the best qualified forest officers in the
State to the work of destroying the coyotes. They were so successful that
this spring some of the permittees allowed their lambing bands to graze un-
attended throughout an entire day without suffering any !oss whatever from
wild animals, a condition practically without precedent in the history of the
country.”
SOME MORE THRILLERS
Many of the rangers are famous hunters and in any rangev’s camp or at a
rangers’ meeting in the west the visitor may be entertained, as long as he
desires to hear them, with stories of thrilling experiences. Few of the rangers,
being modest men, will talk about themselves and the most famous are usually
the most reticent, but they tell about the adventures of each other with
eagerness. One of the best known, Jim Owens, who worked in the Kaibab
National Forest district, is one of the most reticent of men. Ue killed 52
mountain lions along the Grand Canyon section in one year and when asked
to tell of his experiences said, “I just shot ’em.”
Some of their adventures are amusing as well as thrilling. Harold S.
Pierce, supervisor at Sheridan, Wyo., and two assistants, were examining
timber in a mountain section. They were armed with note books and foun-
tain pens, when, at a spot thirty miles away from the nearest town, they saw
a bear, a cub. Foolishly they tried to capture him, although they knew his
mother must be close by. He ran into some underbrush, and following they
almost ran into the arms of his mother. She did not wait for an introduction.
The nearest tree was 100 yards away and it was not a big one at that. Pierce
thinks he did the distance in less than ten seconds and he was the last to arrive,
with the bear so close behind that she almost annexed a section of his trousers
as he shinned up the tree. They had the pleasure of looking down upon the
bear until nightfall when, in disgust, at their exclusiveness, she departed.
218 AMERICAN FORESTRY
A few days later Pierce and his companions returned with their artillery
and soon enjoyed some fine bear steak. They found the little cub had a
sister and took the two back to Sheridan, where they still are.
Charles J. Byers, a ranger, once crawled into the den of a mountain lion,
became wedged in the passage, killed the lion and had to be hauled out with
ropes. Byers tracked the lion to his den, down a steep mountain side. Tying
a rope to his waist and lighting a torch he crawled on his hands and knees
fifty-five feet into the den. There he stuck. He was in danger from the animal
and also from suffocation, as his body filled the passage. He kept the torch
alight, however, until he saw the lion’s eyes, aimed a little below them and
fired. Fortunately for him he killed the lion instantly. Then he extinguished
the torch. His partner, following him down the mountain, found the rope and
after much pulling, aided by Byers’ twisting and squirming, he finally got
the ranger out of the den, much scraped and scratched but otherwise unhurt.
Many of the animals are now killed by poison, that being found most
effective, especially with wolves and coyotes. A number of these animals are
also caught in traps, but poison easily stands first as a means of exterminating
them. Of this plan, John A. Rhodes, an experienced ranger, says: “Its
advantage lies in the ease and rapidity with which it can be handled. Where
the labor of a half a dozen men would be required in setting and watching a
line of traps, one man could easily cover the same country with poison. The
greater the number of baits the greater the chances for killing.
“For bait fresh rabbit meat is the best, but if this is not to be had boiled
ham, fresh liver, mutton or beef tallow, bacon or quail are fair substitutes.
The quail, if broiled, and the breast meat used is almost equal to the rabbit.
Never poison anything containing a bone. Never touch the bait with the
hands or any part of the body.
“Strychnine is the best poison. Ordinarily, as much as can be held upon
the point of a large blade of a pocket knife will prove fatal to any animal.
This quantity should be put in the center of a cigarette paper, the sides of
which must be gathered together around the poison and the ends securely
tied, forming a capsule. Dip the capsule in a can of melted mutton or beef
tallow, using wooden tweezers to handle it with, and hold it there until it is
well coated and then drop it into a long necked bottle. When the bottle is
well filled with capsules you cork it tight so that the contents will not be
exposed to barn or house odors.
“Each of the poisoned capsules is put in a piece of meat, which, in turn,
is dropped into a fruit jar and shut up tight. Every precaution must be
taken not to touch the meat with anything that will leave an odor. Always
drop the bait from a horse, leaving it in some place where coyotes or wolves
cross or travel.
“Never dismount, but take particular note of the position of each bait.
Deposit the baits in the afternoon and gather them up in the morning. Do
not leave them out all day.”
DEAD CHESTNUT TREE IN FOREST ON SKYUKA MOUNTAIN NEAR
TRYON, N. C., MARCH, 1903.
REST
N. €., MARCH, 1903.
RELATION OF INSECTS TO THE DEATH OF
CHESTNUT TREES
By A. D. HOPKINS
In CuHarGE or Forrest INSECT INVESTIGATIONS
Bureau or Enromowocy, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
HE history of the discovery of the chestnut blight disease in this
country and its rapid development from a local to a State and Inter-
state problem is well known. The history of extensive dying of chestnut
throughout its range from Vermont to Mississippi and the relation of insects
and other factors to the primary cause is, however, not so well known. It
appears that there are a number of agencies of destruction other than this
new chestnut blight disease which must be taken into consideration and
investigated before the problem of protecting the chestnut can be solved.
Investigations have shown that there must be other specific diseases and
we know that there are a number of insects which have been the direct or
indirect cause of the death of a large percentage of the chestnut over exten-
sive areas in which the new chestnut blight disease is not known to occur.
When we review the history of unhealthy and dying chestnut during the
past half century, it is surprising that there are any living trees left within
the natural range of the species. In fact, there are not many left in some
sections of the Southern States where it was abundant fifty years ago.
REPORTS DURING THE LAST CENTURY
We have the statement of Mr. C. F. Smith a resident of Stanley, North
Carolina, that in 1845 there was a large amount of healthy chestnut in the
State and that about that time it started to die very rapidly, that there was
considerable chestnut in 1865, but at present there is very little left except
on steep northern slopes.
We find a note in Science of December 29, 1911, crediting a statement
to Professor Eugene Hilgard of Berkeley, Cal., to the effect that he found
in the northeastern part of Mississippi, in 1856, that the chestnut trees of
that region, both young and old, were, dead.
In an appendix to a report of the Geological Survey of North Carolina,
1873, Mr. William C. Kerr, stated that “the chestnut was formerly abundant
in the Piedmont region, down to the country between the Catawba and
Yadkin rivers, but within the last thirty years they have mostly perished.
They are now found east of the Blue Ridge only on higher ridges and spurs
of the mountains.”
A correspondent at Sanford, Tenn., in a letter dated October, 1901, stated
that the chestnut was threatened with complete destruction in some parts
of the country, and that a timberman found on a 100-acre tract only one
living tree out of possibly 400.
221
a2 AMERICAN FORESTRY
A trouble affecting the chestnut near Grange Camp. V2. w2s investigated
by Messrs. Wm. H Ashmead and F. H. Chittenden. of the Burean of Ento
mology, in June, 18%. They found that a vast majority of the second
growth chestnut, some of it as much as 18 inches in diameter, was dead or
seriously affected and dying. After a careful examination of many dead and
dying trees, and of two living ones scarcely showing the evidence of disease.
it was made quite evident that the primary cause of the destruction of the
trees was the twolined chestnut borer.
The extensive dying of chestnut trees in the southern Appalachians was
verified, in 1904, by observations of Mr. W-. FP. Fiske, of the Burean of
Entomology, during a special investigation of the subject. Im his report he
states: “In the region immediately south of Tryon, N. C_ (which appears
to be typical of a very large region extending im am irregular strip from
somewhere in the central portion of North Carolina and Georgia) practically
all of the chestnut had died so long before as to have disappeared except
for the old stumps, a few logs, and an occasional struggling sprout Im a
region north of Tryon the chestnut was in a perfectly healthy condition. but
in the immediate vicinity of Tryon the trees were then dymg by the whole
sale, old and young alike.” My own observations in the southern and middle
Appalachians during the past ten years have comvinmeed me that there has
been a widespread destruction of the chestnut of that region. and that the
chinguapin has also suffered. :
In the Journal of Science and Arts, 1846, it is stated that the chinquapm
died in the period from June to September, in the vicinity of Riceboro, G2.
in 1825 and was still dying in 1845. I am informed by an old resident of
Virginia that the once abundant chinquapin of southern Virginia ang north-
ern North Carolina disappeared quite suddenly about fifty years ago.
CHESTNUT INSECTS
In addition to these significant historical records, I may say that the
insects of the chestnut forest trees have been the subject of general imvesti-
gation by the West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station and the Bureau
of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture, since about 1893. The
published and unpublished records of these investigations show that 354
species of insects were found to inhabit the chestnut trees. We also find that
other observers have recorded 164 species. By eliminating all duplicate
records, the total is 472.
All of these insects are not destructive, but among those that are. we
have found one species that is perhaps as important as all of the others
combined. It has, therefore, been the subject of more investigation and con-
sequently we know more about its habits and the methods of controlling it.
It is the so-called twolined chestnut borer, a small, elongate beetle which
flies in May and June and deposits its eggs on the bark of living and dying
chestnut, oak, beech, and ironwood in the Southern. Middle and Eastern
States. The elongate, slender larve mine in the inner bark and outer wood
in such a manner as to girdle the trees. When they have attained their full
ERLATION GF ISSHCIS TO DEATH OF CHESTSTY TEEES 25
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224 : AMERICAN FORESTRY
facilities and assistance as will contribute to the value of the final results,
because the results will be availabe to them and to the people of their State.
Under the head of methods of procedure towards the protection of the
chestnut from its insect enemies, I may say that in our work on the destructive
insect enemies of the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Slope regions, it has been
forcibly demonstrated that any direct attempt to control or prevent widespread
depredations by insects without a knowledge of the essential facts about the
depredator and of the peculiar methods necessary for its control will result
in failure and a waste of energy and money. It has been shown that with
action based on results of investigation, and a consequent knowledge of the
fundamental facts and principles involved, more can be accomplished with a
few hundred dollars than with many thousands of dollars without such
knowledge. Therefore, in taking up any new problem the expenditure of public
funds should be first directed to the determination and dissemination of
authentic information before any attempt is made to get practical results.
In other words, practical application must follow and not precede scientific
investigations and expert advice, just as legislation for the control of forest
insects, to be effective, must follow, and not precede, education on the prin-
ciples and methods of control.
It should be noted in this connection that the chestnut is not the only
tree of the eastern forests that is suffering from insects and other enemies.
The hickory, the black locust, the oak, the hemlock, and the pine, have their
distinctive enemies and in some localities in every State one or more of these
tree species have been practically eliminated from the forest.
It is natural for the owner of a forest or the general public to assume
that, because of the enormous number of insect and other enemies of forest
trees, there can be no practical method of controlling extensive depredations
or of preventing losses from their ravages. Such an assumption is, however,
far from correct, even in the case of the most destructive species.
HOW TO CONTROL DEPREDATORS
Recent demonstrations in the western forests and our extensive observa-
tions in all parts of the country have shown that in many cases it is entirely
practicable to control insect depredators and save millions of dollars at an
ultimate cost which is comparatively insignificant.
The steps towards the successful protection of forest trees from their
insect enemies are:
; 1. Investigations to determine the essential facts about. the principal
insects which are capable of killing trees.
2. Concentration of the investigations on the most important species to
determine their seasonal history and habits, and the most economical and
effectual methods of preventing serious depredations by them.
. 3. Dissemination of authoritative information on the essential facts and
principles of control and prevention, by means of circulars, press notices
lectures, special field instructions, and field demonstrations.
eb > Cet Asem,
A DYING AND A DEAD CHESTNUT TREE NEAR TRYON, N. C.. SUMMER OF 1904.
Ss) INT
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RELATION OF INSECTS TO DEATH OF CHESTNUT TREES 227
4, Practical application of this information by the owners of affected
and threatened timber under strict adherence to the recommendations.
In conclusion I wish to say that in our general investigations and prac-
tical demonstrations, we have recognized that the State and Federal Gov-
ernments can render the greatest service through investigations and the
dissemination of information and that it is the owner who should make the
practical application. Therefore this chestnut problem is the people’s problem
and especially that of people who are owners of valuable natural or cultivated
growth. It seems to me that the only way the successful protection of the
chestnut resources of the country can be brought about will be through in-
dividual and co-operative action by the owners. They are the ones to be
directly benefited, financially and otherwise. I am sure that, as a rule,
they are anxious and willing to do everything they can afford to do if some
one will show them how and demonstrate to them that, as a business proposi-
tion, it will pay. They will then not only try to protect their own timber
but will realize that there is a common interest involved and will be impelled
to help their neighbors, their County, and their State.
THE BUSY RANGER
Under the spreading pinyon tree
The Ranger station stands;
The Ranger, a busy man is he,
With Economy and Working Plans,
And the many things he ought to do
Far more than fill his hands.
His form is lean and lank and long,
His face is like the tan,
His brow is wet with bloody sweat,
He does whate’er he can,
He looks the User in the face,
And owes not any man.
Hour in, hour out, from morn till night,
You hear his Oliver go,
You_can hear him pound the keyboard black,
With measured pound and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.
The children coming home from school
Look in at the Station door,
They love to see the Ranger man,
And hear the Ranger roar,
And _ catch his burning words that fly,
Like chaff, from the Station door.
Working—planning—economizing—
Thus through the year he goes;
Each quarter sees a new Plan begun,
Each quarter sees its close.
A whole lot planned, and some of it done,
Has earned a night’s repose.
—From Apache National Forest News Letter.
THE UNDERGROUND WATERS OF NEW MEXICO*
By WILLARD E. HOLT
one of the smiling valleys of New Mexico was the original “Garden of
Eden” and that off-shoots of the original apple tree are still bearing
fruit. Partial proof of this was established in my mind this year, when I saw
apple trees springing from the parent root full three centuries old and still
bearing fruit. |
New Mexico is surely fulfilling the Scriptural prophecy: ‘And the
desert shall be made to rejoice and blossom as the rose.” Isaiah might have
been speaking of our region when he referred to roses, for nowhere under the
canopy of heaven do flowers grow more luxuriantly than in the great South-
west.
For some reason, aS yet unexplained by science, rainfall in the North
and East has been gradually lessening for the past decade, and farmers,
who for years have harvested abundant crops, have been forced, against their
will, perhaps, to agree with a statement recently made that shrewd, hard-
headed farmers are turning their attention to western farms. Naturally, they
want to improve water as well as land conditions. In other words, they
want to be their own rain-makers. In order to do this they must come to the
states where irrigation is practiced.
Government projects and the reclamation service appeal very naturally
to people and it is not my purpose to dissuade any one thus inclined from
making full and exhaustive examination into any and all projects now in
operation or to be hereafter promulgated by our generous Uncle Sam.
{t is well, however, that all people should know that it takes real money
and lots of it for one to succeed on any reclamation project where the initial
cost runs into millions. Men with money, brains and energy will succeed
on these projects, even though the cost of obtaining title to the land ranges
from $45.00 to $70.00 per acre, with a perpetual tax for maintenance of com-
munity ditches added.
Intelligent farmers are coming to the irrigation idea as the only reliable
get-rich-quick scheme without a penalty attached. With the ‘Back-to-the-
soil” movement there comes a land-hunger and water-thirst that can only
be supplied by states like New Mexico. People who have never traveled the
length and breadth of this mighty Southern Empire can scarcely realize that
we have 4,000,000 acres of land under our beautiful turquoise sky with an
available water supply, as specified by surveyors, and for which applications
to the Territorial Engineer have been made with but 750,000 acres now
irrigated, according to Engineer Miller’s report. This estimate includes the
largest irrigation project in the world, now being constructed at Elephant
Butte, down to the smallest valley consisting of only a few thousand acres.
The peopling of this grand domain, where health, opportunity and op-
pulence await the man who says: “I will,” is going forward with rapid
FL BUDDING historian of the twentieth century has recently declared that
228
OU
NIN
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SH’IIN
a
LSV
10
c
IRRIGATI IZD BY WELL PUMPING 1,300 GALLONS OF
{UTE NEAR DEMING, N. M.
THE UNDERGROUND WATERS OF NEW MEXICO 231
irresistible strides and the true American spirit. The best civilization of
our country is joining the forces of Nature in building a commonwealth that
will be the peer of any in the Union, and with climatic conditions surpassing
them all.
New Mexico has successfully practiced irrigation since the latter part
of the sixteenth century, so that we claim nothing new except improvement
in method.
' HALF A MILLION ACRES
Aside from the area that has and can be reclaimed by harnessing our
rivers and streams, we have nearly a half million acres of the richest soil in
America, that is, or may be successfully irrigated by underground waters
pumped from shallow depths, thirty-five to one hundred feet. Of this vast
area, not over five per cent has been put under cultivation, but that five per
cent has demonstrated to the world the absolute guarantee of wealth vouch-
safed to the man who pins his faith upon the magic of the pump, has the
cash or credit to buy the pump and applies himself with energy and intel-
ligence. In every county of the new State there are areas that are being or
may be reclaimed at enormous profit by the now proven system of pumping
for irrigation.
At Roswell, in the great Pecos Valley, where hundreds of artesian wells
tap the underground waters, and many pumps are also in use, there have been
shipped this year over 8,000 carloads of the finest orchard and field products
in the world, worth not less than $3,000,000, to say nothing of trainloads of
livestock, wool and cotton. This is relatively true of the whole of the great
Pecos Valley, whose 1911 alfalfa product alone is worth almost a million
dollars.
A single pumping proposition near Roswell includes 13,000 acres, with
twenty-eight miles of electric transmission lines connecting the motor-driven
pumps. The residents of this beautiful city say that apple orchards in that
vicinity are cheaper now at $1,000 an acre than they will ever be again.
The Portales region can boast the largest central irrigation power plant
in the United States, where farmers are pumping on the codperative basis,
the original cost being $35.00 per acre, but the cost of maintenance has thus
far been but $1.50 per acre. The longest transmission line does not exceed
eighteen miles and the acreage that will eventually be reclaimed will exceed
150,000. Everything, except citrus fruits, is grown in great abundance and
a fine beet sugar factory will soon add value to the area. It might be added
right here that’ New Mexico sugar beets, like her fair women, are the sweetest
in the world.
The Estansia Valley is doing wonders around Willard and Estansia,
through the magic of the pump, where the cost of an acre-foot of water is
about $1.75, their products this year show 1,200 pounds of beans per acre,
200 bushels of potatoes, with other crops in proportion, and truck farming
producing $300.00 per acre or better, which latter fact applies to all our
valleys.
232 AMERICAN FORESTRY
At Almagordo, the pump is also becoming a great factor in profitable
farm development.
THE ALBUQUERQUE REGION
The Albuquerque region, and in fact the whole Rio Grande Valley, is
starting on an era of prosperity through the instrumentality of lifegiving
water, pumped from the earth, to give necessary moisture for plant growth.
There are a number of small irrigation wells in the vicinity of Fort Bayard,
the largest army sanitorium in the United States, if not in the world. Speak-
ing of sanitoriums, it may be truthfully stated that New Mexico is one great
sanitorium, where health makes wealth easier and where Nature has been
most lavish in her gifts to men.
The Mimbres Valley is located in the southwestern part of the state
and lies largely in Luna County. It is surrounded on every side by moun-
tain ranges which effectually protect it from severe storms, an approach to a
cyclone never having been known. Its level area is well described in a
recently published report of Hon. Charles D. Miller, Territorial Engineer,
which says:
“Rstimates of the possibilities of this valley place the figures of irrigable
area from wells producing from 500 to 1,200 and even 1,500 gallons of
water per minute at 100,000 acres. To this area it is conservatively estimated
that there may be added 100,000 acres irrigated from wells producing 500
gallons down to possibly 200 gallons of water per minute.”
The valley has an underground basin filled with water filtered for many
miles through sand and gravel, rendering it the purest body of water in
America. The Government analysis last year of the water used by the Deming
City Water Works, which is a part of this underground flow, gave 30 parts
total solids, chiefly magnesia and iron, to 100,000 parts of water. Without
chemical treatment of any kind this water is used for every purpose, scientific
or domestic, and is applied direct from the pump with absolute safety to
every form of plant life which means everything in the vegetable kingdom,
outside of citrus fruits. Its quantity may be most easily. and quickly under-
stood when we say the report of a Government engineer in charge of irrigation
investigations, this year, said: “If 300,000 acre feet were withdrawn from
the underfiow in one year, a condition almost impossible, it would lower
the water plane below but 3.5 inches.”
From this underground sea more than 200 pumps, ranging in volume
from 200 to 2,000 gallons per minute, are truly making the desert blossom as
the rose.
Using the Mimbres Valley as a leading exponent of pumping for irriga-
tion, we submit the following facts: Relinquishments from present holders
of land may be obtained for from $5.00 to $25.00 per acre. Unimproved deeded
land may be purchased for from $15.00 to $100.00 per acre, the price being
regulated to a certain extent by the distance from Deming, the chief market
town of the valley, and chief railroad center of New Mexico. Tracts of five
THE LARGEST SASSAFRAS TREE 233
to twenty acres, improved with water developed, may be purchased, close in,
at $125.00 to $150.00 per acre.
Cost of wells and pumps: A well, pump and 385 H. P. electric motor,
sufficient to successfully irrigate 150 to 200 acres, costs $2,300 to $2,600. The
same well costs from $400 to $600 more when driven by a 40 H. P. gasoline
engine, a crude oil engine being slightly more expensive than either, which
is overcome by a cheaper operating expense.
Cost of putting water on the ground: Getting right down to brass tacks,
in order that a child may understand and computing the cost of 100 or more
large and small successful pumping plants, it costs a half cent to pump 1,000
gallons of water, a season’s irrigation, costing from $3.00 to $9.00 per acre,
according to the amount of water required for various crops and the skill
of the irrigator. These figures are based on electricity at 3 cents per K. W., ,
engine naphtha at 12 cents, and crude oil at 6 cents per gallon, and with the
increasing consumption all of these products are getting cheaper.
Plowing and irrigation are carried on every week in the year, and in
most of the market gardens, vegetables are grown the year ’round. Winter
irrigation for spring and summer crops is gaining in favor.
*From an address at the National Irrigation Congress.
THE LARGEST SASSAFRAS TREE
By ADIOLA GRAY
EVERAL months ago the statement was made by the Department of
GC) Agriculture that the largest sassafras tree in the world grows in the
yard of the First Methodist Church in the city of Atlanta, Ga. According
to the reckoning of experts this tree is more than one hundred years old.
It is fifty feet high and has a spread of more than forty feet. Printed re-
ports conflict as to the size in circumference; one giving it as seven and a
half feet, and another as being eleven feet.
The discovery has recently been made that there is a tree of this species
growing on the farm of James M. Jenkins, near Glendale, Hardin Co., Ky.,
which is much larger. The height and age of this tree have not been reckoned,
but it has a circumference of fifteen feet one-half foot above the ground, and
is fourteen feet in circumference eight feet above the ground where the first
limb is given off. Judging from the great size of this tree it must be even
older than the one growing in Atlanta.
To provide for carrying out an agreement under which South Dakota
school lands will be exchanged for National Forest land of equal area and
value, President Taft has signed a proclamation which makes it possible for
the State to select immediately 60,143 acres of land from the H arney and Sioux
National Forests.
WINDBREAKS: THEIR INFLUENCE AND VALUE
A Review or Forest Service BuLtetin 86, By Cartos G. Bates
By GEORGE L. CLOTHIER
HIS publication fills a long felt want and is the most exhaustive treat-
S ment of the subject of windbreaks ever attempted in this country.
The magnitude of the investigations made by the Forest Service as
a basis for this bulletin may be appreciated when it is known that the extent
of branching of the various species was determined from measurements of
1319 plantations. The effect of plantations on evaporation was learned from
865 hourly readings of evaporometers. The observations were distributed
through the months of June, July, August, and September, 1908.
The horizontal extent of tree roots into cultivated land adjacent to the
windbreaks was determined for 152 groves representing eight species. Effects
on temperature were derived from 30 readings, and crop yields were studied
in 12 fields.
The bulletin is divided into four parts. Part I is a synopsis of the
conditions which the study attempted to measure. Part II is a record of
the measurements of the physical factors entering into the problem with
interpretations of the physiological effects of these factors upon animal
and plant lift. Part III deals with the timber production of windbreaks
and shows how to assess their cost against the land they have damaged and
occupied. Part IV summarizes the protective value of windbreaks and
ealeulates the profitable area to devote to windbreaks of various species.
Specific recommendations for planting in the several regions needing wind-
breaks are found in the concluding pages of the bulletin.
The study was carried on chiefly in the States of Kansas and Nebraska,
although some measurements were made in Iowa and Minnesota. The sea-
son chosen for the study proved to be more humid than the average with less
wind in the summer months than usually occurs in the region, hence the
effects abserved may be taken as underestimates rather than over estimates
of the infiuence of windbreaks.
The study showed that a windbreak may be both beneficial and harmful
to the crops of an adjacent field. The observations showed that for the
summer months a windbreak may reduce the mechanical force of the wind,
lessen evaporation, stagnate the air or reduce its velocity, increase extremes
of temperature both in the air and the soil, and change the ‘distribution of
moisture in the soil. In studying both beneficial and harmful influences,
measurements and observations made in and near the windbreaks were com-
pared with measurements made far enough away to be outside of the in-
fluences. The distances through which the effects of the plantations were
manifested were measured in all cases in terms of height of the trees, since
eae beneficial and harmful effects are directly proportional to the height of
the trees.
234
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WINDBREAKS 237
The shading effect expressed in percentages is recorded as though it
were concentrated on a strip equal in width to the height of the trees, and
since the shaded area is often wider than the trees are high, it often happens
that the figures for shade exceed 100 per cent. This method of calculation
is likely to confuse the reader, and yet it is difficult to suggest a better one.
Shading effects were measured by exposing solio paper in the shadow and
comparing its change of color with exposures made in direct sunlight.
METHODS OF OBSERVATION
Soil moisture determinations were made at depths of 10 to 20 inches and
at intervals from each windbreak of 10 or 20 feet to the limit of the activity
of the roots; and from these measurements it was easy to calculate the
distance and intensity of the sapping effect of the tree roots. The greatest
benefits arising from windbreaks are believed to result from reduced evapora-
tion, due to reduced motion of air currents. To measure the intensity of
evaporation, evaporometers were set up at distances of one, two, and five
times the height of the trees on both sides of the windbreaks and in addition
at ten and twenty times the height on the leeward side.
The study of the shading effect revealed the fact that cottonwood is least
damaging to crops and honey locust most, with boxelder, willow, mulberry
and Osage orange following clase behind the honey locust. Cottonwood also
has least extent of roots in proportion to its height, and hence has least
sapping effect on the soil. It was found that all kinds of trees planted in
rows oriented east and west do less damage to crops than when planted in
rows oriented north and south and on the other hand trees planted in rows
north and south grow faster than in rows east and west. Rows running
north and south absorb more light than rows oriented east and west. Alfalfa,
corn, and kaffir corn are damaged less by shading than other crops. Damages
from shading may be lessened by planting in the shaded area forage crops
whose value does not depend upon ripening of their seeds and by planting
in the windbreak narrow crowned trees. Sapping effect can be reduced by
cultivation to retard evaporation, by deep plowing to cut off the side roots
of the trees and by improvements in the fertility and permeability of the
soil. Uncultivated Osage orange hedges extend their roots 60 per cent farther
than cultivated.
The theory of the farmers that trees impoverish the soil as far as their
roots extend was tested by a number of soil analyses. The analyses. showed
that there was less available nitrogen in the zone of greatest root activity
than in the open field, but this reduction corresponded in position with the
zone of least moisture in the soil. Since the total nitrogen in the soil per-
meated by the most active tree roots did not appear to be any jess than that
found out beyond the influence of the trees, it was concluded that the reduced
moisture content had retarded bacterial action and prevented the trans-
formation into available nitrogen of the nitrogen compounds of the soil. The
deficiency of available nitrogen probably results measurably in temporary
sterility of the soil.
238 AMERICAN FORESTRY
Comparison of wind in the open with that prevailing at a point distant
from the windbreak on its leeward side five times the height of the trees
showed the velocity of the wind reduced 80% by the most efficient wind-
breaks. The most obvious effects of this great reduction of wind velocity
are to prevent damages to crops by storms and to save the soil from being
borne away. Before the general planting of Osage orange hedges in Chase
County, Kansas, about 30 years ago a storm caused soil drifts to form
several feet deep which still can be seen. The reduction of evaporation due
to a decreased velocity of the wind is proportional both to the density and
height of the windbreak, and the protective influence increases with increased
wind velocity. The zone of greatest protection moves outward from the wind-
break with increase of wind velocity and the width of the protected belt
becomes wider. The belt of efficient protection averages two times the height
of the trees to windward and ten times to leeward. If the trees are 50 feet
tall they will protect a belt 600 feet wide. The percentages of moisture saved
varied in the observations from 12 to 40 per cent.
It was discovered wholly unexpectedly that windbreaks possess great
value as heat regulators. All temperatures studied ranged upwards from
the initial temperature for growth, namely from 41° F. The highest daily
temperatures and the lowest nightly temperatures occurred at the place
where the windbreak retarded the movement of the air the most. The super-
heating and cooling effects were increased by increasing wind velocity, and
decreased in cloudy or rainy weather. It is probable that the effect at night
during the growing season is always beneficial by retarding transpiration and
thus checking the cooling effect of evaporation upon the leaves. Since
photosynthesis does not take place in the absence of light, transpiration during
the night could have no beneficial physiological effect; hence any influence
that will retard transpiration during the hours of darkness must be a bene-
ficial one. The superheating of the atmosphere in the daytime is most im-
portant in the spring and fall when the supply of heat is lowest. Soil ©
temperatures were highest in the zone of greatest protection during the
season of increasing temperature and lowest at the same point during the
season of decreasing temperature. The author concludes that the summation
of the diurnal and nocturnal effects during the growing season is a positive
quantity, and hence the average effect of a windbreak is to increase the
available heat to the plants growing in the protected zone. The effect of
the superheating of air and soil over the protected belt is to create hothouse
conditions on a large scale at the season when the plants need all the heat
they can get. Measurements of increased yields of corn attributible to super-
heating effect showed a gain in one field of 40 per cent in the zone of most
efficient protection and a gain of almost 15 per cent at a distance to leeward
of ten times the height of the protecting trees.
Although some orchardists claim that windbreaks are harmful, it is cer-
tain that their effects in Nebraska in the season of 1908, were beneficial.
a 7 s : " N i wep ’ = : a $3 ; % .
LOMBARDY POPLAR PROTECTING AN ORCHARD IN THE WEST.
LLENT
ORCHARDS.
cE
T
AN
S)
CITRU
ION OF
PROTECT
THE
WINDBREAKS 241
Protected orchards yielded from five to ten times the fruit that was borne
by exposed orchards, the damage to the fruit crop having been caused by
a cold northwest wind in April accompanied by precipitation. The distribu-
tion of the fruit on the trees and through the orchards proved that the April
storm from the northwest was responsible for the killing of the fruit buds
and for the small crop of apples where windbreaks were not present. Wind
accompanied by precipitation is very trying to vegetation because the rapid
evaporation of the moisture on the leaves and branches consumes heat in
large quantities and depresses the temperature of the plants to a harmful
extent.
The curves and tables refering to temperature would seem to indicate
that the heating and cooling effects of windbreaks practically balance each
other except in the area occupied by the trees. The investigations did not
take cognizance of the times either at night or in the winter when the normal
temperatures of the air fall below the soil temperatures. At such times, the
reduction of wind movement in the protected zone would cause the air tem-
peratures to rise because of radiated heat coming from the soil, hence the
effect of the windbreak would be to cause heat to accumulate in the air of
the protected area. This effect would be to prevent frosts rather than pro-
mote them.
THE FINANCIAL BENEFITS
In measurements of the direct financial results and timber yields, this
bulletin presents the first effort on the part of an investigator to ascertain
the damaging effects of windbreaks outside of the area belonging to the trees,
and to charge the plantation with the occupation and use of the land so
damaged. For instance, an Osage orange hedge a mile long oriented north
and south and 31 years old is charged with the use of 3.54 acres of land in
Table 23. In some of the earlier publications of the Forest Service, single
rows of trees were considered as not occupying any space, and the acreage
of blocks and belts was computed from measurements from outside row to
outside row. In small groves and narrow belts the error from such measure-
ments often exceeded two hundred per cent. It is gratifying to note that
the Service has at last worked out accurate and scientific methods for
obtaining the value and yield of small farmers’ plantations.
The acreage occupied by single rows one mile long was computed by the
wi (CF X RX 85e5280
formula, A= weds 880 where A represents acreage, CF the factor of
damage to corn in percentage of height of trees, H the height of the trees, and
the factor 3-5 is assumed to be the average damage during the whole life of the
trees, it being conceded that the damage during the early growth of the plan-
tations was very much less than their present measured damage. The formula
can be used for single rows of any length provided the actual length in feet is
substituted for the number 5280. If the acreage occupied by a belt a mile
242 AMERICAN FORESTRY
long is to be calculated, the width, D between outside rows of the belt must be
LCF X HX 2)>< 5280
added and the formula becomes AO eh Ae aaa us
Calculations of the market values of the timber were based upon stumpage
prices of $10.00 per thousand board feet for saw logs and $2.00 per cord for
firewood. Fence posts were valued at 5cts. to 24cts. each according to kind
and quality. The prices allotted to fence posts are conservative except for
cottonwood and soft maple which are practically worthless for posts and
rarely used for such purposes. The computations show that cottonwood 10 to
40 years old is capable of producing values of $1.26 to $5.39 per acre per
annum in lumber and fuel, reckoning interest at 4 per cent per annum. A
single row one mile long of cottonwood trees oriented north and south and 40
years old was worth $3,270. Another row of the same age oriented east and
west was worth $2,296 per mile. The values of the north-south rows is
strikingly greater than those of the east-west rows, but when reduced to acre-
age values the difference disappears, because the north-south rows damage
much wider strips of land than the east-west rows. The measurements show
that cottonwood begins to mature into saw-log size at a very early date, one
plantation having produced 4,300 board feet per acre when twenty years old.
THE GROWTH AND YIELD
Equally interesting facts are brought out with reference to the growth
and yield of green ash, silver maple, honey locust, white willow, Russian mul-
berry, and Osage orange. The great value of Osage orange and mulberry in
hedges is realized when we learn from this bulletin that four different hedges
of the former species ranging from 20 to 31 years old were each worth over
$1,000 per mile, and that two mulberry hedges 11 and 12 years old respectively
were each also worth more than $1,000 per mile. The annual acreage values
of the Osage orange plantations ranged from $1.18 to $12.51, while one mul-
berry plantation earned as much as $32.75 per acre per annum, allowing in-
terest at 4 per cent.
Catalpa is not suitable for windbreak plantations because of its sus-
ceptibility to damage from wind and drouth. White pine and Scotch pine are
very promising trees for windbreaks in the Lake States and the Middle West.
The last ten pages of the bulletin are devoted to a discussion of methods
and plans for the establishment and management of efficient windbreaks.
The protection afforded by an Osage orange hedge on the average is equivalent
to the yield of a strip twice as wide as the height of the trees, while the
protection afforded by the most efficient grove is equivalent to the yield of a
strip three times as wide as the height of the trees. “This means that the
farmer in the Middle West can afford to maintain a windbreak running
through the farm from east to west, and having a width of 240 feet in the case
of mature cottonwoods 80 feet high,” (page 90). Such a grove will occupy
approximately 15 acres on a quarter section; but two such belts of timber are
required for the efficient protection of 160 acres. Such windbreaks will pay
a rental in protection equivalent to the grain that would grow on the land
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 243
they occupy. The timber that they will produce will be clear profit to the
land owner.
The author figures that the protective value of a good cottonwood wind-
break a mile long at the end of 40 years, computing compound interest,
amounts to the enormous sum of $35,585.50. Reckoning the cost of an acre
of this grove also at compound interest, he finds it to be $2,186.01, so that the
35585.50=
area of the grove that will pay its way from the beginning is 33.5,
to 16.28 acres, which is equivalent to a belt 134 feet wide.
In conclusion, the author submits an ideal plan for the protection of a
farm in the Middle West. It differs from other plans previously recommended
by the Forest Service chiefly in orientation of practically all the plantations
in an east-west direction.
Modifications of this plan are suggested to fit the
high, dry uplands of the Middle West and the cold northern prairies.
Recommendations for plantings are also given to fit the Lake States, the
Eastern States, the Southwestern States, and the fruit growing regions of
the Pacifie Coast States.
All plantations proposed are restricted in area
as nearly as possible to such an extent that their protective value will pay
for the land they occupy.
timber free of cost.
With such plantations the farmer can grow his
A copy of this bulletin should be in the hands of every
farmer inhabiting the treeless sections of our country.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Many of our readers frequently desire to secure some expert advice regarding various
features of forestry work, and do not know to whom to apply for the information.
The Editor has accordingly decided to establish this column in which he will be glad to
publish such questions as may be sent to him, and give the answers, whenever the questions
relate to any detail of the work which this Association is doing or such information as it
can give.
The Editor requests that communications be written on one side of the paper only and
if possible, be typewritten.
SPOKANE, WasH., Mar. 17, 1912.
Editor American Foresiry:
Will you kindly tell me if there are any
public forestry schools or any through which
a person could work his way in the State
of Washington?
VERNE CHURCH.
A forestry course is given at the Washing-
ton Agricultural College, at Pullman, Wash.,
at which I understand there is merely a
nominal fee for residents of the state—
Editor.
Detroit, Micu., Mar. 15, 1912.
Editor American Forestry:
I write regarding Florida lands about
seven miles west of Lake Worth. How far
do the everglades run east of Lake Okeecho-
bee? I have bought some land of the Palm
Beach Farm Co. and would thank you for
any information regarding same. What
about the climate? H. E. Rupp.
The everglades run 45 to 60 miles east of
Lake Okeechobee. We have no information
about land companies. The region seven
miles west of Lake Worth is moderately
healthy, the soil is fertile. This is about on
the edge of the everglades.—Editor.
PorrsvILLE, Pa., Mar. 11, 1912.
Editor American Forestry:
A party in Schuylkill County claims to
have a powder which will rid chestnut trees
and others of the scale by putting it on the
roots. He claims it has been tried with
success in Schuylkill County. Is the propo-
sition feasible? It is in the form of a
powder.
S. M. ENTERLINE.
A thorough test is the only means of de-
termining the question you ask. I suggest
that you send samples to the Pennsylvania
Chestnut Blight Commission. —Editor.
THE HARVARD FOREST
By THEODORE WOOLSEY, JR.
HAT Harvard University is conducting a logging operation is rather a
startling statement; it is true however. Owing to the generosity of
Mr. John 8S. Ames, who graduated from the Harvard Forest School of
Harvard University with the class of 1909, the Harvard forest was acquired
late in 1907. Mr. James W. Brooks, who owned 1800 acres, codperated by
placing a low valuation upon this land. Contiguous owners, with holdings in
the aggregate of between 200 and 300 acres, deeded these additional areas so
that today the Harvard Forest comprises more than 2000 acres. It was
through the courtesy of Mr. Richard T. Fisher, Chairman of the Division
of Forestry, that the writer was enabled to visit this tract on January 21st
and 22d in order to study the silvical method of treatment.
According to the Official Register of Harvard University, “the forest
lies on hilly country at an elevation varying from 800 to 1400 feet above sea
level. It is divided into three distinct blocks of (about) 850, 550, and 600
acres, which are located respectively northeast, northwest, and southwest of
the village.’’*
In the words of the Official Register “the primary object in the possession
of this forest as part of the equipment of the Division of Forestry, is its use as
a field laboratory for the training of students in practical forestry.” This
forest is particularly valuable as a training ground for students because
of the large and varied growing stock and excellent market for practically
all species and all kinds of product; and because of the varied distribution of
age classes. This facilitates the practice of intensive forestry. It is within
two hours’ ride of Cambridge and the offices in the Division of Forestry can
therefore direct the administration by weekly visits, when not in residence
at Petersham. Mr. Fisher feels that the school tract is the strongest single
advantage of a professional school of forestry and the school is conducted
at the forest from July 1st to December 1st, and from April 1st to June 10th.
EQUIPMENT AND EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES
The equipment includes buildings with bedrooms and recitation rooms,
suitable storage space, “and complete set of logging and woods tools,” a team
used in logging, portable buildings for wood crew, etc.
Such courses as follow can be conducted during the period of field work:
identification of species, soil studies, general silvical studies, including mark-
ing, planting, and nursery practice, forest management, surveying, engineer-
ing, and “forest operations,” which include the details of wood management
and mill work.
*Petersham, Mass.
244
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THE HARVARD FOREST 247
Among the more important species found on the tract are white pine, red
spruce and hemlock, popple, paper birch and black birch, white oak, red oak,
white ash, black cherry, and red maple.
According to most recent estimates which are, however, approximate,
there are at least twelve millions board feet on the 2,000 acres; nine-tenths of
this is white pine. The chief woods as regards yield are, besides white pine,
chestnut, red maple, red oak, paper birch, white ash and some scattering
black cherry which is surprisingly straight and clean boled. The forest is
not a woodlot, but a tract producing chiefly saw timber, nine-tenths of which
is worth $7.50 to $8.00 on the stump; marketing of this timber presents many
interesting problems.
The white pine is worth $7.50 to $8.00 on the stump, the hardwoods
merchantable for saw timber perhaps $4.00 and the cordwood from saplings
too small to be sawn into lumber or from tops sells for 50 cents a cord
standing.
There is an excellent market for all species except popple and red maple
lumber. There is a considerable quantity of red maple on the tract which is
considered more or less of a weed tree since ordinarily it can only be sold
for cordwood. The demand for cordwood, however, exceeds the supply that
at present can be cut, and no difficulty has been found in disposing of the
white pine for boxes, boards, match sash and blind stock, and “square edge.”
The box and match stock sells for from $16 to $18, one inch square edge for
$20, sash and blind stock for from $25 to $35. The chestnut sells as inch
sidings for $17, and as 11% inch round edge for $20. Selected ash, red oak,
and cherry sells in small quantities at fancy prices.
THE METHOD OF SALE
It is rather surprising that Mr. Fisher has found it more profitable to
do his own logging rather than to have it done by contract. The only ma-
terial sold on the stump is a small quantity of cordwood taken out in clean-
ings. This is sold to local residents in what might be termed “neighborhood
sales.” In all operations trees are designated for cutting by marking although
they are not stamped with any symbol to show whether they were officially
marked or not. This is not considered necessary because the officers in
charge are so familiar with each tract that they can distinguish if the original
marking has been materially departed from. The pine brush is burned at a
cost of 15 to 25 cents per thousand. The hardwood brush is usually burned
particularly when it is cut with the pine, but occasionally it is left in eal
piles where the fire danger is not considered great. Sales are made informally
and no formal contract is required.
The results of logging during the fiscal year of 1911 give the following
average cost: Sawing, $1.00 per M.; drawing in and piling, $1.75, from the
piles to rollway at portable mis: 20 cents; sawing at mill by contract $2.35 ;
“sticking” 75 cents; hauling to the market, $2.25 (hardwoods hauling to
market, $4.50). Since the thinnings are taken in connection with the final
cuttings, no separate figures on the cost of logging have been secured. As an
248 AMERICAN FORESTRY
estimate, however, it is probably true that thinnings cost $1.15 to fell and
saw, while the final cuttings cost but 85 cents. The average sale price for
white pine for 1911 was $17.50. The total cost of delivery, according to the
figures secured, amounted to $8.30. In other words, there was a net profit of
$9.20 per M. feet for white pine. The cordwood sales of white pine tops
probably just about balance the cost of cutting and stacking. Even on the
poorer quality hardwoods, taking the total cost of delivery to be in the neigh-
borhood of $10.20, there would still be a net profit of $3.50 and on the better
quality hardwoods from $9 to $15 and up according to quality and species.
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE FOREST
Before the Harvard Corporation would agree to the purchase of this
tract they wanted definite assurance that it would not be a source of ex-
pense to the university. In other words, Mr. Fisher agreed that it would be
self-sustaining. The object of the management, therefore, has been (1) to
secure a reasonable return, (2) to cut first the timber that was mature and
secure immediate regeneration and to make intermediate cuttings to improve
the growing stock.
There is at present no working plan, but it is expected that by 1914 a
complete working plan will be drawn up. This lapse of seven years between
the purchase of the tract and the completion of a formal working plan is
accounted for by the fact that only student labor is used in the collection
of data and it was desired to be very certain of local conditions and require
ments before the Management was committed to a definite line of action.
At present the tract is mapped for topography, types and a portion for age
classes. There is a rough growth table, volume table for white pine based
on the mill run and more or less complete volume tables for chestnut and
red maple are now being compiled. Tentatively, it is desired to manage the
white pine and hardwoods on a rotation of about 60 years, but blocks of
rapidly growing pine will be reserved. The actual cut at present has been
fixed roughly at 250,000 feet of saw timber (chiefly pine) and 250 cords of
wood. The data already collected for the complete working plan indicate
that this cut may be greatly increased—possibly even doubled—with absolute
safety.
Since there is considerable land either entirely bare or only covered with
a scattered growth of gray birch, forestation has been started. About fifteen
acres of white pine, two year old seedlings on the better sites and three year
old transplants on the unfavorable sites, all spaced 6x6, have been put in.
During 1911 a good many of the white pine seedlings died during the
drought and it was definitely determined that in similar exceptional seasons
on the less favorable locations only transplants would succeed when planted
in the open. Root competition from low brush did surprisingly little damage;
in fact, the young trees succeeded better under huckleberry and other bushes
than on bare ground. In the large openings the plantations will undoubtedly
be successful, but in the small openings with a diameter of 50 to 100 feet,
sip
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THE HARVARD FOREST 251
it is probable that the surrounding white pine wolf trees will suppress and
damage a large proportion of the plantations.
In addition, there is a small area of Scotch pine spaced 6x6. It is
planned to try out red pine, red oak, and Douglas fir. Were it not for the
excellent reproduction of white ash and black cherry, it is probable that
blanks would be planted to these valuable species.
A number of experimental sample plots have been established to secure
definite data on the different methods of treatment. For example, where the
shelterwood system was tried in almost pure white pine, a quarter acre plot
was not cut and nearby a quarter acre was measured to show the results of
cutting both as to growth and reproduction.
The value of the Harvard forest as a demonstration of what can be done
in practical forestry cannot be over-estimated and private owners would profit
by visiting this tract in order to make a careful study of the different cut-
tings and the results. Within twenty or thirty years, when the results can
be more accurately gauged, a tract such as this showing varying conditions,
will undoubtedly do a great deal to encourage private owners to cut con-
servatively.
PROTECTION OF THE TRACT
There is little likelihood of trespass and the tract is so situated that the
slightest smoke is at once seen and reported to the officer in charge. Since
prompt action can be taken when fires start, no attempts have been made to
establish costly fire lines and there is little danger of a crown fire except
under most extraordinary conditions and then only in your coniferous growth.
There are ducks, deer, foxes, rabbits and partridges on the tract and
the management allows hunting by local residents in order to promote good
feeling; the damage by deer, particularly to ash seedlings, is quite noticeable
and probably hunting will therefore be encouraged.
At present the 250,000 bd. ft. cut annually, is sold to net well over $17.50
per thousand, or $1,875, and the hardwood and pine cordwood for $300
additional, making roughly a net return of $2,175. While this land will
probably not be taxed since it is part of the equipment for teaching forestry,
yet the tract is assessed at $60,000. The present yield, therefore, amounts
to about 3.6 per cent on this low valuation; the tract could be sold for $80,000
quite readily. Yet it must be borne in mind that the cutting is nowhere
near the normal yield. For example, suppose 1,800 acres of the 2,000 were
producing to their full capacity on a 60 year rotation. This would mean an
annual cut of 380 acres, which surely should yield at least 30,000 feet per
acre. If this netted only $10 per thousand, and it will certainly net more
than this, perhaps double, by the time the forest is at its full producing
capacity, you would have a net annual revenue of from $9,000 to $18,000.
It would be interesting to see the effect of somewhat heavier Pinna
in the pure pine 35 to 40 years old, perhaps removing one or two these
feet per acre additional, or fifteen per cent of the present stand as against
252 AMERICAN FORESTRY
ten or twelve per cent. Of course, there is danger in admitting too much
light and thus encouraging undergrowth which would hinder reproduction
when the seed felling is made. More sample plots will be established (and
it is hoped larger ones) since training in experimental work is part of
the curriculum of the school. One would expect at least a preliminary work-
ing plan, but the drawing up of such a plan has been delayed for entirely
practical reasons and it is doubiful if the management has suffered. Perhaps
some of the openings have been too large, bui it must be remembered that a
large opening possesses a distinct value from an experimental standpoint
which more than offsets the small loss through lack of pine reproduction
which may result. Whether it would be better to adopt an eighty or hundred
year rotation for the pine can only be determined when more complete yield-
tables are available.
The popularity of the pheasant, as a game bird and as a valuabl: assistant
to the jarmer in keeping down insect pests, is manijested in the state-wide de-
mand jor eggs and birds which the New York Conservation Department
is sending out from the state game farm. Despite the fact that the depariment
will more than double the number of pheasants and eggs distributed lest
year, the supply for the present season will not be sufficient to meet the
demands.
According to the reports received at the Ogden district office of the
Forest Service from various supervisors of the National Forests there will
be a shoriage oj water for irrigation purposes in Utah, Nevada and southern
Idaho this summer as a result oj a light snowjall in the mountains. In a
number oj localities, according to the report, the fall of snow has been less
than halj the normal, as indicated by years past.
By the recent affiliation of the Big Blackfoot Milling Company with the
Northern Montana Forestry Association, more than 100,000 acres of timber
land owned by the Big Blackfoot within the coéperative territory of the
Association has been added, and the Flathead National Forest is preparing to
join the Association in the near future.
More than 600,000 feet of timber was cut on the Deer Lodge jorest reserve
last month, which is much more than the normal production for this time of
the year. Most of the timber is from the French gulch district and the indi-
cations are that the output of timber in this district for the coming year will
be the largest since the inauguration oj the conservation project in the several
count es that are included in the Deer Lodge reserve.
SOUTHERN FORESTRY CONFERENCE
HIEF FORESTER HENRY 8. GRAVES, of the Forest Service, has
issued the following statement:
“In connection with the Nashville meeting of the Southern Com-
mercial Congress, April 8 to 10, there will be held a forestry conference. The
object of this conference will be to bring together lumbermen, timberland
owners, State officials, representatives of civic and other organizations, and
influential men who have an interest in the forest problems of the South, in
an attempt to work out a constructive program of action.
“I have promised to preside over this conference, in the belief that it
will accomplish important results. The Forest Service has, as a result of
recent studies, some important facts concerning particularly the forest fire
problem, which will be presented at the meetings. I do not believe that either
lumbermen or the public have any idea of the seriousness of the damage now
done by fire in the South. In justice both to timberland owners and to the
public there is urgent need for better protection of the forests of the South,
which form so important a part of its resources.
“T believe that the subject is one which calls emphatically for State legis-
lation. Fairness to all calls for an approach to uniform legislation, at least
along some lines. There is, in my judgment, great need for those most nearly
concerned to meet together and deal with the problems involved constructively.
“T have invited a number of representative lumbermen, State forestry offi-
cials, legislators and others to attend ang take part in the conference. May |
ask you to make public the fact that the conference is open to all, and that I
desire to extend, through your columns, a general invitation to all lumbermen
and timberland owners to attend? Measures fair to all the interests involved
can be shaped up only if all points of view are fully considered, and progress
toward better conditions depends upon the formulation of a program on which
all can unite.
“The conference will consist of two sessions. The first will be held on
the afternoon of April 8. At this session there will be a discussion of losses
suffered in the South through forest fires, the possibility of control, what the
timberland owner and lumberman can and should do to prevent fire losses,
and how far conservative cutting will be practicable if protection from fire is
assured.
“The second session of the conference will be held on the morning of
April 9 and will discuss State forestry laws, fire organization, neeq of uniform
legislation, and the codperation of States and private owners with the Federal
Government under the Weeks law.”
253
DYNAMITING STUMPS AND TREE HOLES
HE problem of stump removal is an ever recurrent one when farmers
are developing new territory or are endeavoring to utilize the entire
acreage of their farms. The richness of the forest soil is a constant
incentive to clear the land and make it available for cultivation, but the
question is, what is the best and cheapest way to remove the stumps? The
principal methods now in use are pulling with stumping machines, burning
out and blasting out with dynamite.
The stump puller has its advocates who prefer it over either method
and others who do not consider it economical. Apparently it is entirely a
question of condition. Those who have carefully investigated the subject
seem to be of the opinion that where a large number of small stumps are
to be removed it pays to invest in a stump puller, provided, however, that
only the cost of removing the stumps is to be considered.
The various schemes for burning out stumps are all open to one great
objection, that is that the burning of a stump does not remove or even loosen
up any of the roots, but it does destroy the humus in the soil, and causes
barren spots for a year or so after the stump is burned out.
EFFECT OF DYNAMITING
Recent investigations of the use of dynamite for stump removal show
that this is fully as economical as any other method with the possible excep-
tion of very small stumps, and for large stumps the advantages in its use are
very great. In the western or coast states where large trees are the rule,
dynamite is commonly employed for this purpose and practically every farmer
or farmer’s boy is a practical blaster. They handle this high explosive with-
out accident because they have found it no more dangerous than the ordinary
shotgun or gasoline. It is simply one of those things that has to be handled
with horse sense and ordinary care.
The process is very simple. A hole is bored underneath the stump with
a large dirt auger; the hole being usually at an angle of 45 degrees to the
ground. A dynamite cartridge is primed with a fulminate cap which has
been crimped on to the end of a fuse and the cartridge is then shoved down
to the bottom of the hole and tamped in with some damp earth. A match is
applied to the fuse which is long enough to give the farmer plenty of time
to get away for 150 feet or so, and shortly after there is a boom and the
stump is blown clear of the earth and shattered into firewood.
Investigation of the hole shows the roots torn loose from the earth for a
radius of about two yards from the stump, and nearly all the dirt that ad-
joined the stump roots has fallen back into the hole after the blast. The
stump parts themselves are found free from dirt as the blast clears them off
254
SUBSOIL BLASTS FIRED ELECTRICALLY.
‘
NY
ELECTRIC FIRING OF DYNAMITE SHOWING EFFECT ON SOIL,
ERUPTIONS SHOWN ARE MOSTLY GAS.
SIX-YEAR-OLD APPLE TREE PLANTED SIX-YEAR-OLD APPLE TREE PLANTED
IN DYNAMITED HOLE. IN SPADED HOLE.
BING eee TREE, TWO YEARS OLD, BING CHERRY TREE, TWO
maa puuae maine Beare YEARS OLD, SET IN
SPADED HOLE.
DYNAMITING STUMPS AND TREE HOLES 257
completely. The roots are left in such shape that a few blows with an axe
will free every one of them, so that a plow can be run over the old location
of the stump in almost every case without any difficulty whatever.
BREAKING UP THE SUBSOIL
But one point which is considered as most important of all in regard
to the use of dynamite in stump blasting, is that the same charge which
blows out the stump breaks up the subsoil. It has been found by actual ex-
perience that wherever stumps have been blown out the soil produces extra
vigorous crops. On a farm in California where oats were planted on a field
that had been cleared of stumps, the oats grew a foot higher over the spots
from which stumps had been blown. Mr. Jas. Craig, proprietor of the Rose
Cliff Fruit Farm, Waynesboro, Va., states that in his experience the value
of the subsoiling effect of dynamite in stump blasting equals at least 30
per cent of the cost of the dynamite. ;
These figures seem really conservative in view of results he has obtained
from tree planting with dynamite, by means of which apple trees planted
six years ago with dynamite are twice as tall as those planted with a spade
in the same lot and are so much better branched that they have about three
times the bearing capacity and the fruit produced is larger and of better
color. Inasmuch as the same soil condition is produced by blasting out a
stump it would seem that his estimate of the value of subsoiling incidental
to the stump blasting is conservative.
DYNAMITING HOLES FOR TREES
Results which prove conclusively that dynamite has advantages in fruit
culture have been secured, but just how great these advantages are cannot
be stated until further experiments have demonstrated the most economical
methods of using dynamite in the orchard.
It is obvious that several years are required after the planting of a fruit
tree in a dynamited hole, to ascertain just how its life or growth differs from
one planted in a spaded hole, and further experimentation will be necessary
to show whether it is necessary or advisable to use more or less dynamite per
hole to get maximum results, cost considered.
The following results already determined should be of interest to pro-
gressive horticulturists everywhere:
First—Planting trees with dynamite practically eliminates the loss of
young trees during the first year.
Second.—Trees can be planted much more rapidly by the dynamite meth-
od than by the old method.
Third.—Trees planted with dynamite come into bearing from one to two
years sooner than those planted by the soil method.
258 AMERICAN FORESTRY
Fourth.—Trees planted by dynamite grow much more rapidly and yield
much more heavily than those planted in the old way.
One of the chief elements of loss in orchard work is the loss of trees the
first vear. S. H. Bollinger, President Clear Creek Lumber Company, Shreve-
port, La., stated that he used dynamite in blasting the holes in which 1,080
pecan trees were planted one year ago, also for planting 8,000 peach trees.
He says the percentage of loss on the pecan trees (which are among the most
difficult to set so they will live), was almost nothing compared with the loss
on other trees planted in the ordinary way.
Another point of great importance to orchardists is that trees planted
with dynamite come into bearing much sooner than when planted by the old
way. W. W. Stevens, Orchardist of Mayfield, Ga., reports that he has been
using dynamite for tree planting for eighteen or twenty years and that in
the planting of peach trees by this method he gained two years in six as
compared with the old method. In other words, he got as much fruit from a
tree planted with dynamite at four years of age as he got at six years by
the old method.
Mrs. John Rawley, of Grante Pass, Oregon, reports that she plants all
her trees with dynamite, as a result of careful tests, to show the benefits of
this method. She advised that all trees be set in wet weather, as this insures
a storage of moisture under the tree. This is the chief reason why planting
trees with dynamite is beneficial.
Trees planted in spaded holes must fight their way into the compact sub-
soil which has never been disturbed, whereas when planted in a dynamited
hole the ground being thoroughly broken up under the surface soil makes an
easy path for the roots so that they spread out and have a large area from
which to draw water and plant food.
A little thought will show the reason why dynamiting is so beneficial in
tree planting. The principal plant food is water and fertile elements of
the soil must be absorbed in water before they can be absorbed by the terminal
roots. Hence the larger the area throughout which these terminal roots are
spread, the greater the amount of moisture the tree can draw on and the
greater the amount of water and plant food it can obtain.
This also explains the reason why dynamiting the soil between rows of
old or failing fruit trees renews their vigor, because most of the water is
taken up by the terminal roots which run out many feet from the trunk and
the blasting creates water reservoirs in the soil between the rows.
The Amount of damage done by forest fires in Michigan in 1911 is esti-
mated by W. R. Oates, State Game, Fish ang Forestry Warden, in a report just
made public, at $3,567,483.68. Far the greatest part of the loss occurred in
lower Michigan counties, as conditions in the upper peninsula last summer
were not favorable to forest fires, and this region escaped with a light toll of
damage.
is
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FORESTRY CLUB. NOTICE MISS MARIE DUN, THE ONLY
GIRL FORESTRY STUDENT IN THE UNITED STATES.
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS NEAR FORESTRY
BUILDING.
FORESTRY AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
By PROF. C. H. GOETZ
HIO was one of the first States that lead in the movement for the con-
servation of our forest resources. As far back as 1855 some of hei
leading citizens like Dr. John A. Warder, E. 5. Barney and others were
known nationally as promoters of forestry.
Since that time Ohio has been one of the leaders in State forestry work.
While up to 1909 she has failed to establish a chair of forestry at her Uni-
versity and Agricultural college, yet for many years forestry instruction had
been given in connection with horticulture.
The Ohio State University is situated at Columbus, Ohio, about the center
of the State. The University is well equipped for giving the student, thorough
training along all lines of work, because the Agricultural college is at the
same place and under the same management, so that the university student
can get the benefit of the agricultural college work and the Agricultural college
student the work of the university, making of all well-trained and rounded
out students.
In this way the forestry student is able to get a solid, sure substantial
foundation for all his subsequent technical and practical work.
The faculty of the forestry department consists of a professor in charge
and two assistants to take care of the technical subjects and a large corps of
professors of the university and agricultural departments to give the scientific
and special work of the auxiliary studies.
The forestry course as given in four years, and as placed into the cur-
riculum of the University a few years back consists of all the elementary basal
subjects preparatory to forestry and includes all the subjects of technical and
practical forestry as taught in all of the most prominent forestry schools, like
Michigan and Yale.
The whole four years’ course is designed to give the student all the neces-
sary forestry education and yet to leave room for other auxiliary studies, so
as to make the forestry student an all-round well-fitted-out man, capable to
cope with any situation that he may meet when going out into the field of
work.
The work in the courses has been combined into as few courses as possible,
rather than to spread it out in a spread eagle fashion so as to make it look
large or extended, and to have it overlap.
To give to the student as much as possible all the practical work, that
can be given at a school has been the aim in the making of the course of
studies. For this purpose there has been established a good-sized nursery, in
connection with the virgin stand of timber still standing on the University
261
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BLIGHT COMMISSION INSTRUCTION
By PROF. HUGH P. BAKER
URING the week of February 26th to March 2d, Mr. S. B. Detwiler,
1) Executive Officer of the Pennsylvania Chestnut Tree Blight Commission,
his field superintendents and twenty-four of the field agents gathered
in the Forestry Building at Penn State for lectures and demonstrations in
Forest Pathology, Soils, Entomology and Forestry.
Professor H. R. Fulton, Pathologist of the Experiment Station, told the
men of the nature of fungi and their relation to other plants. How natural
conditions may aid or check the extension of a fungus and of the common
methods of combatting fungi. An especial study was made of the Chestnut
Blight Disease (Diaporthe parasitica Murrill) and the men were shown the
different spore forms and their development both in the field and under the
microscope.
In the work in Entomology, Professor W. R. McConnell described the
development of an insect and showed how they may be instrumental in spread-
ing the spores of fungi. The importance of bird life in checking extension of
insects was explained and beneficial birds were shown and described. The
men were unusually well acquainted with the common birds.
Professor C. F. Shaw, who is carrying on a soil survey of the State, told
of the origin and nature of the various soils of Pennsylvania and touched
upon the infiuence of soils upon tree growth. The importance of protecting
the soil from erosion and baking, was brought out. Practical suggestions
were given for preventing the washing of soils from steep slopes.
A forenoon was spent with Professor J. W. Gregg, Landscape Gardener,
who gave a demonstration in pruning trees of different sizes and how wounds
should be treated to prevent the entrance of spores of fungi. The men are
being asked constantly as to methods of pruning trees infested with insects
and disease and told of hearing many queer theories as to pruning.
The members of the Department of Forestry gave work both in the class
room and in the field in rough methods of measuring and estimating timber;
the structure and market forms of timber and ways of increasing durability.
Some simple methods of management were discussed and applied to wood-
jands in which chestnut was dying out. The best trees for planting in
various situations were described and estimates of cost of planting and
returns were given.
The field force of the Commission is made up of an attractive and enthu-
siastic lot of fellows of all ages from recent high school and college graduates
to self trained men past middle age who haye had long experience in the
woods.
During the past winter, while it has been difficult to work in the woods,
the Commission has been doing a splendid line of educational work throughout
the State. Meetings and demonstrations have been held in school houses,
grange halls and city buildings throughout the eastern and central portions
of the state. The people are showing a surprising interest in the work of
the Commission and in forestry and whatever the results of the efforts to
check the blight may be there is no question but that the work of the Com-
mission will have a tremendous influence in developing Forestry in Pennsyl-
vania. , as
LUMBERMEN AND FORESTRY
Tue Report or THE FornstRY COMMITTEE AT THE NATIONAL WHOLESALE LUMBER
Deauors’ AssociaTION MEETING IN LOUISVILLE, MarcH 6 AND 7
Reap By W. C. SYKES.
HE year has been one full of interest with conservation still the key-
note of all discussions, lectures, or proposed legislation with reference
to forestry. The term conservation in its true sense, i. e., to use wisely
and not tie up what we already possess, is being better understood and all
are working toward this end in so far as conservation does not conflict with
commerce and increase cost of production. Conservation methods in the
larger sense are something which cover perhaps a period of time much longer
than the life cycle of a human being and for this reason they must often be
taken up by the Government either Federal or State or both. Right in this
connection we wish to call your attention to some proposed legislation in the
Empire State.
The proposed legislation in New York is probably the most drastic of
any law that has yet been suggested. Although the proposed law will effect
directly but a part of the State of New York should it become a law, it is
of great significance to all lumbermen, for if it passes it will establish a
principle which might affect the lumber and timber interests all over our
country. This principle is that a state may control and regulate the cutting
of all timber on private lands and prohibit the cutting by a diameter limit
without compensation to the owner of the land for the timber which he may
not cut. This, it is maintained, can be done under the police power of
the state.
THE PROPOSED LAW
The proposed New York law reads. thus: ‘To the end that the water
supply of the state may be conserved, the forests protected, and the public
interests safeguarded, it is herein provided:
“That no soft wood timber, Jess than eight inches in diameter, breast
high, growing upon any wild, forest lands within the towns specified in
section ninety-seven of this chapter shall be cut without the written consent
of the Conservation Commission, first obtained.”
Right here I might say the towns referred to include the Adirondack
Mountains, the Catskills, and some land beside these sections being the
timber sections of the state, “which consent shall be evidenced by a resolution
duly adopted by said Commission, and entered at length in its book of minutes;
and such Commission may make rules and regulations to control the cutting
and removal both of the timber and trees prohibited, and the timber and trees
permitted, to be cut under this section.”
Another section of the proposed law provides:
268
LUMBERMEN AND FORESTRY 269
“That the Conservation Commission may require land owners to dispose
of their slashings as the Commission ‘may direct.’ ”
If this is not done after it has been ordered the Commission may have
the work done, and the expense “shall be a lien upon the land on which they
are situated, enforceable as liens for the improvement of real estate are
enforced.”
THE LUMBERMEN’S ATTITUDE
Were such legislation as this to pass the results might be extremely
burdensome to the lumberman. These sections put so much power in the
hands of the state and leave so little to the individuals and corporations
owning timber land that it seems under some circumstances the state would
be directing and managing the entire woodlands department of a business,
and this would be possible in every case if the state cared to exercise its
rights. Lumber and pulp interests have opposed this legislation on the ground
that it is unconstitutional since it takes away property without due process
of law. A recent decision of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin upholds this
position.
Right along this line it is interesting to find that lumbermen, not know-
ing about these proposed New York State measures, suggest as a good
method of conserving the forests that laws should be made regulating the
cutting of timber by lumbermen, because the lumbermen are in the best
position to bring about practical reforestration. The objectionable features
are, however, to be eliminated by special tax so that the lumberman can carry
his lands and not be at serious expense, and a bonus is to be paid lumbermen
producing timber up to a certain size.
REFORESTATION APPROVED
Your Committee is in hearty accord with any regulations which will
bring about reforestation: We believe in state regulation of cutting where
it does not take away any element of value or take the control of directing
the policies of the woods department out of the hands of the lumbermen.
We believe that men who have spent their lives in the woods studying methods
of operation are better equipped to handle this than are the Government
officials no matter how well they may be trained. We do approve of
coéperation between operators and State and Federal officials so that best
methods may be adopted, but believe a property owner should be entitled to
look after his own property. The subject of state control of private cutting
is a large one and will no doubt come up again. In this limited space we
cannot deal with it further.
Canada, in dealing with her lumbermen, is very different from the United
States. Her policy is to keep the forest land intact with the exception of
burned-over lands. The timber on these burned lands is sold to operators,
270 AMERICAN FORESTRY
but the cutting is restricted to twelve inches on the stump in the case of
green timber. This practice has been in vogue since nineteen hundred and
two. Most of the operators in Canada own their own timber lands under a
lease, but are not restricted in cutting, except what has been sold since 1902,
as described above. Dr. Diver, of your Committee, believes this restrictive
policy to be wrong, as timber land which is burned has all of the trees burned,
as a rule, so this twelve inch restriction does practically no good. He also
reports that in Northern Canada the cut-over lands are being retimbered
by a young growth of pine which has sprung up of itself. This would go to
show that natural reforestation brings good results; it is undoubtedly
cheaper.
FOREST FIRE PROTECTION
The greatest enemy of the forest is fire. If we can overcome fire hazard,
we can let the forest do its own planting with good results. This statement
is only general, for there are places devoid of seed trees where planting must
be done. We are all familiar with the causes of forest fires, and the pre-
ventive measures—such as roads, fire lines, telephones, look-out stations, reg-
ulations as to campers, fire patrol, etc—but, unfortunately, because of the
inevitable slash which must follow a cutting, the lumbermen have been held
responsible for some fires, even though these precautions are taken.
If we can eliminate the slash, we get rid of one of our greatest menaces.
Can this be done at a profit, or without incurring loss? Obviously this is
impossible with all the finer twigs and limbs; but in the case of the larger
limbs and branches, butts, etc., it seems this could be done even profitably.
Fire wood, chemical wood, pulp wood, and various other uses should consume
a lot of the dangerous slash, and what remains would be the material that
would rot quickly, so that if fire could be kept out for a few years the danger
would be greatly reduced. This is one of our big problems today, and it
must be met. Forest products must be had by all, and in order to insure this
in the future much of the land must be productive of other timber crops.
Planting from the seed or seedling is slow and costly, and on land which
has been burned over the soil is often burned also, so that there is very little
chance for any new growth. This all leads back to our first proposition that
fire must be kept out and then natural reforestation can be looked for, and |
the saplings and young trees which today are regarded as of little value will
have an opportunity to mature.
Why plant seeds when we already have trees half or two-thirds grown
which, if protected, will mature and be of use in much less time than will
seedlings and thus do away, to a large degree, with the risk of young trees
dying, for their mortality is great as compared with older trees. We, there-
fore, would recommend that every precaution be used to keep fire out of cut-
over timber lands, and also out of slashings, for these slashings and cut-over
lands must bear timber again; and we urge the utilization of the woods and
debris usually left in slashings.
LUMBERMEN AND FORESTRY 271
In some cases, the finer twigs and brush might be burned to good ad-
vantage. There is great opportunity and need for new methods along this
line, and a greater degree of utilization of the debris of slashings. One
measure which would aid greatly in keeping fires in slashings from spreading
into green timber is to fell all trres along the line between the land to be
cut and the other land, so that they will fall in the land cut, and their
tops will not be in the green timber of the land to be left. This would
put a fire line around the slash at practically no additional expense to the
operator.
CHESTNUT BLIGHT SITUATION
Of late, we have heard much of the chestnut blight. The condition is
serious. The blight, or chestnut bark disease was first noticed near New
York City in 1904. At the present time it is in Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
Virginia, and West Virginia. The total loss from the disease is now estimated
at $25,000,000.
The disease is caused by a fungus, and works in the inner bark. It
gradually rings the tree and causes its death. This disease is like a germ
disease, and it is caused by spors which get at any injury to the bark of a
tree and soon infect it. Borers’ tunnels are the most common entrance places
for spores.
To combat this disease is a problem for the Government and not for
the lumbermen. Lumbermen, of course, should coéperate. The bark of in-
fected trees must be destroyed. Infected sections must be isolatd, and the
bark of trees destroyed, or all our chestnut trees will go. Up to the present
time no way of curing an infected tree has been found. Obviously this must
be taken up by the various states concerned, and the Federal Government.
The United States Department of Agriculture has already put some study
on the subject. Pennsylvania has established a “Commission for the investiga-
tion and control of chestnut tree blight disease.” Twenty-five thousand dol-
lars was made available at once, and $250,000 more has been appropriated
for this work. If the disease cannot be isolated in sections and gradually
stamped out, it may be necessary to use up all our chestnut as soon as pos-
sible, unless some remedy is found, and then set out trees and start our
chestnut forests all over again. We hope the situation will not become so
serious as this; but the outlook is not encouraging. The State of New York,
in its proposed legislation, authorizes the appointment of a Forest Pathologist.
However, the proposed law gives the Pathologist so much power that he
could make trouble and expense for the timber holders by requiring them to
cut and remove or destroy infected or diseased trees, no matter how remote
they may be located. Pennsylvania already has a State Pathologist and good
results are being secured. The chestnut blight is the most serious problem
confronting the department at the present time. Tree diseases are Serious,
especially when they assume the dimensions of the one just considered.
272 AMERICAN FORESTRY
They demand our attention. One simple recommendation which would help
in keeping out fire, as well as disease, is the cutting down of rotten or dead
stubs. These are very frequently diseased and will infect the neighboring
trees, and in case of fire, we find the burning stub is often the one cause
which may spread a fire quickly, as the fire runs clear to the top of the stub
and then burning pieces of the rotten wood are carried by the wind often
comparatively long distances.
THE LUMBERMEN’S POSITION
We have attempted to call attention to some of the present day problems
before the timber owner and operator. Our information is localized, but in
general might apply to all timber holdings. The present effort to subject the
timber owner and lumberman to state control over his cutting, without con-
cession in taxation or compensation for lands and timber tied up, which
amounts to confiscation, is probably the most serious step that has yet been
attempted. This principle, once established, would be felt by all. If it is
good business and economy to leave timber standing, so it may grow larger
and bring about natural reforestation, the lumberman will fall in line. If
the Government will not trust the lumberman this far, then let the Govern-
ment buy the land. What is good forestry, we believe is good business and
economy. Education is what we need and seek, and not coercive measures.
NORTH CAROLINA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION
CONVENTION
By FORESTER J. 8S. HOLMES
DECIDED awakening of public opinion was manifested by the large
attendance of interested delegates at the second annual convention of
the North Carolina Forestry Association recently held in Raleigh,
N. C. This association, which was organized a year ago, with the object of
promoting “the protection of the forests of North Carolina from fire and
from destructive insects, and promoting their perpetuation by wise use and
by the reforstation of cut-over and abandoned lands,” has, by the appoint-
ment of vice-presidents in every senatorial district of the state, laid a founda-
tion for forestry activity which has already brought far-reaching results.
Governor W. W. Kitchin welcomed the delegates and expressed his deep
interest in, and hearty sympathy with the movement. The president, Dr.
D. A. Hill, president of the State Agricultural and Mechanical College, in
his address advocated a campaign of publicity as a means to secure the elec-
tion of interested representatives for the next General Assembly. He said
every member should make a point of reporting to his local paper each forest
fire which occurs in his county, approximating the damage done and calling
attention to the fact that such fire could have been avoided had certain pre-
NORTH CAROLINA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION 273
cautions been taken. Public meetings to discuss forestry questions were also
advocated.
In the unavoidable absence of Dr. A. D. Hopkins, Mr. E. B. Mason, of
the United States Bureau of Entomology, gave an address on on the Southern
Pine Beetle and Its Control. This question is one of vital interest to the
people of the state and already two local associations have been formed to
codperate with the United States Bureau of Entomology in dealing with it.
The paper by Mr. J. G. Peters, Chief of State Coéperation of the United
States Forest Service, dealing with coéperative fire protection under the
Weeks Law, brought out the value to North Carolina of the offer which the
United States Department of Agriculture is making to the various states.
Probably a larger number of navigable rivers have their headwaters in western
North Carolina than in any other equal area in the United States, and yet the
attempt of the Federal Government to assist in protecting such streams cannot
be put into force in North Carolina because no appropriation is made by this
state for fire protection. A united effort will be made by the Forestry As-
sociation to obtain such legislation next year as will allow the state to receive
the assistance offered by the United States Department of Agriculture under
the Weeks Bill.
The question of state-wide stock law cannot be separated from a dis-
cussion of forest protection, and the paper by the Hon. Hugh MacRae, of
Wilmington, on The Stock Law and Forest Protection was timely, and elicited
a great deal of favorable comment.
The resolutions which were passed embody the sentiments of the Asso-
ciation and pretty well covered the subjects discussed at the two meetings.
In addition to the resolutions, the Association asked for the appointment
of a legislative committee, which is to draw up a forestry bill for the con-
sideration of the next legislature. This committee will represent all phases
of the forestry movement, and a bill endorsed by it and subsequently by the
whole association, should stand a good chance of becoming law.
The officers elected for the ensuing year are: President, Mr. E. B. Wright,
president of the Butters Lumber Company of Boardman, N. C., and Secretary-
Treasurer, Mr. J. S. Holmes, Forester of the State Geological and Economic
Survey, Chapel Hill, N. C.
THE 1911 INDEX
_ The 1911 index for Amurican Forusrry is now ready and subscribers may
have it mailed to them by writing for it.
TWO PRIVATE FOREST ARBORETUMS
MERICGAN FORESTRY readers who have been interested in the pro-
A posed forest arboretum at Letchworth Park will undoubtedly be glad
to hear of two already existent forest arboretums of the same kind,
though not the same extent, the little trees of which are now eight to ten
years old, which are parts of private estates in this country. One of them
is at Potowomet, Connecticut, on the estate which has been so notably con-
nected with the past history of forestry in this country under the name of
the “Russell Estate,” and which now belongs to Col. R. H. I. Goddard, to
whose progressive interest and enthusiasm the undertaking owes its success.
The other is a part of the planting on the estate of Mr. Percy Rockefeller at
Greenwich. Both are the work of Mr. Theodore F. Borst, Forest Engineer of
the American Forestry Company.
The Russell Estate has for nearly forty years been one of the most suc-
cessful examples of private forestry in this country, and its various plantings
have been partially inspired from the first by the recommendations of Prof.
Charles Sprague Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum. When Col. Goddard de-
cided to continue and complete the old plantings, Prof. Sargent recommended
that the services of a trained forester be called on to unify the existing stands,
and to carry the old planting over into a harmonious relation with the large
new stands contemplated. Mr. Borst had for some held the idea that a living
tree museum should be established, for an opportunity to study species and
habits of forest trees in a planted forest, from the point of view both of
utility and beauty. This seemed an excellent opportunity to do so, and the
idea appealed to Col. Goddard, who saw in it a fitting continuation of the
pioneer work of Mr. Russell. Accordingly, the completion of the reforesta-
tion, involving the planting of 200,000 trees the first two years, and another
100,000 this coming year, included the establishment of such a forest arbore-
tum. It was laid out in such a way as to unify the existing blocks, and its
object was to develop all the species which would flourish well in that locality.
It contains nearly seventy-five distinct species in pure stands and in com-
binations, and is undoubtedly the first forest arboretum of its kind in
America, and probably the first in the world.
All the species, in blocks, are to be labelled by indestructible plates, which
Col. Goddard is having made, a feature which will add much to the permanent
value and interest.
The planting at Mr. Percy Rockefeller’s at Greenwich was a close second
in time. Mr. Rockefeller took a great interest in the scientific side of the
undertaking, and felt, too, that it would add much to the beauty which was
the first aim in the whole design in that instance. His arboretum has in it
thirty-nine species.
Both Mr. Goddard and Mr. Rockefeller are exceedingly fond of trees and
deeply interested in forestry in its application to private estates. They will
be glad to permit any student of forestry to visit these arboretums on appli-
cation to their superintendents.
274
TIMBERLAND OWNERS AND FORESTRY
By W. R. BROWN
HERE has been widespread and general co-operation in New Hampshire
between the Federal, State, Association and Industrial interests, and a
mutual attempt to find the proper method of forest protection, operation
and renewal which would work out for all interests the widest practical and
lasting benefit. In this work the timberland owners have done their fair share,
and I will explain such methods as are meeting with their hearty support at
the present time, and the degree of coédperation in others which I think ap-
pears practical to them. As the many associations of timberland owners
which have sprung up the past three years, control a considerable share of
all the timber, their coéperation should be most urgently desired to obtain
immediate results.
Now it is necessarily a practical problem with them, and their first ques-
tion is inevitably “does it pay”? In other words, while equally interested with
all good citizens in the future of the country and subscribing thereto liberally
out of taxes, they are chiefly concerned in assisting prosperity by bending their
energies to the advance of their particular business, and in securing the
proper base for a successful future by seeing that there is no present loss or
disaster. The whole problem is, I think, to persuade them, when we have
done this honestly for ourselves, of what is best for them in the long run,
helping them to maintain and build up their business meanwhile. This is
particularly so when we consider the advantage of maintaining a strong inter-
national position among other nations, which is largely dependent on the
position we take among one another at home.
WHAT TIMBERLAND OWNERS WANT
The following are some of the practical points which appeal to the timber-
land owner in forestry:
First of all, fire protection, of which they have been woefully lacking in
return for taxes paid in the past, and where they can see clearly the benefits
of coéperation both among themselves and with the State and Government,
and it is along these lines that the first timberland owners’ associations have
been formed, and the greatest energy is being put forth.
Following this come study of the prevention of waste in the cutting and
marketing of timber, the practice of giving closer inspection to logging opera-
tion; study of scientific management in the handling of logs; and the en-
couragement of new wood-working industries for using up more closely the
products of their lands. Such work as is being done by the Forest Products
Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, is of the greatest value.
Another point is the question of taxation, which although not now gen-
erally acute, might become so, as the present laws are theoretically unjust,
but, due to the good sense and inherent justice of the average tax assessor,
275
276 AMERICAN FORESTRY
have not been carried out stringently; so that, the solving of this question
wisely would meet with their hearty approval.
Another point, of which there is an increasing practice going on among
the timberland owners, is the judicious cutting of their trees for the propo-
gating of a future growth, principally among the large owners who have mills
to conserve or others who wish a continuous investment and return.
Planting is principally going on among railroad companies for railroad
ties and among the farmers whose labor is not a cash charge and by large
owners who have both very favorable land conditions for planting and long
time investments to secure. It is very doubtful, however, if private owners
can afford to plant trees to any extent for some time, unless the markets
improve or timber becomes more scarce than at present, which is not imminent
in view of the fact that large bodies of uncut timber can be purchased at low
prices in Canada, and in the United States, and markets will be steadied by
the constantly improving means of communication such as the Panama Canal
will furnish.
On the opposite hand, another point which I think is appealing to the
far-sighted timberland owners is, the advantage in the Federal and State
ownership for the reason that the State can carry on and develop many
tracts into a future growth, create future supply, and be a steadying influence
upon future markets.
In fact, all forestry, if looked at in this light, will be to the timberland
owners’ future advantage and good, as well as to the good of the country at
large. But it is equally true that its growth must be slow and sure and
achieved step by step and the present worth of each step must be demonstrated
and proved to meet with the timberland owners’ hearty support, which I think
they are in a frame of mind to more than willingly give.
A FOREST THAT PAYS $40 AN ACRE YEARLY
By GEORGE W. KEHR
Cy is a tract of timber containing 90 to 100 acres near Port Matilda,
Center County, Pa., owned by Christian Sharer, that has not been
“hogged” over during the last fifty years. It covers a steep, rocky
mountain-side, and consists of chestnut, oaks, white pine, and a few other
varieties of hard and soft wood.
During the winter of 1911-12, the ripe timber, on five average acres of
this tract was cut—telephone poles, railroad ties, mine props and a little
saw stuff. The 700 thirty to fifty foot chestnut poles taken out are worth
$3,000 f. o. b. cars. Cutting and hauling them cost $350. Fifteen cars of
small ties and props are worth $225 net. We have no figures to show the
number of railroad ties and quantity of sawed lumber cut, but there are
200 to 300 ties and several thousand feet of plank.
The chestnut that was cut had reached the “hypermature” stage. Ninety
per cent of these trees were dead at the tops. All the other trees cut were
either ripe or were crowding and needed to be removed. The stand left is as
FORESTRY AND THE STATE LEGISLATURE 277
perfect as could be wished—trees eight inches in diameter and smaller, properly
spaced, and of right mixed kinds.
Fourteen and fifteen years ago every tree of marketable size and kind
was cut from this same acreage. That crop of timber was more valuable than
the present one. In fifteen years (by 1927) fully as big a crop should be cut
as the one of 1912, still leaving the stand of growing timber perfect for the
future.
The poles and bi-products of mine ties and props are the crop from the
five acres for one fifteen year period, (forgetting the railroad ties and saw
stuff). The net cash value of these poles and top-stuff is $28.75. Jt figures
$38.33 for each acre every year.
Taxes and interest reduce this about 10 per cent—then the timber pays
better than wheat, corn, oats, or any rotation of general crops on the best of
land. The work required by the timber is less than a quarter of the amount
necessary in farming those crops. On rich bottom land the timber growth
would be much heavier than on this thin, high, dry soil. Proper planting
and thinning of timber trees would increase the growth and the amount of
marketable lumber considerably.
This timber area lies on a slope above the Sharer home. It increases
the amount of water available all summer long over its own area and over
a large area lying below it. Several springs at its lower edge are never
failing. The August freshets flowing from its carpeted surface are as pure
as June streams. Game in plenty makes its home among the trees, and the
forest increases the beauty of the neighborhood.
In the light of these facts it would seem that many acres all over the
country that were once cleared and are farmed or are lying idle now, ought
to be growing timber—when otherwise waste land in natural timber, with no
care beyond intelligent cutting, can yield almost $40 on an acre yearly, that
land certainly should be in timber, and under proper management. Fifteen
per cent of every farm in the country should be a permanent forest, no matter
how good the soil, while on thousands of farms and on all unproductive land
there is no excuse for anything else.
FORESTRY AND. THE STATE LEGISLATURE
By W. B. GREELEY
Or THE Forest SERVICE
oh tee the course of my few years’ experience, I have seen something of the
development of the forestry movement, particularly in the Northwest,
and I have become convinced that the critical point in the present stage
of this great movement, the point of immediate importance, is the state legis-
lature. It is a common saying, summed up in one of Mr. Pinchot’s latest
epigrams, that “forestry has succeeded everywhere except in the woods.” We
know that there are so many reasons for the backwardness of the private
owners throughout the country at large in attempting the application of the
278 AMERICAN FORESTRY
forestry principle to their property. We know that some of those reasons are
within their control, that many of them are beyond their control, and that
manv or most of the factors beyond their control are within the control of
the state governments and specifically the state legislatures.
I have seen, particularly in a number of western states, many instances
of the gropings of men interested in forestry for wise state legislation. I
have seen abortive attempts at such legislation. I have seen instances where
certain elements in those states have exerted themselves to make the legisla-
tion proposed so extreme that it would fail of passage.
I have in mind particularly a law introduced in the legislature of Mon-
tana, the last session, which proposed, whenever the responsibility for start-
ing a forest fire was laid at the door of a corporation, the President or
Executive officer of that corporation should be subject to imprisonment for
a minimum perid of six months. It was seriously proposed in that bill to
enforce a provision of that character, and it is very obvious that there were
interests involved which were working to make the proposed legislation as
extreme as possible, so that it would fall of its own weight.
STANDARDIZING LEGISLATION
It has occurred to me, therefore, that one of the most effective things
that the American Forestry Association might do would be to standardize
wise forest legislation for states, at least the fundamental principles of wise
forest legislation, without attempting, of course, to determine how the prin-
ciples shall be applied under any one of a great variety of conditions.
I think that this is one of the most effective ways in which the members
of the American Forestry Association can coéperate with the Forest Service.
One of the features of the work of the Forest Service, a feature which is assum-
ing increasing importance, is the critical study of state forest systems and of
the legislation necessary to produce an effective state forest system. We can
do much in collating, in publishing results of the various laws, and in
showing what the different states are attempting to do, and something of the
practical results accomplished in the various states. We can do very much
in creating a favorable sentiment in the states, particularly in the states that
are just now groping after the right kind of forest legislation.
It occurs to me that the American Forestry Association might do a very
effective work by working certain standards and principles as to what con-
stitutes the right kind of state forestry, and then using its members as mis-
sionaries to make these principles known and to secure their practical adoption
and application under various conditions. We cannot attempt to do much
at first. We must be willing to accept the half loaf in cases; we must be
willing to adapt our ideas to rough and ready conditions.
EDITORIAL
HE Agricultural Bill has just passed the House of Representatives. It
contains a reduction of over one million dollars from the present appro-
priation for the Forest Service, and this cut is made almost wholly from
the funds available to prevent and fight forest fires. The current appropriation
of $500,000 for building roads, trails, and telephone lines needed to call and
get men quickly to the fires is reduced to $275,000, and of the emergency fund
of $1,000,000 for fighting forest fires only one-fifth remains. The House, by
a vote of seventy-four to seventy, restored the $225,000 cut from the appropria-
tion for roads, trails, and telephone lines; but on the final reading of the
Bill, the amendment for this increase was defeated.
These cuts are made in the face of the record of 1910, in which seventy-
nine fire fighters and twenty-five settlers were burned to death in the National
Forests, and twelve million dollars’ worth of timber was destroyed; and in
the face of full knowledge, that as the result of insufficient appropriation, the
National Forests, which constitute about two billion dollars’ worth of public
property, are in grave danger of even greater loss from fire.
The protection of public property and of the lives of settlers, their wives
and their children, as well as of the public servants within the National Forests,
lies close to the public welfare. It is easy to malign the Forest Service, as
certain members of Congress are accustomed to do. But it is much easier
to malign the Forest Ranger than it is to do their brave and efficient work
on the fire line. We must not let false economy further imperil the safety of
public resources and the protection of human lives.
It is time for Congress to face the facts. Before the National forests can
be made reasonably safe against fire, they must have ten times the present
trails and six times the telephone lines now built. It has taken six years for
Congress to appropriate enough money to build this small part of what is
urgently needed. The standing timber alone on National Forests is worth
not less than five hundred million dollars. In twenty years it will probably
be worth well over one billion dollars. If Congress gave the Forest Service
the five hundred thousand dollars a year it asks for, to build traiis and tele-
phone lines, it would give only one-fourth of one per cent of the value of
timber standing to-day in the National Forests.
The preservation of this standing timber controls the preservation of
stream flow, whose value is many times that of all the wood which the
National Forests contain. The value of the range in National Forests which
again is largely dependent upon forest preservation, is incalculable. The fees
for grazing alone bring into the public treasury every year twice the appro-
279
280 AMERICAN FORESTRY
priation asked for trails and telephone lines. Without these improvements
the forests cannot be made safe, even with ten times the present patrol.
The one million dollars asked for actual fire fighting and cut by the
Agricultural Committee to one-fifth that amount, is simply a fund made
available for the use of the Forest Service in times of grave emergency. It may
be less necessary than the money required to build roads and bridges, tele-
phone lines, and trails. Unless the fires occur, this money would be neither
needed nor spent. But should the need arise there could be no more criminal
extravagance than not to spend it. It cost $900,000 beyond the appropriation
of the Service to fight the big fires of 1910. If this money had not been spent,
these fires would probably have wiped out the bulk of the forests of Northern
Idaho, Montana, and Western Washington.
Fires have already broken out on National Forests in the Southwest as
the result of the exceptionally light precipitation this winter. It would be
hardly less unpatriotic and unwise to withhold money to equip troops against
an invading army, than to refuse the appropriation needed to fight these fires
and prevent the greater fires which may easily follow.
The Agricultural Appropriation Bill will soon be up in the Senate, and
every friend of the National Forests is urged to raise his voice on behalf
of adequate appropriation for protecting them.
The first forest fire for the year has been reported at the office of the
Tahoe National Forest. Supervisor Bigelow reports that sixty acres of land
on Squaw creek, in the canyon of the north fork of the American river, caught
fire on February 24 and burned for two or three days.
Requisitions have been made by the Supervisors of 20 of the Nationat
Forests within the Second United States Forestry District, with headquarters
in Denver, for 10,000,000 trout fry. Efforts of Colorado to restock high
altitude streams and lakes will be greatly enhanced by the cooperation of the
Forestry officials.
Twenty-eight forest service timber sales, some of them very large ones,
have been in progress on the Kootenal National Forest during the winter. A
number of sales are nearing completion, and the field force of forest officers
who have been employed on the sales are beginning preparations for the coming
season’s field work.
REVIEW VOL. VI, NO. 2, PROCEEDING SOCIETY
AMERICAN FORESTERS
This issue of the Proceedings of the So-
ciety of American Foresters, which appeared
in October, 1911, contains a number of
articles of particular interest to professional
foresters. The opening paper, “The Es-
sentials in Working Plans for National
Forests,” by Barrington Moore, states briefly
the author’s views as to what should be in-
cluded in a typical working plan for a
National Forest. A general outline is pre-
sented showing the arrangement of the topics
to be treated in the working plan, with brief
notes as to some of the more important of
these. The paper is a very suggestive one
and should serve to bring about further dis-
cussion of this important subject.
Another technical paper is one on “Seed
Production and How to Study It,” by
Raphael Zon and C. R. Tillotson, in which
the authors review at some length the efforts
made by European foresters to solve the
problem of seed production. They point
out that but little accurate information con-
cerning seed production has been obtained
by these studies, and present a new method
of investigation originally suggested by a
Russian forester. Briefly, this method aims
to determine the average amount of seed
produced per unit area in a given forest
type by means of sample plots whose seed
production is accurately determined by the
study of representative trees. The article
deals in an original way with an important
subject which has so far received compara-
tively little attention in this country.
Dr. B. Herstein, Technical Expert of the
Tariff Board, under the title “Conservation
and Chemical Pulp,” discusses the possible
utilization of sulphite waste liquors resulting
from the manufacture of wood pulp. At
present no use whatever of these liquors is
made in this country, and they are simply
run into the rivers which are becoming
seriously contaminated by them. Dr. Her-
stein points out that a process has now been
perfected by which this sulphite liquor can
be converted into alcohol at a reasonable
expense, and cites a plant in Sweden which
“now produces 300,000 gallons of alcohol per
year from this source. The economic saving
which this method makes possible is obvious,
but perhaps its greatest value lies in doing
away with the indiscriminate pollution of
rivers by the waste lI’quids.
Forest fires are discussed in two articles:
one by W. B. Greeley entitled “Better
Methods of Fire Control,’ and one by I. F.
Eldredge entitled “Fire Problem on the
Florida National Forest.’ Mr. Greeley pre-
sents an admirable discussion of the entire
problem of fire protection under the heads
of patrol, communication, transportation,
emergency help, equipment, and fire-fighting
organization. Each of these subjects is
thoroughly discussed from a practical point
of view, and the conclusion is emphasized
that fire-fighting is a matter of scientific
management just as much as silviculture or
range improvement. Mr. Eldredge points
out very clearly the difficulties of fire pro-
tection on the Florida National Forest. His
belief is that under present conditions com-
plete fire protection is a hopeless ideal, and
that the best policy is to protect all cut-over
and experimental areas, and to burn the rest
of the forest lands annually early in January
when the surface fires are easily controlled.
He emphasizes the importance of securing
the cooperation of the settlers and of gradu-
ally extending the area protected. ;
One of the most valuable and timely papers
in this issue is a bibliography of the South-
ern Appalachian and White Mountain re-
gions, compiled bv Miss Helen E. Stock-
bridge. This makes available for the first
time an exhaustive list of the books and
articles dealing with these two regions. The
literature is classified under the following
subject heads:
1. National Forest Movement; 2. Topog-
raphy and Resources in General; 3. Botany;
4. Forests and Forestry: Forest Influences;
5. Water resources; 6. Climatology; 7.
Geology; 8. Mines and mineral resources;
and 9. Soils.
Altogether, this issue of the Proceedings
is one of unusual interest.
See ns 5
One thousand dollars a day will be put into circulation in northern Cali-
fornia during the next fifteen years through the sale of a large tract of
government timber which the Forest Service is now advertising for bids. The
sale includes about 2,100 acres of excellent sugar and yellow pine on the
Shasta National Forest.
The estimates show that nearly 200,000,000 board
feet of timber is included upon this area.
281
STATE WORK
Pennsylvania
At the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania
State Foresters at Harrisburg on March 6
and 7, Pennsylvania, commended for the ad-
vanced position it has taken in conservation
and in forestry management with its 972,000
acres of preserves, was warned to take the
best protective measures possible against for-
est fires by Prof. Filibert Roth, of the Uni-
versity of Michigan, and F. A. Gaylord, of
the New York Conservation Commission.
Prof. Roth declared that stumps were monu-
ments of ignorance and asserted that they
could be made to yield handsome returns if
properly handled.
Prof. Gaylord urged that the foresters be
put to work to erect telephone lines, which,
he said, had been done in his State at a cost
of from $7 to $9 a mile, and which had
proved of great value in calling men to aid
in fighting fires.
William F. Dague, of Clearfield, talked on
the protection afforded by taking out stumps
and waste and the income produced there-
from; T. Roy Morton, Petersburg, on more
rapid growth; Prof. E. A. Zeigler, Mont
Alto, on early returns, and Harold E. Bry-
ner, New Germantown, on clearing methods.
In the afternoon the papers were by for-
esters, including John A. Bastian, Loyalsock ;
James E. McNeal, George H. Wirt, Lewis
E. Staley, Harry A. Thompson and Forrest
H. Dutlinger, who declared roads and mar-
kets should be studied, as the two went hand
in hand, and who predicted that, with better
roads, the State’s income from forests would
increase.
Much time was devoted to the business
side of forest management in the papers of
Foresters John W. Seltzer, Coburn; John 1
Strobeck, Crosco; Homer S. Metzeer, Logan-
town; Walter D. Ludwig, Boalsburg ; John
R. Williams, Rector, and D. H. Warfield,
Milroy.
Former Congressman N. W. Wheeler and
T. D. Collins, of Forest County, both of
them lumbermen, snoke of the financial ben-
efits, while former Mayor E. A. Weimer, of
Lebanon, and Forestry Commissioner S. B.
Elliott, recommended more planting and the
extension of precautionary methods to pre-
vent forest fires. Prof. I. T. Worthley and
Joseph Illick, of the Mount Alto Forestry
Academy, dealt with the question of manage-
ment in reference to getting the best out of
rangers.
California
There were 326 more forest fires in Cali-
fornia during 1911 than during 1910, and 426
more than in 1909, according to a report by
State Forester G. Morris Homans, in which
282
he gives the area burned over, cost of fight-
ing, etc. The total damage in 1911, how-
ever, was only a little more than one-fifth
as great as in 1910, but somewhat greater
than in 1909.
During 1911 there were 1,064 forests fires,
against 738 in 1910 and 638 in 1909. The
total damage during 1911 was $128,451.50
against $628,989.20 in 1910, and $100,000 in
1909.
The area burned over in 1911 was 55,182
acres of forest land and 227,102 open chapar-
ral land; in 1910, 216,069 acres of forest
lands and 303,394 acres of chaparral; in
1909, 76,730 acres of forest land and 279,539
acres of chaparral.
Wisconsin
With the view of developing a plan for the
utilization of the millions of acres of cut-
over lands in Wisconsin, the United States
Government has decided to make extensive
experiments in forest on the Sparta military
reservation. The military reservation con-
tains 20,000 acres, a large part of which is
available for the experiments which are to
be under the immediate direction of W. B.
Piper, supervisor of the Marquette and Mich-
igan national forests, and are to start at
once. Pines from Northern Minnesota are
to be planted principally.
The entire northern half of Wisconsin
was until comparatively recent years, occu-
pied by extensive pine forests, which have
almost all been cut, and while much of the
denuded land is valuable for agricultural pur-
poses, a large part of it can be best em-
ployed for the development of new forests
as soon as the method of handling and
growing them has been well worked out.
Minnesota
A meeting of the representatives of Cen-
tral and Northern Minnesota railroads was
held at Duluth recently with W. T. Cox, the
State forester, and other representatives of
the State and National Forestry Depart-
ments. The meeting was for the purpose
of discussing fire prevention and methods
for accomplishing the best results. W. H.
Gemmell, general manager of the Minnesota
and International road, was chairman of the
meeting,
_ The railroad men say that they will make
it their business to give careful attention to
fire prevention which costs the roads not
only for property that may be destroyed and
judgments procured by settlers, but the loss
of vast sums in prospective freights by the
destruction of timber by fire.
Michigan
That the Northern Forest Protective As-
sociation, organized in Marquette in the fall
STATE WORK 283
of 1910, has accomplished much in preserv-
ing the forests of the upper peninsula and
guarding against disastrous fires during the
past year, was made evident at the first
annual meeting of the Association, held in
Marquette, Mich., recently.
The report of Secretary-Forester Thomas
B. Wyman, of Munising, shows that the
total loss sustained to property in the upper
peninsula from forest fires during 1911, ex-
clusive of regeneration and occuring after
the establishment of the Association’s patrol
system, was less than $6,000. Of this amount
a considerable portion was owned by non-
members of the Association.
New Hampshire
A review of great results already accom-
plished by the Society for the Protection of
New Hampshire Forests is presented in the
tenth annual report. Much has been done to
preserve the wonderful natural resources of
the State, but more remains to be done. On
the Society’s program are:
Enlargement of the State forest areas.
Effective cooperation with Federal officials
in the purchase of a National forest in the
White Mountains.
Extension of properly managed town for-
ests, aS a source of continuous revenue.
Encouragement of an equitable system of
forest taxation. é
Education of woodland owners in a wise
use of their timber with a view to future
returns.
Stimulation of tree planting throughout
the State and the creation of new forests
to take the place of those cut off.
—
Iowa
Four vital agricultural bulletins and circu-
lars have just been issued by the Iowa Agri-
cultural Experiment station for general dis-
tribution. No. 127, “Spraying Practice for
Orchard and Garden,’ is a complete com-
pendium on that subject, written by Prof.
S. A. Beach, head of the horticultural and
forestry section of the experiment station.
The bulletin describes all orchard diseases
common to the Mississippi valley and tells
how to fight them as well as the various pests
that cut down orchard yields.
Colorado
The Colorado State Forestry Association
held its twenty-seventh annual meeting Feb.
15-16. It carried out a good program and
closed with a banquet on the evening of the
second day which was made exceedingly in-
teresting by the presence of the Presidents
of the Colorado College, the State Teachers’
College, the State Agricultural College and
the State University. It will take those who
attended a long time to forget the occasion.
Nine directors were elected, the same per-
sons for the third time consecutively, one of
the number, General Irving Hale, being
seriously ill the Hon. John H. Gabriel was
chosen by the other members of the board
to serve in his stead. The board now stands
as follows: <A. Lincoln Fellows, J. H.
Gabriel, Mrs. Helen LL. Grenfell, W. A.
Hover, Jacob Fillius, Mrs. Louise Brooks,
C. K. McHarg, E. C. van Diest and W. G.
N. Stone.
Kentucky
For the past six years Hon. W. H. Mackey,
of Covington, Ky., has been endeavoring to
have the State Legislature pass a bill cre-
ating a Forestry Bureau and he has recently
succeeded. The Bill is now in the hands
of the Governor and it is expected will be
approved by him. While the appropriation
is not large it will doubtless grow year by
year. Anyway Mr. Mackey has got the work
started and he deserves a great deal of credit
for the effort that he has made. The Fores-
try Board will consist of five members, and
the State Forester must be a graduate of a
forest school and a technically trained for-
ester. The appropriation is to be $20,000.
Ohio
George W. Miller, chairman of the com-
mittee on agriculture of Ohio, writes that
his committee has sent the following rough
draft of a proposal to the Constitutional
Convention which will shortly consider it:
“The general assembly may, in order to
encourage the propagatio:, planting and cul-
tivation of forestry, pass laws exempting
from taxation, in whole or in part, wood
lots or plantations devoted exclusively to the
growth of forest trees.
“The general assembly may make further
provisions granting the State authority to re-
forest and hold as forest reserve such lands
or parts of lands that may be forfeited to
the State or that may be acquired by the
State.”
Maryland
A bill has been introduced in the Mary-
land State Senate by Senator Benson calling
for an appropriation of $10,000 annually for
carrying on the work of the State Board of
Forestry, under the direction of the State
Forester, and a special appropriation of $6,-
000 for publishing the forest reports and
forests maps of the several counties of the
State. This is an increase over what has
been heretofore appropriated, but this
amount is required to meet the growing
needs of the work; the need for increased
fire protection alone, will require $4,000 an-
nually.
While the Agricultural College, the Ex-
periment Station, the Farmers’ Institutes, the
Granges, the Farmers’ Clubs and all the
other agencies are working for the improve-
ment of tilled lands, there is only one—the
Board of Forestry—working for the im-
provement and protection of the woodlands,
although they represent more than one-third
of all the State’s land area and are so widely
distributed as to be represented on practi-
cally every farm, either by woodlot or tim-
ber tract.
New York
For the purpose of securing better forest
management, the Conservation Commission
of New York State is perfecting arrange-
ments to examine about thirty thousand acres
of forest lands owned by the International
Paper Company in Township 6, John Brown
Tract, near Big Moose in Herkimer County.
While this work will be performed under the
direction of the Conservation Department,
the expense will be borne by the Paper
Company, which has expressed a desire to
cooperate with the Department in practical
conservation of the forest lands which it
owns.
The Department will prepare a map of the
area which is to be lumbered, showing the
location and extent of various types of for-
est growth and the quantity of timber. On
this data as a basis, the scientific lumber
operations will be planned. The results will
be not only a prevention of waste, but the
perpetuation of the forest growth for the
future.
The International Paper Company owns a
larger area of lands in the Adirondacks from
which it secures pulp wood supplies for its
paper mills, and for many years the concern
has been cutting timber conservatively, tak-
ing but few trees under twelve inches in
diameter, leaving the smaller trees for re-
production and future supply of timber. The
company desires to still further improve its
lumbering methods and has sought the ad-
vice and assistance of the Conservation Com-
mission, which has readily responded inas-
much as one of its duties is to conserve the
forests protecting the important watersheds
of the State.
Connecticut
In a recent talk at New Britain, Conn.,
State Forester Samuel N. Spring made an
urgent plea for more strenuous efforts to
protect the forests against fire. He told
graphically how 1,000 fires last year had laid
waste 50,000 acres of timber land. He
brought home to New Britain a realization
of its duty in the prevention of such waste
and it was gratifying to learn that that city
has paid more attention to fires in its sur-
rounding woodlands than many Connecticut
municipalities. In each city the fire chief is
ex-officio, fire warden and because of mani-
fold duties many fire chiefs, according to the
ae have spent little effort along this
ine.
South Dakota
To provide for carrying out an agreement
under which South Dakota school lands will
284 AMERICAN FORESTRY
be exchanged for National forest land of
equal area and value, President Taft has
signed a proclamation which makes it possi-
ble for the State to select immediately 60,-
143 acres of land from the Harney and
Sioux National forests. This will permit of
indemnity selection by the State in place of
school lands lying along and within the
boundaries of the Black Hills National for-
est, which will become part of the forest.
Indiana
Because approximately 2,000,000 acres of
land in Indiana is virtually lying idle, which
might be producing timber of highest value,
the State Board of Forestry has issued a
bulletin to Indiana farmers and owners of
woodlots impressing the need of systematic
and intelligent culture of the Hoosier wood-
lot.
Florida
Dr. Raphael Zon, of the Forest Service,
on a recent trip to Tampa to investigate
the culture of eucalyptus there, said that
the experiment, although not a spectacular
success, is scientifically valuable as it shows.
the conditions under which the trees will
thrive and establishes beyond a doubt that
eucalyptus trees will flourish as well here as
anywhere else in the country if given the
proper care. In the experiments tried on
Grand Central extension, there was practi-
cally no attention paid to the trees beyond
planting them. They were set just before
the dry season of last year and most of
those which died succumbed because of lack
of moisture. This was shown conclusively
by the fact that in the lower ground where
the moisture accumulated and remained
much longer than in the high sand, the trees
thrived fairly well.
Oregon
Oregon is going to have better forest fire
protection this vear than ever before in its
history. It will have a larger appropriation
from the Federal Government, greater help
from individual timber owners and, it is be-
lieved, more liberal assistance from the State
itself, judging from the expressions at the
annual meeting of the Oregon Forest Fire
Association. G. H. Cecil, in charge of the
Government Forest Service in the Portland
district, stated that the Federal Government
had promised $10,000 for fire protection the
coming season, or $5,000 more than last year.
State Forester E. A. Eliott stated he be-
lieved the State would probably see it good
business to appropriate $100,000 for forest
fire protection for the next two years, in-
stead of $60,000, the amount appropriated
for the purpose during the past two years.
eS -
he ar
Sat SS eae
NEWS AND NOTES
Lumbermen and Forestry
The members of the National Wholesale
lumber Dealers’ Association held a most
enthusiastic meeting at Louisville, Ky., early
in March, at which, following a report of
the Forestry Committee, published in this
issue, and an address by P. S. Ridsdale,
executive secretary of the American Forestry
Association, explaining what the organization
is doing, resolutions endorsing the work of
the Association were adopted.
These were as follows: Resolved, That
the National Wholesale Lumber Dealers’
Association heartily indorses the efforts of
the American Forestry Association to secure
better State and national fire protection of
the forests. Also the effort to protect the
head waters of streams and to secure a
satisfactory system of time and land taxa-
tion and to advocate the use of woods and
wood products; and be it further
Resolved, That the members of this As-
sociation lend their support to the American
Forestry Association and to encourage sub-
scriptions to its magazine, AMERICAN Forks-
TRY which is its medium of publicity and
education, and be it further
Resolved, That this Association indorses
the bill now before the Congress of the
United States appropriating the sum of
$80,000.00 for the the scientific investigations
and eradication of the disease commonly
known as the chestnut tree blight, and be it
further
Resolved, That any legislation which seeks
to regulate the cutting of trees by prohibiting
the cutting of all trees below certain specified
diameters would be deemed to be adverse
to the best interests of the lumbermen, unless
such legislation recognizes the time honored
rights of property by providing that compen-
sation be made by the State to the owners
of the trees which fall within the provisions
of the proposed legislation.
Protecting the Forests
At _a meeting held recently in Montreal,
the St. Maurice Valley Forest Protective
Association was formed, having for its object
the protection from fire of the timber lands
of the St. Maurice River Valley. This im-
portant river supplies large amounts of power
for Montreal and Three Rivers by means of
the Shawinigan Falls and also for the largest
pulp and paper companies in this province.
Lookout stations will be established on
high hills from which fires can be detected,
and these will be connected by telephone
with the nearest settlements, so that help
can be obtained. Telephone lines and trails
will be built and fire fighting tools placed
in convenient locations. Educational work
will be undertaken to teach the settlers and
farmers the value of the forests and the
necessity of protecting them.
The officers elected later at Quebec, are:
President—Mr. Alex. Maclaurin, of Mon-
treal, representing the Union Bag and Paper
Gc
O.
Vice President—W. R. Brown, of the
Quebec and St. Maurice Industrial Co.
Directors—Messrs, R. S. Grant, St. Maurice
Lumber Co.; Ellwood Wilson, Laurentide
Pulp Co.; Frank Ritchie, Wayagamack Pulp
and Paper Co., and H. Biermans, Belgo Pulp
and Paper Co.
Following the election of officers a banquet
was given at which Mr, W. R. Brown pre-
sided. Speeches were made by W. C. Jj.
Hall, head of the Fire Protection Depart-
ment; G. C. Piche, head of the Forestry
Department; Hon. J. Bureau, attorney gen-
eral of the Dominion; A. Tessier, M. P.,
and others.
The Association comprises 87 per cent of
the timberland holders of the St. Maurice
Valley, and is the largest ever formed there,
representing 7,000,000 acres. The assessment
is one-fourth of a cent an acre per year for
protection. The Provincial Government
gives $3,000 and one head inspector autho-
tizes all rangers to aid, also pays one-third
the cost of fire protection on the railroad
service and one-third the cost of fire fighting.
Henry Sorgino, of Montreal has been ap-
pointed manager.
Experiments in Wisconsin
With the view of developing a plan for
the utilization of millions of acres of cut-
over lands in Wisconsin, the United States
Government has decided to make extensive
experiments in forestry at the Sparta Mili-
tary Reservation according to word received
here today from Congressman H. J. Esch,
who took up the matter with the War De-
partment and the Department of Agriculture.
The military reservation contains. 20,000
acres a large part of which is available for
the experiments which are to be made im-
mediately at the direction of W. B. Piter,
supervisor of the Marcuette and Michigan
National Forest Association, and are to start
at once. Pines from Northern Minnesota
are to be planted principally.
Forester Hirst’s Views
State Forester E. C. Hirst, of New Hamp-
shire, in speaking before the Portsmouth,
N. H. Y. M. C. A, recently said: “Aside
from the natural conditions, New Hamp-
shire is well situated geographically for the
practice of forestry. In the middle West
the timber supply is rapidly diminishing and
the pine in the Southern States is being
heavily cut. The Northeastern States contain
large areas of natural forest land on which
the eastern part of the country will more
and more depend for its timber supply.
285
286
Moreover this land is situated for the most
part near the large markets where the good
prices secured for timber will make the
practice of forestry more profitable as the
years go by.
“Tt is about time for us to look ahead to
this increasing demand for timber, protect
from fire the growth we have, cut out worth-
less trees and make room for better ones,
and plant good fast growing trees on our
waste land. This is true forestry—the rais-
ing of repeated crops of timber on non-
agricultural land.”
Wood Products Exposition
Agitation for a Woods Products Exposi-
tion in this country this year is now being
aroused by Editor Arthur Bolling Johnson,
of the Lumber World Review of Chicago
and there is every prospect that it will
result in such an exposition as is desired.
Detailed plans for the affair are to be pro-
posed in a short time and in the meantime
Editor Johnson is busy stiring up enthusiasm
for it.
A Large Sale
The sale of 800,000,000 feet of pine, fir
and cedar saw timber in the Sierra National
forest along the east side of the San Joaquin
Valley has been announced by the Depart-
ment of Forestry and if consummated, this
will be the biggest sale of timber ever
operated by the Government. The Depart-
ment will soon invite bids for this timber,
offering contracts of twenty years in which
to remove the timber, with two additional
years for the construction of necessary im-
provements.
The announcement of the timber sale is
expected to attract much interest among lum-
ber men, as the timber is the most valuable
yet offered for sale by the Government any-
where in the West. The Forestry Depart-
ment is publishing an announcement of the
sale, calling for bids.
Forestry Without Politics
The taking of the Forestry Service, both
Dominion and Provincial, out of politics,
making way for technically trained men, was
advocated by G. Y. Chown, president, at the
annual Canadian Forestry Convention which
opened at Ottawa, recently. He also de-
clared for a permanent forest policy, and
for some efficient method of guarding against
forest fires.
In an address of welcome to the dele-
gates, Premier Borden compared Canada
to a young man who had inherited a vast
estate and who, unless carefully watched,
was liable to squander his wealth. He
especially urged the association to impress
both legislators and the people with the
necessity of checking the forest fire evil.
“There are some things on which the
Prime Minister and myself can agree,” said
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Sir Wilfred Laurier, “and the conservation
of forests is one of these.”
The Leopard Moth
The leopard moth more feared in its
work of destroying tiees than the brown tail
and gypsy moth, has mace its appearance in
Waltham, Mass.
The pest has been discovered by employees
of the City Forestry Department in three
widely separated sections of the city.
There are two ways ‘1 which the moth
may be killed. One is to spray a chemical
oil into the holes where the moth has entered
and block the holes up. A gas is formed
which destroys the pest. The other is to
use hot irons to burn the larvae.
Money for Fire Sufferers
Relatives of 32 men who lost their lives
and many men who were injured while fight-
ing fires in the Coeur d’Alene national forest
near Wallace, Idaho, the summer of 1910,
are sought by Roscoe Haines, suppervisor of
the forest, stationed at Coeur d’Alene, Idaho,
regarding the distribution of the recent ap-
propriation by Congress for forest fire suf-
ferers.
Few of the men, who came from various
parts of the United States and Canada, and
enlisted to fight fire, gave their home ad-
dresses, hence the Forest Service has been
unable to get into touch with relatives of
the dead and injured.
New Firm of Forest Engineers
A new firm of forest engineers has re-
cently opened offices in Philadelphia under
the name of Clark, Lyford & Sterling. The
members are Judson F. Clark, of Van-
couver, B. GC, C. A. Lyford, of Montreal,
Oue., and E. A. Sterling, of Philadelphia.
Mr. Clark and Mr. Lyford are also identi-
fied with the well-known firms of Clark &
Lyford, Vancouver, B. C., and Lyford, Clark
& Lyford, Montreal, Que. Mr. Sterling has
resigned his position as Forester of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, which he has held
for the past five years.
This organization is making a specialty of
timber estimates and forest maps, and is
prepared to examine and report on timber
properties anywhere.
Chestnut Tree Disease
Marsden Manson, of San Francisco, Cal.,
writing in Science says: “In connection with
the chestnut tree blight, I call attention to
the hardy giant chinquapin of the Pacific
States. This mav be a resistant species adap-
table to the Southern States. It occurs in
two varieties, the one just mentioned and a
dwarfed variety. The former reaches a
height of 120 feet and has a diameter of
from 8 to 10 feet; ordinarily from 40 to
55 feet in height and from 1 to 2 feet in
diameter. Locality, near Willets in Men-
docino County, Cal. The drawfed form is
EDUCATIONAL
abundant in the Cascade and Sierra Nevada
and San Jacinto mountains from 2,000 to
9,000 feet. It is mostly of shrubby habit,
but to all appearances identical with the
giant Chinquapin. This latter is a hardy and
long-lived tree of stately and handsome
form. The timber is suitable for many pur-
poses, saws readily, is fine grained and light
brown. The burr and nut of both varieties
are almost identical in size and appearance
with the eastern chinquapin. They are diffi-
cult to obtain and are frequently attacked by
a small whitish worm, the egg of which -is
deposited, as in the eastern chinquapin and
chestnut, by a moth.
The writer suggests that the giant chinqua-
pin be experimented with as a possible re-
sistant species to reforest the Eastern States
devastated by the chestnut tree disease. The
tree would probably stand the eastern con-
ditions south of Maryland. The shrub is
extremely hardy.
287
Forest Eliminations Ordered
The President has signed a proclamation
eliminating approximately 73,100 acres from
the Jefferson National Forest, Mantana. A
very careful examination made by the Forest
Service had shown that the land was not
chiefly valuable for forest purposes but con-
sisted mainly of open grazing land and land
of agricultural value.
The lands excluded lie mainly along the
southern and eastern boundaries of the Little
Belt division of the Forest. Small elimina-
tions were also made from the Highwood
Mountains, Little Rockies, and Snowy Moun-
tains divisions.
The eliminated lands were by the same
proclamation withdrawn under the Act of
June 25, 1910, for classification, and will,
when compatible with public interests, be
restored to settlen:ent and entry on such
dates as shall be fixed by the Secretary of
the Interior and after such notice as he may
deem advisable.
EDUCATIONAL
Public School Instruction
That merchantable white pine can be
grown in 30 years, norway pine in 35 and
that a cedar swamp, lumbered to-day, will in
a period of 15 years yield the same market
value in commercial material as the previous
cut, providing that fire does not interfere
with such growths, is the information
brought to the pupils of the Sault Ste. Marie,
Mich., public schools recently by Deputy
State Forestry Warden J. H. McGillivray, of
Oscoda.
Instructors Talk
At the 27th annual meeting of the Colo-
rado State Forestry Association at Denver
recently, President Baker, of the State Uni-
versity, talked on “Forestry and Culture”;
President Slocum, of Colorado College, on
“What the Colorado School of Forestry
Means to the Great West”; President Lory,
of the Agricultural College, told what his
institution will do for the farm by the aid
of forestry, and President Snyder, of the
State Normal, spoke on “The Spirit of For-
estry.”
Professor Ellsworth Bethel, of the East
Denver High School, discussed “The Aes-
thetic and Educational Value of Public
Parks,” and urged the establishment of the
office of city forester. W. W. Williamson,
of Colorado Springs, discussed, “Shall the
Public Domain With the National Forests,
Be Turned Over to the State?”
Dean Toumey’s Views
Dean oumey, of the Yale Forestry
School, in addressing the graduates recently,
said:
“During the past two years many students
in American forestry schools and possibly
some of you, have become more or less
pessimistic, not so much because of the lack
of faith in the future of American forestry,
but because of the belief that there is a
danger that the profession will become over-
crowded, and opportunity for responsible
work and advancement curtailed.
“During the decade ending with 1910
every man, good, bad and indifferent found
a position awaiting him on the completion
of his professional training. Many of these
positions have been retained by men who
will not be able to retain them in the future.
The weeding out process in professional for-
estry in this country has already begun and
who will deny that this is a splendid thing
for the profession. Weeding out carries
with it no fear for the competent man. You
need have no fear of the overcrowding of
the profession at the top. There are now
and always will be shown by your own work
that you are the best men to fill them.
Forestry at Cornell
If the approval of the trustees is forth-
coming Cornell will soon have a course in
forestry leading to the regular baccalaureate
degree at the end of the fourth year and to
the degree of master in forestry at the end
of the fifth year. The university faculty has
recommended this action and asked the trus-
tees to establish the new degree.
Details of the course have not been worked
out, but the entrance requirements will be
the same as those for the course in agricul-
ture. The first two years will be similar to
those of the present course in agriculture ex-
cept that solid geometry and trigonometry
will be required if they have not been of-
fered for entrance. In the junior year work
in general science will be continued, supple-
mented by some surveying in the College of
288 AMERICAN FORESTRY
Civil Engineering and the beginning of work
in technical forestry. The fourth and fifth
years will be devoted mainly to work in for-
estry, with some work in engineering.
Seeking Information
J. P. Wentling, assistant professor of for-
estry in the agricultural department of the
State University of Minnesota, has written
County Superintendent Boerger asking him
to appoint two observers of forestry in
Stearns County. The idea of the department
is to have at least two of these observers in
each county of the State to report on the
time of leafing, blossoming and fruiting of
the various kinds of trees.
The department is starting out to secure
as nearly exact data concerning the trees of
the State as is possible. Competent observers,
whether teachers of botany or persons well
posted in botany are required for the work.
Chances for Several States
Provided a bill is passed which is now
pending in the United States Senate, asking
that five per centum of the gross receipts
from national forests during any fiscal year,
beginning June 30, 1912, shall be available
for the purpose of maintaining a school of
forestry in the States in which national for-
ests are located, several States will have a
school of forestry, to be part of the curri-
culum of studies of some State institutions.
Students’ Experiences
That the young foresters of Oregon Agri-
cultural College can live on their own cook-
ing and conduct a regulation foresters’ camp,
has been demonstrated by Professor Peavy,
head of the school of forestry, who with the
ten members of his class in forest mensura-
tion has been passing the last four days in
cruising a 640-acre tract of timber in
the hills west of Philomath. The boys made
a careful study of the forest conditions ex-
isting in that type of region, relative to the
availability of the timber for lumbering pur-
poses, and were incidentally introduced to
the canthook, measuring stick and calipers
and taught their uses.
‘
CURRENT LITERATURE
MONTHLY LIST FOR MARCH, 1912
(Books and periodicals indexed in the
Library of the United States Forest
Service. )
Forestry as a Whole
Yale forest school. A classification for for-
estry literature. 6 p. New Haven, Conn.,
1912. (Yale forest school. Bulletin 1.)
Proceedings and reports of associations, for-
est officers, etc.
Canadian forestry association. Brief report
of the 13th convention and annual meet-
ing, held at Ottawa, February 7-8, 1912.
20 p. Ottawa, 1912.
Deutsche dendrologische gesellschaft. Muit-
teilungen, No. 20. 530 p. il. Bonn-
Poppelsdorf, 1911.
India—Andaman_ Islands—Forest depart-
ment. Prog.ess report of forest ad-
‘ministration in the Andamans _ for
1910-115 3834p. Calcutta
Maryland—State board of forestry. Re-
port for 1910 and 1911. 42 p. pl. Bal-
timore, Md., 1912.
North Carolina—Geological and economic
survey. Second annual convention of
the North Carolina forestry association.
4 p. Chapel Hill, N. C., 1912. (Press
bulletin 59.)
Oregon—State board of forestry. First an-
nual report, 1911. 24 p. Salem, Ore.,
1912.
Prussia—Ministerium fir landwirtschaft,
domiinen und _ forsten—Abteilung fur
forsten. Amtliche mitteilungen, 1910.
51 p. Berlin, 1912.
Quebec—Department of lands and _ forests.
Report for the 12 months ending 30th
June, 1911. 134 p.. Quebec, 1912:
Rhode Island—Commissioner of forestry.
Sixth annual report, 1911. 45 p. pl.
Providence, 1912.
Russia—Lyesnoi department (Forest dept.)
Ezheghodnik (Year-book), 1909, v. 1-2.
S.-Peterburgh, 1911.
Forest Education
New York state college of forestry, Syra-
cuse university. Announcement, 1912.
20 p: , oyracuse, Nj Y¥. toi
Forest Legislation
Connecticut—State forester. Forest fire
manual;
forests.
Connecticut laws relating to
54 p. New Haven, Conn., 1912.
Forest Description
Hungary—K. ackerbauministerium. Exkur-
sionsfthrer im auftrage se. exc. des K.
Ung. akerbauministers zusammenges-
tellt anliisslich der studienreise des
Osterreichischen reichsforstvereines nach
Stidungarn und den Slavonischen eichen-
wiildern, 1911. 113 p. maps. Budapest,
1911.
Maryland—State board of forestry. The
forests of Allegany county, by F
Besley. 31 p. pl. maps. Baltimore,
Md., 1912.
Maryland—State board of forestry. Re-
forests of Kent county, by F. W. Besley.
27 p. pl, maps. Baltimore, Md., 1911.
Silviculture
Planting
Ferguson, J. A. Growing a woodlot from
seed. 8 p. il. Columbia, Mo., 1912.
(Missouri—Agricultural experiment sta-
tion. Circular 52.)
Hill, D., nursery co., inc. The _ forest
planter’s guide. 24 p. Dundee, IIl., 1912.
New Zealand—Department of lands. Re-
port on state afforestation, 1910-11. 74
p. pl. maps. Wellington, 1911.
Forest Protection
Insects
O’Kane, W. C. The gypsy moth. 4 p. il
Durham, N. H., 1912. (N. H.—State
moth agent. Circular 1.)
O’Kane, W. C. The browntail moth. 4 p.
(ee Durham sNeyHe 1912s CNet
State moth agent. Circular 2.)
Fire
Greeley, W. B. Better methods of fire con-
tO, als ip, Wega, ID, (CC. Soeieny ii
American foresters, 1911.
Oregon forest fire association. First an-
nual report. 17 p. Portland, Ore., 1911.
Peters, J. Girvin. Forest fire protection
under the Weeks law in cooperation
with states. 15 p. il. Wash., D. C., 1912.
(U. S—Department of agriculture—For-
est service. Circular 205.)
Forest Management
Forest organization
Wornle, Paul. Die zweckmiissige grdésse
der forstbezirke in Wurttemberg, 54 p.
Tubingen, H. Laupp, 1911. (Wagner, C.
Unsere forstwirtschaft im 20. jahrhun-
deri pty 45)
Forest finance
McGrath, T. S. Timber bonds, 504 p. Chi-
cago, Craig-Wayne Co., 1911.
Forest Economics
Statistics
Macmillan, H. R., & others. Forest prod-
ucts of Canada, 1910; pulpwood. 14 p.
Ottawa, 1911. (Canada—Department of
the Interior—Forestry branch. Bulletin
26.)
Macmillan, H. R. Forest products of
Canada, 1910; tight and slack cooperage.
; 289
290
11 p. Ottawa, 1911. (Canada—Depart-
ment of the Interior—Forestry branch.
Bulletin 27.)
Forest Administration
National and state forests
United States—Department of agriculture—
Forest service. National forests; loca-
tion, date, and area, Dec. 31, 1911. 4 p.
Wash Di @ en lgn2:
Forest Engineering
Schill, P. Forstvermessung; ein lehr—und
handbuch. 246 p. il. tables. Ejisenach,
H. Kahle, 1911.
Forest Utilization
Lumber industry
Lumbermen’s credit association. Reference
book, February, 1912 Chicago and New
York, 1912.
Wood preservation
Ferguson, J. A. How to prolong the life
of fence posts. 4p. il. Columbia, Mo.,
1911. (Missouri—Agricultural experi-
ment station. Circular 51.)
Maryland—State board of forestry. In-
creasing the durability of fence posts,
by F. W. Besley. 22 p. il. Baltimore,
Md., 1912.
Auxiliary Subjects
Conservation and natural resources
Canada—Commission of conservation. Sec-
ond annual report. 230 p. Ottawa, 1911.
Canada—Commission of conservation. Lands,
fisheries and minerals. 519 p. pl., maps.
Ottawa, 1911.
Canada — Commission of conservation.
Water-powers of Canada. 397 p. pl.
Ottawa, 1911.
New York—Legislature—Joint committee on
the conservation of water. Report, 1912.
83 p. Albany, N. Y., 1912.
Periodical Articles
Miscellaneous periodicals
Agricultural journal of the Union of South
Africa, Jan. 1912.—Forestry and planta-
tion work in Britain, by J. Sim, p. 71.
British Columbia magazine, Dec. 1911—Van-
couver Island timber and reforestation,
by Ernest McGaffey, p. 1239-45; A
cyclone among the timber Titans, by H.
H. Jones, p. 1287-93.
3ulletin of the American geographical so-
ciety, Feb. 1912.—The forests of the
Philippines, by J. Paul Goode, p. 81-9.
Civic quarterly, Jan. 1912.—The proposed
Fstes national park, by R. Johnson, p.
16-21.
Editorial reveiw, Feb. 1912.—Is there a lum-
__ber trust, by R. Seelav, p. 127-37.
Field and stream, March 1912.—American
forestry, by Warren H. Miller, p.
1140-45.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Journal of the Linnean society, Feb. 1, 1912.
—An ecological study of a Cambridge-
shire woodland, by R. S. Adamson, p.
339-84.
Nature, Jan. 4, 1912. Forestry education at
the University of Edinburgh, p. 328-9.
Plant world, Dec. 1911.—Establishment be-
havior of the palo verde, by F. Shreve,
p. 289-96.
Popular science monthly, March 1912.—
Glimpses of the Great American desert,
by R. J. Pool, p. 209-35.
Saturday evening post, Feb, 3, 1912—Work-
ing to save wood waste, by F. Crissev, p.
8-10.
Scientific American, Feb. 24, 1912.—Trees
that yield butter; how nature competes
with the dairy, by W. R. Gerard, p.
175; Durability of wood cut in spring
and in summer, p. 185.
Scientific American, supplement, Dec. 23,
1911—Skis; their construction and use,
p. 411.
Sierra club bulletin, Jan. 1912—vThe Devil’s
Portpile, by J. N. Le Conte, p. 170-3;
National parks, p. 217-35; Are national
parks worth while, by J. H. McFarland,
p. 236-9.
Torreya, Feb. 1912.—Winter-killing and
smelter-injury in the forests of Mon-
tana, by George Grant Hedgcock, p.
25-30.
Trade journals and consular reports
American lumberman, Feb. 17, 1912.—Im-
provements in wood charcoal manufac-
ture, p. 39; New “sugi’ finish on cypress,
Pp. 65.
American lumberman, Feb. 24, 1912.—Forest
industry, by E. T. Allen, p. 48-9; Preser-
vation of wood with antiseptics, p. 72;
Conference on chestnut tree blight, p.
73-5; Short cut improvements in timber
cruising, by E. A. Braniff, p. 82; Poison-
ous woods, p. 85; Wood used in phyrog-
raphy, p. 97.
American lumberman, March 2, 1912——Wood
flour in demand, p. 33; Treatment of
orchard and ornamental trees, by J. F.
Collins, p. 34; Specifications for manu-
facturing silo stock, p. 42-3.
American lumberman. March 9, 1912.—
Standard specifications for silo stock, p.
42; Silo construction, by A. M. Dolve,
p. 44; Oregon forest fire association;
instructive addresses feature annual
meeting, p. 57-60; Northern forest pro-
tective association; annual meeting, p.
61.
Canada lumberman, Feb. 15, 1912—Taxa-
tion on timber lands in B. C., p. 26-7.
Canada lumberman, March 1, 1912.—The In-
dian as a fire-ranger, p. 27-8.
Engineering news, Dec. 14, 1911.—Notes on
railway ties, p. 705.
Engineering news, Dec, 21, 1911.—Rapid de-
struction of timber beams from dry rot,
by C. H. Smith, and F. J. Hoxie, p. 727-9.
CURRENT LITERATURE
Engineering news, Jan. 4, 1912.—Machines
for handling railway ties, by R. P.
Black, p. 22-4.
Engineering record, Jan. 6, 1912—Wood
block pavements in Chicago, p. 10.
Hardwood record, Feb. 25, 1912.—Utilization
of hardwoods; aeroplanes, p. 30-1;
Wood used in artificial limbs, p. 37.
Hardwood record, March 10, 1912.—Pattern
making woods, p. 30.
Lumber world review, Feb. 25, 1912.—Grow-
ing new forests in Wisconsin, p. 18; Ef-
ficient forestry methods, by C. S. Chap-
man, p. 22; Biltmore forestry school in
Germany, by J. W. Agnor, p. 24.
Lumber world review, March 10, 1912.—The
silo a winner; good thing for the lum-
berman ,and the stockman, p. 34 a.
Journal of electricity, power and gas, March
2, 1912.—Tests on insulator pins from -
California eucalyptu_, p. 202-3.
Mississippi Valley lumberman, Feb. 16, 1912.
—Lumber trade with our Southern
neighbors, p. 40-1; Forest fire fighting
in Minnesota; State forester holds con-
ference with the railroads, by W. T. Cox,
p. 42-3.
Mississippi Valley lumberman, March 8, 1912.
—Sjilos as a side line for retailers, p. 42-3.
Paper mill, Feb. 17, 1912——The pulp wood
resources of Dominion of Canada, p. 92-8.
Paper trade journal, Feb, 8, 1912—A Cana-
dian forest survey, by J. W. Sewell,
p. 56, 60.
Paper trade journal, Feb. 15, 1912.—Estimate
of pulp wood standing in Canada, p. 61-3;
Forest engineering, by C. J. Blanchard,
p. 209-11; Reforestation and utilization
of forest products in Europe, p. 213-19;
Some uses of paper and fibre, by A. P.
Dillont, p. 221-5; Life in a lumber camp,
by R. O. Sweezey, p. 225-31; Woods for
the manufacture of mechanical pulp, by
M. Cline, p. 231-5; Japanese paper plants,
by R. Raines, p. 239-43; Conservation of
national resources, by M. H. Hoover, p.
251-7: Logging in Maine woods, by P.
H. K,, p. 261.
Pioneer western lumberman, March 1, 1912.
—Redwood in Humboldt county; its high
quality; its 1911 shipments, by L. M.
Nevens, p. 21-3.
291
Pulp and paper magazine of Canada, Feb.,
1912.—The forestry engineer, by R. O.
Sweezey, p. 48-9.
Railway age gazette, Feb. 9, 1912—The rail-
way’s interest in forest fire prevention,
by E. A. Sterling, p. 231-5.
St. Louis lumberman, Feb. 15, 1912—The
Browning locomotive crane, p. 60-2; The
sie end of the lumber business, p. 82
-D.
St. Louis lumberman, March 1, 1912.—New
Zealand paving methods and materials,
byw DaBaker pec:
Southern industrial and lumber review, Feb.,
1912.—The “sugi”’ finish on cypress, p.
28-30.
Southern lumberman, March 2, 1912.—Furni-
ture ,and cabinet woods of the Philip-
pines, by H. N. Whitford, p. 36-7.
Southern lumberman, March 9, 1912.—What
is pin oak, p. 25.
Timberman, Feb., 1912—Comment on the
new system of taxing timber proposed
by the Timberman, p. 19; First Austra-
lian forestry conference plans conserva-
tion campaign, p. 32; National foresters
and California lumbermen hold lively
conference, p. 52-3.
United States daily consular report, Feb. 21,
1912—Basket making in Jamaica, by J.
D. Dreher, p. 782-3.
United States daily consular report, Feb. 24,
1912—The French cork industrv, by F.
M. Mansfield, p. 804-6.
United States daily consular report, March
13, 1912—The French wood trade, by
J. E. Dunning, and others, p. 1046-9;
Doors and sash, by H. R. Dietrich, and
others, p. 1049-50; World rubber trade,
p. 1052-3.
United States daily consular report, March
16, 1912—Commercial woods of Africa,
by W. J. Yerby, p. 1091-3. .
West Coast lumberman, Feb., 1912.—Market
effect of creosoting upon lumber, by G.
Winslow, p. 267-9.
Wood-craft, March 1912.—African cedar for
making cigar boxes, p. 173.
Wooden and willow-ware trade review, Feb.
22, 1912 —Alder tced for matches, p. 89.
Wood-worker, Feb., 1912.—Wood distillation
and how accomplished, by J. J. Blitz, p.
40-1.
WANTED
White Pine trees 6 to 15
feet high with full lower
branches, ‘Trees growing )
(6 to 20 feet Apart, Soil, {
loam or sandy loam, Ure
ferred location, 2 to 4 miles ‘
from railroad, Will be
moved with balls of earth 2%
lo 6 feet in diameter, Uf
Tipping up ball of earth and aliding platform under it You have planted closely
to trim the lower branches,
you can sell some and prune by hand and have just as mueh timber,
We move some of the trees without root pruning, and some are root pruned
and left one or more years, We have shipped 50 carloads,
White Pine, | year seedlings for sale at $19.00 per 10,000,
HICKS NURSERIES
Isaac Hicks & Son Westbury, L. L, N.Y.
“BOUND voLumMES | FORESTRY SCHOOLS
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which to make their announcements
FOR 1911
than
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American Forestry
VOL. XVIII
MAY, 1912
No. 5
THROUGH CANADIAN WILDS
By Enwwoop WILSON
FORES'TER’S life is not all beer
and skittles. People say so often,
; “Oh! if IT could only lead the
free, open air life which you lead, next
to nature, far away from the confined
erind of the city!’ But take these
same people and give them the fores-
ter’s daily life tor three or four weeks,
even under the best conditions, and see
how quickly they would tire of it. This
is especially true under the conditions
which exist in the Canadian forests to-
day. There are no roads or trails and
a man’s outht must be carried on his
back and by canoe in summer, and on
a toboggan which he pulls m winter.
The forests are a long way trom the
settlements, from thirty to one hundred
and fifty miles, and there is no com-
munication, so that letters and news of
the outside world are few and far be-
tween, One sleeps in a tent at all sea-
sons of the year and travels and works
in all weathers. The three main divi-
sions of the year are winter, from first
of November till the first of May, fly
time, from May fifteenth to first of
\ugust and-fall. Fly time is the worst
of all, as the flys, mosquitoes and gnats
make lite almost unendurable. With
proper outht and reasonable care the
hardships are not great and after once
getting broken imto the lite there is a
great fascination im it,
One of the hardest times of the year
is the latter part otf November, before
the ice on the lakes is thick enough to
bear a man's weight and too thick to
break a way through tor a canoe. As
all travel is by way of the lakes and
rivers, both in summer and winter, and
the portages are only cut through the
woods from one water way to another,
when lakes cannot be crossed it is ex-
ceedingly difficult to go around them.
One year, having a party in the woods
surveying and estimating timber, |
started about the middle of November
to inspect their work and to take in
the small sheet iron stoves which are
used in the tents in winter and also
snowshoes and mail. With me was a
man who had never worked in the
woods in the north before but who
wanted to get the experience and who
was to remain with the party. We
started from our headquarters on a
clear crisp day and drove in with our
duffle loaded on a buckboard to the
end of the road, about twenty-four
miles to the depot of one of the lumber
companies which lies at the foot of Lac
Mistagance, a lake about twelve miles
long. Here we put our birch bark
canoe in the water and loaded up, with
not much room to spare. A steady un-
eventful paddle brought us to the end
of the lake and our stuff was unloaded
and piled on the bank while we crossed
the two mule portage to the next lake
where our Company had a depot, the
last outpost of civilization. Here we
sent back a horse for our lead and while
it was being brought up we got to-
gether our provisions for the trip into
the woods.
Bright and early the next morning
we were off, taking with us an extra
AMERICAN FORESTRY
A RANGER’S TENT IN WINTER—WITHOUT ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME
canoe and two men to help us over the
“Long Portage,” seven miles. The
weather was perfect and as we made
the two short portages and crossed the
two long narrow lakes to the beginning
of our real day’s work, it seemed good
to be alive and the loads we carried
only lent a zest and helped to keep us
down to earth. Leaving one canoe at
the beginning of the “Long Portage”
for the packers to return in, we started
out, stopping for lunch after a mile or
so. We shot two or three grouse with
our pistols, keeping them for our break-
fast. About half past five we reached
the other end and pitched our small
Baker tent, spreading it to give some
shelter to all four of us and after a
hearty supper, were soon asleep.
In the morning we said good-bye to
our packers and launching our canoe
on the River Mattawin, a_ beautiful
stream about seventy-five miles long
and with many picturesque rapids, we
started upstream. We had three port-
ages and had to ‘double’ them as our
load was too heavy to be taken over in
one trip. Just before noon we reached
the mouth of the Chienne River, a
smaller stream emptying into the Mat-
tawin, up which our route lay. Here
we had lunch and after passing through
two small lakes, where the river wid-
ened out, we found the water quite low
and had to track our canoe through sev-
eral swift waters. About four o’clock
we made a short portage into Lac
Brochet and to our great surprise found
it frozen. This was something of a
dilemma as we did not relish the
thought of having to pack all our bag-
gage around it and if it had frozen so
early, many of. the other lakes above
would probably be frozen too. Trying
the ice with our axes, and finding it
fairly safe, I crossed by lying flat on
my stomach so as to cover as much ice
as possible and by tying four tump lines
together we dragged the duffle across
the narrow bay. Here we made a
camp and as the night was clear did
not trouble to put up a tent but crawled
into our sleeping bags and were soon
lost to the world. About three in the
THROUGH CANADIAN WILDS 295
“a>
A JOBBER’S CAMP IN THE HEART OF WINTER
morning I remember feeling chilly but
was too sleepy to really wake up. When
I did, I felt the most delicious warmth
and as it did not seem very light I lay
there enjoying the sensation for a few
minutes, then throwing aside the blan-
kets looked out and found that about
eight inches of snow had fallen in the
night and completely buried us.
My man complained of feeling sick,
but as he had no temperature and his
pulse was good I was rather inclined,
especially after I saw the breakfast
which he ate, to think it only a case of
“cold feet.” However, we decided to
stay in camp for the day and leaving
him in his bag, I pitched the tent, cut
some boughs for beds and wood for the
fire and packed our loads so that they
would be easy to carry and spent the
afternoon taking them as far up the
lake as I could without running into
bad going. The ice on the lake would
not bear and as it seemed to be getting
colder the ice would probably be much
thicker in the morning.
Next day, the invalid feeling better,
we loaded our camp outfit into the
canoe and hitching a tump line to the
bow, one of us dragged it from in
front, the other pushing behind, we
went to the place where I had taken
the duffle and loaded that in too. In
case the ice gave way we expected to
jump into the canoe. Nothing happened
and we reached the other end of the
lake. There the portage, about two
miles long went right up the meuntain
in order to pass a beautiful! fall, nearly
sixty feet high. As we were heavily
loaded and it was probable that we
should find the next lake frozen, I took
the snowshoes and a stove for our two
loads, leaving the canoe for the second
trip. There was about eight inches of
snow and the going was pretty hard.
When we reached Lake Virginia we
found it partly frozen, and as the nexr
AMERICAN
296
lake was long and narrow, being stel-
tered by high hills, we were sure it
would be frozen too. The place where
we expected to find the men camped
was only five miles away in a straight
line and I decided to push on and join
them and bring back enough men to
take all the baggage up in one load.
It had begun to snow again quite
heavily and as the survey line we
wanted to follow in order to take the
most direct route ran up over a high
cliff we started to go around it. After
travelling about fifteen minutes I saw
what I thought was the creek which
ran out of the next lake above and we
went down so as to find easier walking
on its frozen surface. After following
it for about one hundred yards we
passed a place where the ice was thin
and I noticed that the water was run-
ning the wrong way. ‘This is a very
uncanny sensation in the woods and it
is hard to make one’s self believe the
evidence of one’s senses. I realized
however that in the fog and snow |
had made a circuit and come back to
the very creek from which we had
started. Beginning again and _ with
more care in travelling. we reached the
next lake and ate a couple of hardtack
which we had brought for lunch.
The line we were following went
right up the side of a mountain now
and my companion was travelling so
slowly, not being accustomed to the
woods, that I told him to follow my
trail and I would push on ahead. Com-
ing to a little creek, I saw a grouse and
tried, but without success, to get him
with my pistol. About four o’clock we
reached a small marshy lake and in
crossing it I went through the ice up
to my armpits. Crawling out and on
shore, I stripped off my clothes and
wrung them out as dry as possible and
although they felt pretty chilly, started
off again as we were anxious to reach
the camp before it was too dark. The
going | ‘as very rough and I had to
wait vee times for my man, so that
It was seven when we reached Lac
Crapaud, a small lake about three hun-
dred yards from Grand Lac Chienne,
at the head of which the men were
camped.
PORE SRY.
Crossing the portage to the big lake,
we found it open, so fired several shots
and called, in the hope that some one
in the camp would hear us and come
for us with a canoe. ‘There was quite
a wind blowing and we heard no an-
swer, so started along the shore in the
dark for camp. There was no trail and
the going was very bad. After about
half an hour, however, we reached the
long sandy beach at the head of the
lake and with a sigh of relief went to
the camping place. We had been talk-
ing all afternoon of the supper we
would have, for the cook was famous,
so that you can imagine our surprise
when we found no sign of a camp.
Only the empty fireplace of stones and
the table of rough hewn logs.
I looked everywhere for a note or
some sign to tell us where the men had
moved but there was absolutely noth-
ing, and it was hard to see anything
in the dark. We made up a fire and
built a rough lean-to of boughs, and a
pile of them to sleep on and curled up
close to the fire and were soon asleep.
I woke up after a splendid night's sleep
to find my companion shivering over
the embers of the fire, the poor chap
had not slept a wink and again com-
plained of feeling ill. I sat down on a
log to pull on my boots and as one side
of me seemed rather chillier than the
other I felt of my breeches only to find
that I had slept too close to the fire
and had a hole as big as my two hands
burnt right through my heavy macki-
naws. After making up a good fire I
looked all around for a note or some
sign which might tell us where the
camp was, but in vain. No birch bark
note, as was usual, had been left and
the snow had effectually covered all
tracks.
Food was of course the first consid-
eration and I searched thoroughly to
see if a cache had been left but found
nothing. Then I remembered that on
the western shore of the lake an old
Indian had a tepee where he spent part
of each year hunting and I tramped
around the shore in the snow to it, but
found nothing eatable, only a few old
cooking utensils.
es Ae
S PACK TRAIN IN THE MOUNTAINS II
Y THE SUMMER TIME
A RANGER’
298 AMERICAN
There were two ways that the men
might have gone but either one meant
making the circuit of several large
lakes and the probability was that the
camp would be at least a full day’s trip
had we been able to cross the lakes and
much more than that under present
conditions and no certainty of finding
them at the end of the trip and, in that
case, without food, we should have
been in a bad way. I decided therefore
to return by the way we had come to
Lac Brochet and we reached a wood-
cutter’s camp there about five o'clock
hungry enough to have eaten every-
thing in the shack. It was a filthy
place, about fifteen by twelve feet, with
a stall for a horse across one end, a
couple of bunks, one above the other,
along the side, a rough table, with a
few dirty dishes, in front of the only
window, a pane of glass about fifteen
by twenty-four inches, and a stove and
bench. Being too tired to pitch a camp
we spread our sleeping bags on the
floor beside the horse and were soon
dead to the world.
Next morning we left the stoves,
snowshoes, mail and other things we
had brought for the men, with the job-
bers knowing that the men would send
to a cache nearby for provisions before
very long. Then taking our canoe we
started for home, as my companion re-
fused to undertake the trip up again
and then and there resigned his job.
Our trip down the Chienne river was
quick until we reached the first small
lake and this and the next one we found
completely frozen over. It took us un-
til three in the afternoon to break our
way through these and we reached the
Mattawin River about half past four
and found this frozen too solidly to
admit of any further canoeing.
We thereupon cached our canoe on a
staging built-on four trees and taking
our provisions and_ sleeping bags
started down the river for an old log
camp where we had noticed a stove and
some provisions on the way up. This
we reached, pretty well fagged out
about seven. We found that the stove
we had noticed had no pipe, so turning
It upside down and proping it up on
four stones we made a fire and had
FORESTRY
some supper, losing no time afterwards
in getting into our bags. There was a
small room off the large one with two
bunks in it and my man took the upper
while I spread my bag on the floor.
Some time in the night I was roused by
wild cries of fire, and getting out of my
bag, I found that the stove had gotten
red hot and set fire to the floor which
was burning merrily. We soon had
this out and returned to our couches.
In the morning we congratulated our-
selves that my man had taken the upper
bunk, because the smoke had awakened
him, and right beside the bunks we dis-
covered two full boxes of dynamite.
As it was snowing heavily we spent
the next morning making two small
sleds out of barrel staves so that we
could drag our baggage over the ice
instead of carrying it. Next morning
we crawled across the river, dragging
with us long poles in case the ice should
break and started down. I tried to per-
suade my companion to keep a little
away from the shore where on account
of the shallower water the ice was not
so thick, but he would not and twice
that morning we had to build a fire to
dry him out. We had lunch on the
end of the “Long Portage” and tried
to use our snowshoes in the afternoon
but the snow was very soft and sticky
and my companion, being unaccus-
tomed to them, made very slow prog-
ress. We camped that night about
halfway over and were glad of the rest
for trudging through a foot of snow
with a pack is no fun.
By next morning we had another
three inches of snow and I fairly had
to drive my man out of his blankets.
All day we plodded along making only
about four miles. Soon after break-
fast next morning we reached Lac
Prudent, the end of the portage and
found an old scow frozen in the ice of
the small bay, but the rest of the lake
as far as we could see was open. We
started in to cut out the scow, which
took over two hours as we had to cut
a regular channel through the ice, and
putting our stuff on board we went
down the lake, stopping at a deserted
driver's camp where there was a stove.
Here we had a good supper and a good
ee ee
THROUGH CANADIAN WILDS
RANGER IN CANOE ON THE RIVER MATTAWIN
night’s rest. In the morning we started
with the scow, but the wind was so
strong and our makeshift oars so in-
efficient that it was noon before we
reached the lower bay, and finding this
frozen too thickly to break we stopped
for lunch.
We made a couple of light sleds for
our baggage and skirting the shore, as
the ice was barely thick enough to hold
us, we reached the end of the lake and
crossed the portage, arriving at Lac
Marcotte about four thirty. This had
all frozen over since we crossed it on
the way up and as there was a good
camp just across the bay, about three-
quarters of a mile off we were anxious
to reach it so that we would not have
to pitch the tent. I tried the ice with
a pole and finding it pretty thick cut
several holes with my ax to a point
about one hundred feet from shore and
found it safe. Going back for my
pack, I told my companion to remain
about two hundred feet behind me in
case anything happened and off we
started.
I had gone about six hundred feet
from the place where we went on to
the ice and was about three hundred
feet from the nearest shore when all
of a sudden without any warning the
ice seemed to give way in all directions
dropping me into the freezing water. I
was dragging my sleeping bag on a sled
and this was floating near me. I swam
to the edge of the ice nearest to the
shore and tried very carefully to get
up on it, but it was too thin. I tried
this in several places, breaking the ice
in front of me toward shore in the
hope of finding a place where it would
bear me. I had called to my man as
soon as I went in and he had gone
back to shore and cut a long pole which
he slid out to me. This | placed across
the narrowest part of the break and
got almost out on the ice when it broke
again and down I went headfirst into
the water. I was getting so chilled now
that I could hardly swim so I made for
my sleeping bag and with that to hold
me up swam to the ice nearest shore.
Sliding the bag under my chest I tried
to work myself out on to the ice and
got my whole body on it with only my
feet on the bag and was just congratu-
lating myself on my success when the
CLIMB
TO
1D
HAV
Ss
1D
SOMETIM
RANGERS
vol
THE FORE
RAIL
T
THROUGH CANADIAN WIEDS
301
A FRENCH CANADIAN JOBBER
ice gave way again and down I went.
On coming up I was so numb that I
took a turn of my tump line around my
body in case I should lose conscious-
ness. I did not know how I was ever
going to get out and was childishly an-
gry at not being able to, and at the
thought of having to drown.
Twice my man had started out on the
ice after me but I had made him go
back, realizing that if he went in we
should both drown. I called to him to
cut a long, dry pole and to tie three
tump lines to it and slide it out to me.
I got hold of this and lying on my bag
and breaking the ice in front of me he
drew me to a point where the ice was
thick enough to crawl on. By now,
twenty-five minutes after my first
plunge, I was very numb and to cap the
climax when he came out to help me,
about fifteen feet from shore we both
went in again, but fortunately only up
to our chests. After getting out I com-
pletely lost consciousness but he told
me that I could walk and insisted on
going back to the camp where we had
spent the night before and he had to
forcibly drag me on shore.
When I came to I was sitting naked
on a log in the snow being rubbed with
a dish towel. He had some dry under-
wear in his duffle bag and this we put
on and as [| had had all the matches
and they were of course wet, we
gnawed a piece of hard tack and both
crawled into his sleeping bag. At least
half a dozen times in the night he
waked me up, saying “for God’s sake
let me turn over.”
When we woke in the morning our
clothes were frozen solid and my
breeches were standing up just as
though there was a man inside of them.
Having slept with the matches under
my armpit they were quite dry and we
soon had a good fire and some break-
fast, although as most of the provisions
were in my pack, we had to be satisfied
with corn meal mush and some bacon.
The night had been cold and the scene
of the accident was completely frozen
over and we cautiously craw'ed out and
chopped out my sleeping bag and pack.
My ax and camera with all my pic-
tures had sunk. We crossed the bay
and finding the rest of the lake open
had to skirt the shore, reaching the de-
pot about three in the afternoon none
the worse for the adventure.
FOREST WASTE CAUSES FAMINE
By PRESIDENT JOHN T. PROCTER
Baptist College, Shanghai
which millions are suffering, is
largely traceable to the wasting
of the forests. One of the most hor-
rible tragedies of the world might have
been prevented by the careful use cf
these resources.
“China’s hills and mountains are de-
forested. This is particularly true in
the hilly country drained by the Yangste
river, whose valley comprises the
stricken district. The river brings the
soil down with it. That is the reason
why we have the Yellow sea. For three
hundred miles out from land the ocean
is discolored by the silt brought down
by the Yangste. The hills are washed
bare of soil. There is some hunting in
these hills, but the animals live among
the brush. For want of better fuel the
natives burn this brush.
‘Ge ree life-sapping famine, in
“Last August the Yangste over-
flowed and flooded about 40,000 acres
of densely populated territory. This
flood placed a population of 3,000,000
in want. In fifty years there has not
been such another flood. Some of the
victims have been drowned out for two
consecutive years, some three years,
some four years. They not only have
lost food, they have lost hope.
“Much of the land that was inun-
dated is at sea level. It is drained by
the most intricate system of canals in
the world. I know of one city of 30,-
000 which is surrounded by canals.
There are no roads to it, because a road
could not go half a mile without touch-
ing a canal. There are not even foot-
paths. The people make their way to
and from the city in boats. This is
their only means of communication.”
The movement for a woods products exposition in the United \States is daily receiving
encouragement and the outlook now is that one will be held within a short time.
At such
an exposition a great and varied line of manufactured lumber goods could be exhibited and
an opportunity given for a very comprehensive exploitation of lumber and its manufactures.
Assistant District Forester A. C. McCain, who has been attending to matters relative
to the division of the Humboldt National Forest, has returned to his station at Lamoille,
Nevada.
F, N. Haines, formerly supervisor of the Blackfeet National Forest, has been endorsed
for the position of Superintendent of Glacier Park, succeeding the late Major W. R. Logan,
according to a dispatch from Kalispell, Mont.
Lhe Bavarian Government has given much attention to fruit growing, a decree having
been issued as early as 1769 requiring all land owners to plant fruit trees along the public
highways bordering their estates. The systematic planting of such trees was begun about
the middle of the last century. The value of fruit trees in Bavaria is now estimated at
$170,000,000.
302
FORESTRY WORK AT SOUTHERN COMMERICAL
CONGRESS
ie forestry problems were
handled at the Southern Com-
mercial Congress recently held in
Nashville. One involved the question
of the management of large holdings of
forest lands, and was considered at a
conference with lumbermen. The other
considered the farm forest and its rela-
tion to the farm and farmer. The lum-
bermen’s conference was presided over
by Mr. H: S. Graves, Forester of the
U. S. Department of Agriculture. In
addition to many of the largest lumber-
men from some of the Southern States,
there were present the State foresters
of Wisconsin and New Jersey.
The dominant subject considered at
the conference was the protection of
forest lands, and especially of cut-over
forest lands, from fire. ‘The systems in
use in several of the Northeastern and
Lake States were discussed, and their
applicability to Southern conditions;
the cost of forest-fire protection; the
relation of land owners, the local com-
munity, and the State to protection, and
the distribution of the cost were all con-
sidered. It was shown that if protec-
tion could be secured, cut-over forest
lands could be made a profitable invest-
ment for the production of timber. A
great portion of the cut-over land is
suitable for farming. It is possible,
however, to produce a merchantable
crop of young timber upon it before the
labor conditions will permit its utiliza-
tion for farming purposes.
Resolutions were adopted which
called attention to the importance of the
forest industries of the South. These
industries, with their dependent indus-
tries, give employment to more than
400,000 men and yield annual products
which amount to one billion dollars.
The permanency of these industries is
threatened on account of the unpro-
ductivity of the cut-over land which is
largely the result of fires. The legis-
latures of the several Southern States
were requested to appoint legislative
committees to investigate the forest con-
ditions and problems and to confer with
committees of other States relative to
desirable and uniform legislation hav-
ing for its object the protection of for-
est lands from fire, the reduction of
waste, and the adoption of methods of
increasing the earning capacity of for-
est land. It was further urged that the
States should make provision both for
popular and technical education of
farmers and other land owners in the
methods of protecting and developing
their forest land.
The farm forest meeting, which was
conducted under the auspices of the
U. S. Forest Service, was participated
in by W. W. Ashe, Forest ‘Service;
Prof. Alfred Akerman, of Athens, Ga. ;
and Prof. J. A. Ferguson, of Columbia,
Mo.
Planting forest trees on waste farm
land was discussed by Prof. Akerman.
He laid special stress on the choice of a
species adapted to the site and the re-
turns which can be expected from such
plantations.
The management of old timber was
discussed by Prof. Ferguson. He took
up the necessity for making improve-
ment cuttings in old stands, as well as
liberation cuttings and reproduction cut-
tings, and the great opportunity that
the farmer has for carrying on such
work.
W. W. Ashe discussed methods of
increasing the earning value of timber
lands. With fire protection assured so
as to preserve the fertility of the forest
soil, the greatest returns must be ex-
pected from the management of young
timber. Asa rule the growth of stands
of old timber is slow, or the stands are
even stationary. Young stands respond
to thinnings by making greatly ac-
celerated growth. These thinnings
should be so made as to concentrate the
vigor of the soil in a comparatively few
303
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306 AMERICAN
choice and thrifty trees. Such thin
stands of second-growth pine, chestnut,
red oaks, yellow poplar, and cotton-
wood will produce from 590 to 1,009
board feet of merchantable tuuber per
acre a year. . It is: dest=ble™toadeter
cutting young timber until the maxi-
mum yield per acre can be secured. It
is equally as desirable to cut it before it
has become old and its rate of growth
has declined.
MR. GRAVES’ ADDRESS
In opening the lumbermen’s confer-
ence Mr. Graves made an address upon
the problems which are to be considered
in the South. He said:
“In any consideration of the indus-
trial development of the South, the
problems which stand out as most im-
portant are those connected with agri-
culture and forestry. We have met in
this spectral conference to discuss for-
estry, a subject most intimately related
in many ways to agriculture, but which
is of such great importance in itself
that it deserves separate consideration.
“The South is favored with climate
and soil especially advantageous both
for agriculture and for the production
of forests. The original forest was
characterized not only by trees of large
size but by a great variety of species of
peculiarly high quality and of value for
widely diversified uses. The hardwood
forests were unmatched in any land and
the products of the coniferous forests
now have a world-wide use.
“It is unnecessary for me to remind
you of the important role played by the
resources of the forest in the industrial
upbuilding of the South. Suffice it to
recall that the cut of lumber aggregates
some 24 billion feet a year, or over half
of that used in the entire nation. In
addition to the lumber interests, other
industries, such as the production of
turpentine and rosin, the manufacture
of wood pulp and paper, cooperage,
tanning material, furniture, wooden
ware, wagons and carriages, and the in-
dustries connected with wood distilla-
tion and wood preservation, bring the
value of the products of the forests to-
day to upwards of 550 million dollars.
Louisiana stands now second in the
FORESTRY
production of lumber, being exceeded
only by the State of Washington, while
Mississippi, North Carolina, Arkansas,
Virginia, and Texas follow in the order
named, all leading the principal North-
ern and Western timbered States. I am
told that the lumber industry of the
South employs some 217,000 persons,
and that the allied industries require
over 200,000 more. We are therefore
dealing with a problem of gigantic pro-
portions and one which because of its
magnitude is not of local importance
merely but touches the welfare of the
entire nation, and calls for the nation’s
full recognition.
“Originally the forests of the South
covered over 220 million acres. The
process of clearing land for agriculture
began early in our history and extended
rapidly throughout many sections of the
South, so that today the total forest
area has been reduced to some 150
million acres. This great area com-
prises a large amount of land which is
susceptible of agricultural development
as the forest is removed. It is of vital
importance to the South that the land
suitable to agriculture be devoted to
that purpose and just as rapidly as pos-
sible be actually used for the growing
of crops. That is the problem of those
promoting the development of practical
and scientific agriculture. There is,
however, a vast area of land, some of
it in great blocks in the mountains and
elsewhere, and some in small patches
within the agricultural areas, which is
suited only to the growth of trees. It
is estimated that this aggregates some
100 million acres. The problem of for-
estry concerns primarily this area,
which is of such a character that it
should be continued in productive use
for growing timber.
FORESTS AND FLOODS
“From an economic standpoint we
must recognize that forests render
service to the public not only through
the production of timber for use and
the maintenance of important industries
engaged in the manufacture of these
products. In the case of many forests
important benefits are derived from
their action in preventing erosion and
A THING OF BEAUTY AND A JOY FOREVER—IF THE HEADWATERS
ARE PROTECTED
VNITIOUVO HLYUON ‘NAxXO AG AVMAUALVM AHL OL S907 IJNITAVH “LSHwod NVIHOVIVddV NI UVIdOd dIINL ONIDDOT
FORESTRY WORK AT SOUTHERN COMMERCIAL CONGRESS 309
tending to maintain the regularity of
stream flow. A great deal of confusion
has been prevalent regarding these
functions of the forest. Many persons
point to great floods like those we are
now having and insist that forests have
nothing whatever to do with the con-
trol of water. This is as absurd as
would be a statement that forests abso-
lutely prevent large floods. My time
does not suffice to enter on this subject
in detail, but I wish to say this in re-
gard to the influence of forests on run-
off of water: There are many factors
controlling run-off, of which the vege-
tative cover is one. Forests do exer-
cise a powerful influence on the distri-
bution of water after it falls, and do
tend to regulate the flow of rivers. This
is, however, only one factor and may be
and often is entirely overbalanced by
other factors like long continued rain-
fall or sudden thawing of snow in the
mountains. The Geological Survey is
developing some very important and in-
teresting facts regarding the influence
of forests on erosion in the South,
which I hope may be brought out in
this meeting.
“We have, then, in the South vast
forest resources; they are being ex-
ploited rapidly and their products are
contributing enormously to the produc-
tion of w ealth i In many parts of the na-
tion. Our problem touches the method
of handling these great resources. Are
the forests being dev eloped in a way to
benefit the South permanently ?
“The bulk of what is put on the mar-
ket is from timber 150 years old and
upwards. ‘That is, we are still drawing
mainly on the original supply and only
locally from second growth timber. In
the main no effort is being made to re-
place the old stock as it is cut. The
cutting takes place without reference to
a new crop of trees and we still have
that greatest enemy of the forest, fire.
which not only damages standing tim-
ber to a greater extent than is common-
ly believed, but also kills the young tim-
ber and prevents the establishment of
new growth. At present the supply of
timber in the South is rapidly being
diminished without replacement. More.
over, the forest fires are primarily re-
sponsible for the damage resulting from
erosion and disturbance of stream-flow
in the mountains. This then is the
situation: That the forests will not
continue to serve the South as they are
now serving it and could under better
conditions be made to serve it perpetu-
ally. Unless there is a correction of
these conditions the supply of products
will not be maintained, local industries
will decline, or vanish, land values will
be permanently reduced, and the bene-
Cd
FP
LARGE WHITE OAK IN. A HOLLOW
BELOW A CLIFFWIND. COVE,
JACKSON COUNTY, KY.
fits arising from the mere existence of
well managed forests will be lost, with
unfortunate results.
FOREST PROBLEM EASY
“On the other hand, there is an
enormous area of land suited only for
ND CULTIVATED WITHOUT
RICULTURI
L
IN APPALACHIAN REGION,
“DEADENING”
FURTHER
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ATHERING CRUD RESIN PROM, WHICH “TURPENIINE, IS DISTILLED, CUP AND
GUTTER SYSTEM, LONG LEAF PINE FOREST, FLORIDA
312 AMERICAN FORESTRY
forest growth. The South is endowed
with species which grow with great
rapidity. Conditions of climate are such
that natural reproduction occurs with
-tremendous vigor if only given a
chance. There is no region except the
far Northwest where forestry is so sim-
ple and the results so sure. Actual es-
timates show that it is entirely practical
to secure from the area which should
be permanently in forest fully 24 billion
feet in the long run, by growth, if the
forest is properly handled. Much of
this area is in the mountains and the
very management for timber produc-
tion will secure the indirect benefits of
the forest. We must definitely answer
the question whether the South will
continue for all time to furnish the na-
tion with 20 to 30 billion feet of tim-
ber, with all that is meant by such a
continuous production of wealth, or
will give up this opportunity. I[ am
stating no new or unfamiliar facts.
Year after year we gather in different
conventions and restate this problem
and dwell on its importance. Year after
year the problem becomes a more criti-
cal one to the country.
“To-day we come together again to
discuss it in the hope that we may ar-
rive at some definite program which
will lead to positive results.
“No one appreciates better than I
the practical difficulties in the way of
bringing about the desired end. No
one appreciates better than | that it can
not be accomplished at once. | do main-
tain that it can be accomplished to the
full extent of the results I have sug-
gested, and even more. My great ob-
ject is to see a beginning made which
will actually lead to the final goal.
“The main difficulty has been that ef-
forts have been scattered and individ-
ual. We should appreciate that our ef-
forts must be organized and all agencies
which can contribute to the work must
be brought into effective cooperation.
“The greatest obstacle in the way of
forestry is forest fires. This enemy can
never be mastered except by organized
effort. With the fires mastered the rest
is comparatively easy. We must there-
fore, with all our forces, national, State,
and private, endeavor to overcome the
fire menace. How this is to be accom-
plished will be brought out at this con-
vention. The public must aid in the
matter of a uniform, consistent, and
sane system of taxation which will en-
able the owners to foresee the changes
against their enterprise in the future.
Private owners must accept their re-
sponsibilities as trustees of a great nat-
ural resource and handle their property
in a way which will build up and not
injure the interests of the State. Just
what should be done and what can be
done in practice? Where shall we be-
gin and what is the first step? ‘This is
now before this conference to discuss,
and it is my confident hope that some
definite, clear-cut conclusions can be
Teachedsis =m
In a short time W. N.
Millar, superintendent of the Kaniksu National Forest of the
first district, will resign to become forest inspector of the Dominion Government forestry
bra nch
pe
presentative Warburton, of Washington, has introduced a bill for the sale of timber
Ouinaelit Indian Reservation, in Washington, the proceeds to go toward the con-
f a road into and through a part of the reservation.
he Senate has passed the bill already passed by the House, and fathered by Repre-
entative Pary, of Montana, authorizing the sale of burnt timber on public lands, under
regulations of the Interior Department.
RAISING DEER ON FOREST PRESERVES
3y PERCIVAL 9.
is now of not much practical use,
may soon be made to return an
indirect revenue as a feeding ground
for domestic American elk, ee tailed
deer, red deer, fallow deer, roebuck or
any other members of the deer family.
This condition is contingent upon the
passage of a bill by the Maryland State
legislature authorizing the raising and
selling of these deer in enclosed pre-
serves by the owners of tracts of forest
land.
The idea is to raise deer for the mar-
ket, and as there is fine feeding and
plenty of it on the cut over forest lands
of the State, much of which may read-
ily be enclosed with wire fences, and as
the flesh is good eating and good prices
may be commanded for it, there is
every indication that, if the bill passes
the legislature, the project will prove
successful.
The plan originated with Mr. Wil-
liam M. Ellicott of Baltimore who has
hunted big game in the United States,
Mexico and Canada and who has been
interested in learning of conditions in
Europe where the markets are well sup-
plied with venison and other game from
private preserves and breeding estab-
lishments. He is enthusiasticall, in
favor of the plan and is doing what he
can to secure the passage of the bill.
Mr. Ellicott in talking of the pro-
posed law said: “At first sight this
scems to be a matter of only ordinary
interest, but when it is realized that the
deer as a wild animal has become prac-
tically extinct in Maryland and _ that
only occasionally is venison seen in our
markets, and this at almost prohibitive
prices, it will be clear that a great ben-
efit may be conferred upon the com-
munity and that an industry of com-
mercial importance, heretofore un-
jeune land in Maryland, which
RIDSDALE
known in the State, may be established
if it becomes a law.
“The deprivation of the public in the
matter of venison as a part of the regu-
lar dietary is altogether unnecessary
and unreasonable. While wild game
should be amply protected and means
provided for its propagation, it has been
amply proved that a large population
cannot be kept supplied from that
source, and it is reasonable and proper
that States where it exists should pro-
hibit its export and sale, as is the case
now inall the Eastern States.
THE BUSINESS WOULD BE PROFITABLE
“The sale of game .bred and main-
tained in inclosures from stock which
has been legitimately acquired is a to-
tally Giorent matter and should be en-
couraged to the fullest extent.
“Both official and unofficial reports
go to show that several varieties of deer
can be profitably raised; that they re-
quire less care and subsist upon rougher
food than any of the domestic animals
except the goat, and that their value
for food purposes ranks with the best
beef and mutton.
“Breeding stock can be had at pres-
ent at very low prices—$15 to $25 for
deer and $20 to $75 for elk (Wapiti)
as opportunity affords. According to
Farmers’ Bulletin No. 330, of, the
United States Department of Agricul-
ture, the most available source of sup-
ply is the surplus from private herds,
zoological gardens and parks.
“The roughest waste lands with a
plentiful growth of underbrush, weeds,
etc., and running water are best suited
to the enterprise. Deer prefer to brouse
on scrub growth and to eat the coarsest
weeds rather than the best of hay.
When pasture is limited they do well
on corn, oats, wild hay and alfalfa.
WHA
REG
VINIOUIA V
ry
Aid
A HERD OF RED DEER
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318 AMERICAN FORESTRY
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PAPER COMPANY’S FORESTRY PRACTICE
By B. A. CHANDLER
Assistant State Forester of Vermont
HE Champlain Realty Company
which is a land holding company
of the International Paper Com-
pany is taking a very progressive stand
in forestry in Vermont. It 1s carrying
on three main lines oi work; fire pro-
tection, nursery and planting work, and
marking their timber for cutting.
The fire protection work consists of
cooperation with the State in every pos-
sible way and in independent patrol
work.
Their planting policy is very progres-
sive. For the last eight or ten years
the Company has been buying aban-
doned farms which were coming up to
spruce and hardwoods. It is esti-
mated that it has at present about 10-
000 acres of open land to be planted
connected with these farms. Besides
there will probably be about 100 acres
each year cut over where it will be
impossible to get natural reproduction.
For the past three years including
this coming spring, it has purchased
and planted about 100,000 Norway
spruce in Vermont. It maintams a
nursery at Randolph, Vermont, irom
trees yearly. The present stock im this
nursery is estimated as follows: 75,000
Norway spruce, 1 year transplants;
seedlings. The Company expects there-
fore from this nursery in the spring of
1913, 450,000 transplants. It will prob-
bly 1 irs before this nursery
tii ranarc
7 = ¢ — ava
ull capacity of 1,500-
aDdir
ois
VCa
1,560,0 plants will plant 1,240
acres. Substracting irom this the 100
acres added each year by clear cutting,
leaves 1,140 acres of land to be planted
yearly. s it will take about nine
320
and what will probably be cut clear in
this time.
MARKING WORK
The policy as mapped out by the
Company is to have all the timber cut
in Vermont marked, using a 12” diame-
ter limit as a guide in the marking, with
the idea of cutting over this same land
again in fifty years. This marking is
being done under the general direction
of the State forester’s office.
There are two very general types oi
tree-growth in this region: mixed hard-
woods with scattered spruce, and pure
spruce. The pure spruce may be fur-
ther divided into ridgetops and spruce
slopes. A few sections were so heavily
culled in former years that nothing can
be done now but to cut clean and plant.
In the more imaccessible valleys which
have never been cut over, it is possible
to do more. Even here, however. the
lower slopes are usually covered with
mixed hardwoods and scathed spruce
type. where it will be impossible to get
spruce reproduction until market con-
ditions permit the cutting of the hard-
woods at a profit. It has been the aim
in this type to move all the trees that
will make growth enough between now
and the next cut to earn a good rate of
interest on the money invested in them
at present stumpage values. In doing
this the diameter limit has been only a
very rough guide. All trees below the
limit which showed signs of disease,
injury by porcupines, or had such poor
crowns that they would never recover
and make good growth, were cut. All
rapid growing trees. above the limit
were saved. In this hardwood type the
wind is not a very important factor for
it occupies the lower slopes and the
hardwoods protect the spruce. Al
though no especial attempt was made
PAPER COMPANY’S FORESTRY PRACTICE 321
to get spruce reproduction under the
hard 1 lly where it looks as
-onditions would not warrant
nditions would net warrant
cut within the next fity
pruce being left to seed up the
i to seed up the whole area if
the hardwoods should ever be cut.
DIFFICULTIES OF THE WORK
situated at higher elevation
in growth for the next
years but to get spruce reproduc-
t is impossible to leave individual
standing alone for the
wind will
The system finally
Bios fem ee
DiOW them Over.
INJURED BY THIS FUNGUS
worked out consisted of leaving groups
of seed trees distributed where possi-
ble, so that no part of the clear cut area
between the groups is over three or
four tree heights from a group. As
far as possible these groups were com-
posed of the type of trees that were left
in the mixed hardwoods and scattered
spruce type.
The principal difficulty in getting this
kind of work done is not with the lead-
ing men of the Company, but with the
contractors, camp bosses and choppers.
The bosses even tried to fool the mark-
different occasions and
al of the groups of seed trees were
by roads being swamped
through them when the markers were
not there. It was almost impossible to
oppers to drop diseased trees
which were not worth removing from
woods. In the Company’s camps
more effective work was done than in
the contractors’ camps and some of the
oa
Oy
18)
BHCAUSTS
)
START
VO BY CUT CIRAN
MARIKWD
KRU PRODUCTION ALRUADY
~-
<—
s
~
THIS GROUP
IPLWNDID St
IN
4
‘
THY SPRUCTS
PAPER COMPANY’S FORESTRY PRACTICE 323
A TYPICAL LUMBER CAMP OF THE INTERNATIONAL PAPER CO. IN THE GREEN
MOUNTAINS
Company's bosses codperated with the definte grades with definite knowledge
markets in every way. of what grade gets log r
ificulties show that besides CUC4Pest with tie te a
t = = = 1 =
the timber for cutting we must ©” the teams. These roads will be lo-
reorganize our logging operations if we C4 $3
pect to accomplish the best results. ©
Under the present system all the har- 2
By - ris i PE SE SE SS
; done by oorly paid men. Third. This new ty pe OT DOSS W ill
he lumber companies of the be am expert in every part of
hs
m ©
er
fom
c
QO
=
feet
i)
Lent |
(at)
bt
mM
,
fat
\
r
er ©
Mm
er
oO
| soon
fae
om
et
ted
;
ae - - - = ——_ ee Lmowin 2 it a zit
past have been right in this policy, for 00. not only knowing all the old efi
= Selo => Sas RY LAG hy Re ee ee) ear ee
stumpage was not valuable enough and ‘“ient methods but continually thinking
stumpage was not val ougl eves a s
> ae 25 1 ges ee = Scots i Sere eee Sa a
labor was cheap enough so that a little © nd learning irom other people new
waste did not count e
or
THE NEW STYLE OF CAMP BOssS
Ss Man
estry pomt of view, having as much
interest in the future crop of timber as
in the present cut and will know what
should be left for the next crop.
must know how much
road ought to Gost an
given week runs too
Second. He will locate his roads on o know the
Oo
eo
ame
Of course a detail cost keeping system
will be necessary.
Those of us who look forward to
some such system as outlined above
must realize that it cannot be put into
operation at once nor will it be per-
fected in ten or twenty years.
The man we want must get the for-
estry point of view and the funda-
mental principles of his work in some
undergraduate school or some ranger
school where the course is shaped for
him, and his woods training under the
best woods bosses we now have. Some
of the brightest young fellows in our
camps today will probably make the
best men, if they will get the necessary
education.
IDEAL SPRUCE LEFT FOR SEED PRODUC.
TION AND GROWTH. NOTE SYMMETRI-
CAL, THRIFTY TOP, ALSO THE OTHER
SPRUCE LEFT AFTER LUMBERING BY
PHAETTA TATANTAT AY 6 oT maT, a Fs
AMERICAN FORESTRY
HICKORY BARK BORER
By: 2h aP eer
State Entomologist of New York
HE pernicious hickory bark borer
has already destroyed thousands
of magnificent trees in Central
and Eastern New York. ‘he inner
bark of many of the affected trees con-
tains stout, white grubs, about one-
quarter of an inch long, which will de-
velop into beetles from the last of June
to the last of July. These insects, in
the natural order of events, will con-
tinue their nefarious work, and numer-
ous other trees will succumb.
It is extremely important that all in-
fested hickories, especially those show-
ing only particles of brown or white
sawdust in the crevices of the bark and
the characteristic working of the in-
sects within, should be located and the
infested bark destroyed before the end
of May. Such trees are more danger-
ous to the welfare of adjacent living
hickories than others, which may be
fairly peppered with the numerous exit
holes, appearing as though they had
been made with No. 8 buckshot. ‘The
borings of this pest in the inner bark
are very characteristic, there being
longitudinal galleries 1 to 1% inches
long, about one-eighth of an inch in
diameter, and with numerous fine,
transverse galleries arising therefrom
and gradually spreading out somewhat
fan-shaped.
There is only one thing to do in the
case of a serious infection, such as that
indicated by dying trees or branches.
All badly infested trees or portions of
trees should be cut and the bark at least
burned before the following June, in
order to prevent the grubs from ma-
turing and changing to beetles, which
may continue the work in previously
uninfested trees. It is especially desir-
able to locate the hickories which have
died wholly or in part the last sum-
mer, because they contain living grubs.
General codperation over an extended
area in the cutting out of infested trees
and burning of the bark, as indicated,
will do much to check this nefarious
pest. It. is essential’ to / destroy. the
grubs in the bark by fire or by sub-
mersion in water before the date given.
This does not make it impossible to
utilize the timber and most of the fire-
pay tae (ee: Vey Ts
A Se |
NURSERY AND PLANTING TOOLS
3y Wo. H. Mast
Gunnison National Forest
HE stupendous problem of re-
( foresting the immense areas of
barren potential forest land with-
in and outside our State and National
Forests is causing many a student of
forestry to knit his brow in deep study
with the hope of discovering some suc-
cessful method of rapidly clothing these
vast unproductive areas with green
thrifty trees.
We have two courses of action out-
lined for us. One is reforestation by
direct seeding and the other by plant-
ing. Experiments so far indicate that
success by the former will be restricted
to the most favorable sites and be se-
cured on these only when seasonal con-
ditions are favorable. There are, how-
ever, many large areas where planting
will be the only manner by which a
forest cover can be secured. But plant-
ing by the best methods we now know
is costly and rather slow, therefore any
device tending to cheapen production
of nursery stock, facilitate transporta-
tion, and make possible extensive and
successful planting work will be re-
garded with favor. The following de-
scription of some devices which have
been used advantageously may assist
those who are trying for more efficient
methods along these lines.
DRILL BOARD
By broadcast sowing the distribution
of seed is such that the best utilization
of plant food and soil moisture is se-
cured for the seedlings, but drill sow-
ing is especially advantageous because
of the lessened injury to the root sys-
tems of the seedlings in digging, and
because of the time-saving effected in
taking up the seedlings.
drills are not generally satisfactory for
use in coniferous nurseries.
For hand work a heavy board with
cleats 1-2 to 3-4 inches wide and prop-
Machine seed.
erly spaced is used. One for making
12 drills 8 inches apart is the best I
have seen.
SEED TROUGH
For distributing seed in drills the
writer has, since 1904, used a small
trough. It is made of 2 six-inch boards
beveled on one edge and hinged to-
gether as shown. Made in this way it
balances when set in the drill. The
sower.can cast the seeds against one of
the broad sides and as they roll to the
bottom of the trough they distribute
themselves very evenly. If narrow
boards are used it 1s necessary to carry
the hand directly over the trough as
the seeds are dropped. ‘This makes
slower work and it is much more diff-
cult to get an even distribution. When
seedbeds are 4 feet wide or wider two
men usually work on opposite sides of
the bed, each scattering seed from his
end to the middle of the trough.
For securing an equal amount of
seed in each drill it is best to use a
small measure. A paper shotgun shell
which may be cut down until it holds
just the desired number of seeds, is
very convenient. Seed sown in drills
in this manner is best covered by sift-
ing soil over it, using an ordinary sand
sieve of 4% inch mesh.
For maintaining even moisture and
heat conditions during germination leaf
mold or straw is commonly used.
Where these are not obtainable burlap
may be spread on the beds and sprinkled
frequently.
SHADING
Both high and low shade frames are
in use, some nurserymen preferring the
low while others prefer the high frame.
A simple low shade frame devised by
the writer for use at the Halsey Nur-
325
AMERICAN FORESTRY
WOVEN SLATTING CRATES USED FOR A SHIPMENT OF FIVE THOUSAND TRANSPLANTS
TO A RANGER
sery, Nebraska National Forest, is very
satisfactory where protection from
rodents is unnecessary. It consists of
slatting in 50-foot rolls stretched over
a track of 1x2’s. A row of 2x2 stakes
on each side of the bed supports the
track 12 to 14 inches above the sur-
face of the bed. If the bed is curbed
the stakes are placed just inside the
curbing and the 1x2’s nailed to the
inner sides of the stakes. When weed-
ing the slatting is loosened at one end
and rolled back, the track serving to
steady the laborer and making it un-
necessary for him to put one hand
down in the bed when leaning over at
work.
STORAGE
When coniferous seedlings are dug
for ‘tr: ansnlaiale or when ‘transplants
are taken up for field planting it some-
times becomes necessary to hold large
numbers in storage for a greater or less
length of time while the planting is in
progress. To do this without injury to
the stock it is important that provision
be made to prevent rapid transpiration
lest the equilibrium in the moisture con-
tent of the plant be disturbed and its
vitality seriously reduced.
Heeling-in is a common practice, but
if there is not space for this in the
storage house and it must be done out-
side the plants should be covered with
a thick blanket of straw or other mulch
supported on slatting a few inches
above the tops of the trees. This
method of covering permits a free cir-
culation of air for the tops, but keeps
them from warming up enough in the
middle of the day to cause “forcing.”
In 1908, when handling a very large
number of coniferous seedlings at the
Halsey Nursery, I found that good re-
sults could be obtained from stacking
NURSERY AND PLANTING TOOLS B27
INTERIOR OF
SEEDLINGS STORAGE
COUNTY:
trees in cylindrical piles, roots to the
center, as shown in the accompanying
illustration. In this method of piling a
liberal supply of moist sphagnum be-
tween layers of roots prevents them
from drying out, and the tops to the
outside, occupying a circle of larger cir-
cumference than that occupied by the
roots, have adequate air space and are
not likely to mold or mildew. It is
desirable, of course, to place these
stacks in a storage shed where a moist
atmosphere can be maintained and the
temperature held down.
Where tall stacks are to be built
shelves should be fastened to the center
post about every 2 feet to prevent the
pressure from becoming too great on
the lower layers.
NURSERY BOXES
Where nurseries are so situated that
trees can be taken up and hauled direct
to the plantation the same day they are
HOUSE,
HALSEY PLANTING STATION, THOMAS
NEBRASKA
planted and where seedlings are being
dug and moved immediately to trans-
planting areas tight boxes 3 feet long
and 2 feet wide are convenient for the
temporary packing necessary. These
boxes should be padded inside with bur-
lap or with burlap over sphagnum.
They should also contain several pads
fastened at one end to the bottom of
the box. ‘The pads separate successive
layers of trees. These boxes should be
provided with handles as shown in the
illustration.
SHIPPING CRATES
For railroad shipment an extremely
strong, yet light shipping crate can be
mé ade. by forming four boards 1x4x14
inches into a square for the ends and
nailing woven slatting onto them for
the sides. The center of the crate may
be lined with burlap to assist the sphag-
num in excluding air from the roots,
while the open ends of the box allow
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THE
to the bottom of the shoe serves to
hold it to an even depth.
With a strong slope from the nose
to the top of the shoe in front, roots
and trash in the soil that are not
severed when the shoe strikes them are
inclined to be raised above it and then
slide off at one side of the beam with-
out injuring the trench. The length of
the shoe is such as to cause the sides
of the trench to be sufficiently troweled
to make them stand up until the planter
comes along to put in the trees. The
use of a short shoe results in the trench
caving down and half filling in many
places almost immediately after the
trencher has passed. ;
The trencher is drawn by 3 horses
and in its use in the Nebraska and
Kansas Forests the trench is usually
AMERICAN FORESTRY
PLOW WITH TRENCHER FOLLOWING
made in a furrow turned with a side-
hill or ordinary plow. A man with
planting basket follows the trencher and
puts trees into the trench being careful
to have the roots well extended toward
the bottom. As the crowns of the trees
are brought to the proper height the
planter sets his foot at a slight angle
to the trench caving the side in against
the roots. Men with long handled
tampers follow setting the soil firmly
against the trees and closing the trench
between the trees to reduce the chance
of evaporation. A gang of 10 to 15
men is required to keep up with the
trencher and can plant from 12 to 20
thousand trees per day. The trencher
was first used on the Nebraska Forest
in 1909, and more extensively in 19m@
and Gade
RoE 3B
branch of
senedict, Forest Service Inspector,
"forestry of the Province of British Columbia.
has resigned and will take a position in the
The first work that he wall under-
take will be that of organizing the forest fire patrol, after which he will help to organize
other branches of
the forestry department of that province.
)
NEAR THI
19
TTLE
TASHINGTON
I
ABOUT §
r
cr
RSITY
Y FORE
NIVE
THE
4
:)
OT
R
ARACTE
CH
OF W
)
U
FORESTRY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
N accordance with the diversified
I needs of the State the University
of Washington has the Colleges
of Liberal Arts, Engineering, Forestry,
Pharmacy, and Mines and the School
of Law. The College of Agriculture is
distinct from the University and has its
own governing board. The forests of
Washington and the Pacific Coast gen-
erally are the most magnificent in the
world. Nowhere else is the yield per
acre so large nor the rate of growth in
the forest as a whole so rapid. The
past rapid development of the North-
west Coast region is directly attribut-
able to its immense forest wealth.
Forestry in Washington is in many
respects as important as agriculture.
Up to the present the products of the
forests have been more important than
the products of fields, farms, and mines
combined. The State of Washington
ranks first of all the United States in
the production of lumber. Oregon
ranks ninth. ‘Together the two states
produce about 12 per cent of all the
lumber manufactured in the country.
In addition Washington produces more
than 65 per cent of all the shingles
manufactured in the country.
Because much of the land of these
States is unsuited to the production
either of agricultural crops or of stock,
forest products will always be the basis
for some of the most important indus-
tries. It has been estimated by Forest
Service officials that ultimately 50 per
cent of all the lumber manufactured in
the country will originate in a few of
the Western States. Washington has
now more than 12 million acres in per-
manent National Forests, the State it-
self has several hundred thousand acres
of land, much of it heavily timbered
and over six million acres of forested
lands are owned or controlled by lum-
ber companies. In addition to the lands
in public forests, much of the land
privately owned will always be more
important in the production of timber
than of any other crop. It is a matter
99¢
332
of note that Washington and Oregon
alone contain about one-third of the
standing timber in the United States
today.
In providing instruction in forestry
the State of Washington has thus
opened the way for training some of its
young men to work in one of its most
important fields of industry, to help
solve some of the many problems the
community will be called upon to solve
in the future. With a distinct feeling
of the need of instruction in forestry in
the Northwest and particularly in
Washington the College of Forestry
was established in 1907.
ORGANIZATION AND CURRICULUM
The original purpose of the depart-
ment was to prepare men to meet the
various local needs in forestry, and to
promote the interests of forestry in the
State by encouraging the right use of
forest resources. With the demand for
men on the National Forests the ener-
gies of the School were at first directed
entirely toward training men for the
position of technical assistant. It was
deemed possible to train men for this
position in a four year undergraduate
course, and this has been an entire suc-
cess. However, as the technical work
of this course did not differ materially
from that offered in graduate schools
of forestry it was considered only just
to offer a master’s degree to students
who had already obtained a collegiate
degree and wished to complete the re-
quired work in technical torestry. In
that case a master’s thesis is required.
The work is completed in two years.
At present arrangements are being
made for more advanced work for this
class of students. Two such courses
are being offered this year.
In 1909 a special short course of
twelve weeks was established for For-
est Rangers and Guards desiring to in-
crease their efficiency, or for others
who wish to fit themselves for these
positions. In connection with this
“
TIMBER PHYSICS
course it was found that there was an
almost immediate demand by young
lumbermen and by woodland owners
for a similar class of instruction, and a
modified short course to meet this de-
mand was given for the first time in
1910. Both of these courses are work-
ing out most admirably, so much so,
that it was found necessary to extend
the Ranger Course over two years of
twelve weeks each.
Another field which the Washington
College of Forestry had in mind from
the first—that of logging engineering
—is now opening up. While compara-
tively few lumbermen are ready to take
on men strictly as foresters, they are
ready to employ men who combine with
their forestry training a_ sufficient
knowledge of civil and mechanical en-
gineering to enable them to lay out
logging roads and after a term of ap-
prenticeship to take charge of logging
operations. The school is now prepared
LABORATORY,
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
to offer a lumberman’s group designed
especially to meet the needs of young
men Eaepe tus to take charge of log-
ging and milling operations, or wishing
to enter upon a “business career in some
phase of the lumber industry.
Still another field for which the
school will need to provide in order to
meet the local demands, that of en-
gineer in forest products, is just be-
ginning to assert itself. \Wood preser-
vation and the manufacture of by-
products are rapidly becoming neces-
sary adjuncts to the saw mill. Much
of the present enormous waste will
lend itself to remanufacture or to the
manufacture of by-products. The in-
creasing cost of raw material is making
this necessary. It is now possible to
utilize at a substantial profit much of
the waste which it was formerly neces-
sary to get rid of at considerable ex-
pense.
334 AMERICAN FORESTRY
OPEN TANK PRESE
MEMBERS OF THE FACULTY
The courses in the auxiliary sciences
and other subjects are presented by the
faculties of the departments of the
University under which the respective
subjects naturally fall. In most cases
it is now possible to present these sub-
jects in courses especially arranged for
forestry students. The faculty of for-
estry consists of Frank G. Miller, M.
F. Yale, Dean; Hugo Winkenwerder,
M. F. Yale, Associate Professor; E.
YT. Clark, M. Fl oYalesAssistant Pro-
fessor; Bror L. Grondal, A.B. Beth-
any, Graduate Assistant; Bert P. Kirk-
Yale, Supervisor Snoqualmie Na-
tional Forest, Lecturer on Forest Man-
agement; O. P. M: Goss, @4h Purdue.
in charge Timber Physics; William T.
land,
Andrews, Instructor in Mensuration
and lumbering. The work given by
Messrs. Kirkland, Goss and Andrews
1s equivalent to that ordinarily given by
one instructor on full time. In addi-
RVATION PLANT
tion 10 officials of District 6 of the
Forest Service annually give a total of
80 lectures in their respective lines.
These lectures and a course in Veter-
inary Science by D. W. Harrington,
D.V.M., are arranged more especially
to meet the needs of the Short Course
Students.
The forests about Seattle give the
students every opportunity for study
and practice. There are magnificent
forests of virgin timber and smaller
areas of second growth forests, both of
which are invaluable for demonstra-
tions in silviculture and practice in
cruising. Much of the timber is now
being logged. This gives the student
not only a chance to study the old as
well as the most improved methods of
logging, but also the location and con-
struction of camps and roads; it fur-
thermore gives him logs to scale, it
gives him felled trees to make volume
and growth studies; and it allows him
THE EXTENSIVE GERMAN FORESTS
339
FORESTRY MUSEUM,
opportunities for research work. And
one of the special advantages is that the
instructor can take his class from the
UNIVERSITY
OF WASHINGTON
school building into the very heart of
these forests in less than an hour by
foot or by trolley.
THE EXTENSIVE GERMAN FORESTS
THACKARA, of Berlin, states
that Germany’s area of forest
lands is about 34,500,000 acres, or
about 27 per cent of the whole area of
the country. About 11,000,000 acres of
Cris GENERALS Ace MM:
forest lands belong to the various State
governments of Germany, 5,500,000
acres are public forests; over 600,000
acres belong to Kings and Princes of
various States, while 16,000,000 acres
are privately owned.
J. R. McCarthy, field agent for the Chestnut Tree Blight Commission, with headquarters
in Philadelphia, is now at Ridgway, Elk County, Pennsylvania, and will make his head-
quarters there for several months, during which he will examine the trees of the county for
the fungus disease.
The American Forestry Co., of South Framingham, Mass., has just received an order
for 20,000 little white pine trees, about eight inches long, from the Marlboro Water Dept.
These will be set out around Lake Williams, which supplies the city with water.
FORESTS AS AN INVESTMENT
By Hon. Simeon FE. BALDWIN
Governor of Connecticut
gw WISH Arbor Day could be the
pi occasion of considering anew the
* importance of forestry to the
business interests of Connecticut, and
what can be done towards multiplying
our woodlots in the smaller towns. We
need more forestation for two objects
—to study and preserve the natural
flow of our streams and rivers and to
raise wood to sell. There are, our
State Forester tells us, 1,000,000 acres
of land in this State fit for nothing but
forestation. You can use them for
pasturage, but they do not produce
enough in that way to make grazing
pay. But if judiciously planted, they
can grow profitable crops of timber and
W ood pulp for paper making.
Crops that are fit to market only
after a growth of 25 or 50 years are
not so attractive at first sight as crops
that are gathered every year. For-
estation can be so conducted as to yield
annual crops, but it is not so conducted
in Connecticut now. We have a Forest
School at Yale, where they teach the
business to others. We have some State
woodlots, State owned, which we are
trying to bring into that condition
eventually. It is the thing for us to
aim at.
But it is not a bad proposition to
practice forestry even on the old plan
of felling the timber only after a. long
period of years and then cutting it off
clean. Brush land comes cheap, and if
it does take long years to cover it with
trees worth cutting for lumbez, not
much capital is thus left inactive, and
not much care is necessary yearly, ex-
cept at times that otherwise there would
be nothing in the way of profitable em-
ployment in farming to occupy. ‘Trees
can be thinned out in winter and any
It is a good way of
money. ‘Trees grow while
erow faster than money
in the bank, and there is no
danger of defalcation or experiments
in high finance.
Let th hil Is along the upper Housa-
tonic valley become more and more
336
PHOTO
C.M.HAYES DE
HON. SIMEON E. BALDWIN, GOVERNOR
OF CONNECTICUT
barren and more and more of their top
soil will run down every year until it
is all gone, and the even flow that ts
natural to the forest-fed river gives
to a succession of freshets and nothing
between them. Remember, gentlemen,
that in our manufacturing and mercan-
tile establishments, with their call for
packing boxes; our railroad industries,
our building operations, large and
small, Connecticut offers to her land-
holders a nearby and constant market
for all the lumber they can produce.
Here is the land, 1,000,000 acres, fit
for this, and fit for nothing else. Here
is the power in 1,000,000 population
capable of turning it at small cost into
profitable forests. Here is the market,
right at hand, always with a short haul.
IMPROVING FOREST FIRE PROTECTION
ByeVie Be PRAT
TPNGLE Ris: the tine largely “de-
(1) voted on National Forests to
plans for the coming field season.
The danger from fire past, the char-
acter of the duties of the Supervisor
and Deputy Supervisor change from
active, aggressive work in the field to
a comparatively quiet, thoughtful time
in the office. Relieved from the con-
stant fire suspense, and his ears no
longer continually tortured with the
jangling telephone bell announcing
fresh sorrows, the Supervisor can now
think a few consecutive thoughts on
one subject. The question of protec-
tion is naturally the most vital one. He
reviews the past season’s fire record in
his mind, and in the light of added ex-
perience, dispassionately sees things that
should have been done and things that
it were better to have left undone. ‘This
may lead him to call a meeting of the
ranger force to help him get down to
essentials.
In a meeting recently held at Nevada
City, the headquarters of the Tahoe
National Forest, protective measures
were discussed at length. Fire working
plans had been made for the past sea-
son for each district by the office in
conjunction with the district rangers,
and one of the objects of the meeting
was to find out how they could be im-
proved upon. It was the general
opinion that the plans were all right as
far as they went, but that it would be
much better for each district ranger to
prepare his own plan, giving his idea
of what he considered ideal protection
for his district, regardless of cost.
In accordance with this idea a letter
was sent out from the Supervisor’s
office to the district rangers asking
them to submit ideal plans for their
districts extending over a period of
years. Attention was called to the cir-
cular written by District Forester Du
Bois, entitled “National Forest Fire
Protective Plans’ in this connection.
It was expressly stated that all views
more efficient protection. The total area
no matter how visionary in character,
would be welcomed, since what might
seem a vision now might be a reality
in a short time, if the changes which
have taken place the past few years are
to be taken as a guide. It was further
requested that each man submit a map
illustrating his plan.
An outline accompanied the letter to
serve as a guide in making the ideal
plans. This asked for a brief history
of past season’s fires in each district;
that all hazards such as railroads, saw-
mills, summer camps, stockmen, mines
and towns, should be considered, es-
pecially old slashings; that improve-
ments needed for ideal communication
throughout the districts be specified;
that the organization of patrols be de-
scribed in detail; that the probable co-
operation in fire fighting should be
stated and that the cost of an ideal plan
be named.
At the time set, ideal plans for the
seven districts in the Forest were in the
Supervisor’s office. The task then was
to mill them over and evolve a second-
ary fire working plan for the season,
correlating as much as possible the ad-
ministrative with the protective needs
of the Forest.
A RETROSPECTIVE VIEW
In order to obtain a proper compre-
hension of what is being sought, the
first step in the formation of a second-
ary plan is to look back over the past
season’s record. Using the areas burned
over as a basis, it follows that the
working plan for the season will be
made to protect these localities and
others similarly situated. ‘The summary
which follows served to get the plan
under headway this winter:
“The area burned over on the Tahoe
National Forest in 1911 was much less
than the previous season due in part
337
338 AMERICAN
CO
to a more favorable season, but chiefly
to the plans worked out in advance for
of private and public land burned over
was 3,900 acres as compared with 17,-
000 acres last year. Last year approxi-
mately thirty-five million feet of timber
was destroyed valued at $70,000, this
year 750,000 feet valued at $1,500.
Last year 1.3 per cent of the total area
of the Forest was burned over, this
year .003 per cent. Our total number
of fires this season was 69 as compared
to 77 last season. Although we did
not succeed in materially reducing the
number of fires by more efficient pro-
tection yet we did succeed in greately
reducing the area covered and conse-
quent damage.
“We have learned that there is a
zone of special fire danger on the west
slope of the Sierra Nevadas which must
be under constant surveillance during
the fire season. In this zone fire spreads
with great rapidity and rapid action is
imperative. The portion of the Forest
on the east slope does not cause so
much concern. It is believed that the
protective system now in force there
needs very little adjustment to make it
ideal in character. The plan, therefore,
deals chiefly with the requirements in
the special fire zone on the west slope
which reaches to an elevation of about
5,500 feet. It is here that we want to
spend the most of our money the com-
ing season.”
TABULATION OF DANGER SPOTS
Having taken a general survey of
the situation it is next necessary to get
down to details and locate the danger
spots by districts. The ideal plans, of
course, are very explicit in this regard.
The secondary plan needs to be specific
only as far as it is necessary to bring
out spots for which protective measures
must be devised.
First consideration is given to the
areas traversed by railroads and trac-
tion engines. For instance it is noted
that the Southern Pacific Railroad
crosses the Forest from east to west
and that trouble in the past has been
experienced from fires along the right
of way. The snow sheds on the west
PORES DRY
side of the summit of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains are commanded by a rail-
road lookout man who could cooperate
with Forest officials by reporting fires
outside the railroad right of way.
It is noted in another district that
tractions operated by a certain lumber
company started three large fires the
past season and caused the Forest Serv-
ice considerable expense to keep them
outside the Forest.
Sawmills are located by districts and
the observation made that the mills in
the districts on the west slope where
danger from fire is the greatest, are
small. Consequently, on account of
frequent loose methods of operation,
they are greater danger spots.
Construction and wood camps are re-
corded as well as the localities where ~
greatest hazards exist from mines and
settlers. Special emphasis is placed
upon certain settlements as being the
strongholds of “light burning” enthu-
siasts. Occasionally the areas were
prepared for burning, but very often
fires were set by settlers in brushy areas
with little regard to the consequences.
One culprit became so bold that he
entered the ranger’s camp who was
trying to apprehend him and stole his
provisions.
Under this head planting and ex-
perimental areas as well as localities
containing heavy stands of government
timber are considered. The greatest
attention is paid to the location of old
slashings which are considered to re-
quire the most intensive protection.
This is especially true when they are
located on the west slope within the
fire danger zone before mentioned.
The relative importance of these
danger areas is determined in the light
of what happened the past season and
is kept in mind continually until the
method of control is finally worked out.
To assist in this matter a large map is
kept in the office on which is recorded
by years all Class C fires since the
Forest was established, as well as the
slashings and chief danger spots. At
the end of the fire season each year this
map receives fresh ornamentation. It
affords much food for reflection, be-
sides serving as a source of inspiration.
IMPROVING FOREST FIRE PROTECTION
DETERMINATION OF NEEDED IM PROVE-
MENTS
The relative danger of hazards being
fixed in mind the next step is to de-
termine how to spend the improvement
allotment to secure maximum protec-
tion. A primary consideration is the
extension of the telephone system al-
ready in existence. The ideal plan
aims to secure such a method of tele-
phone communication that every district
can be readily reached from the main
office, from the lookout points, and ad-
joining rangers and patrolmen. Con-
sequently, it is a foregone conclusion
that a good slice of the improvement
allotment will be spent in this way each
year until this result is achieved. For
instance, it was recognized at the close
of last season that the Foresthill dis-
trict required better communication.
The secondary plan accordingly sum-
med up the matter in this way: “A
telephone line is needed from Foresthill
to Sugar Pine and Tadpole Ranger
Stations, at least, and if possible to
Robertson Flat and French Meadows.
The total length of this line will be 39
miles. ‘The idea of building this line
is to prevent a recurrence of the dis-
astrous fires of last summer, if possible,
by getting quick communication with
all available help.”
Lookout towers are important fac-
tors to be considered in the protection
scheme and wherever established they
must be connected with the region they
control by telephone lines. The Banner
Lookout Tower near Nevada City was
erected the spring of 1911 and demon-
strated its usefulness in locating fires
in a region which had fires in one
locality when the patrolman was in
another. Where it is demonstrated in
an ideal plan that the riding patrol has
a proposition of this kind to deal with,
a stationary patrol, otherwise called a
lookout man, is invaluable. This man
acts in conjunction with the riding
patrolman and an added precaution is
thus given to areas particularly in-
fested with slashings and light burning
enthusiasts.
Trails next claim the attention as a
subsidiary means of protection. The
339
ideal plans give a large number of
trails that should be constructed or
brushed, and the direct bearing of this
work on protection must be considered.
The secondary plan picks out the ones
which fit in best with the whole pro-
tective scheme. If it is seen that a
trail can be constructed that will save
the ranger several hours’ ride in getting
to an especially bad danger spot this
piece of work will be considered be-
fore a trail which is recommended as a
convenience to stockmen and tourists.
Cabins, barns and pastures must be
provided at strategic points to serve as
centres of the telephone and trail sys-
tems. The nature and cost of the
houses to be built will depend upon
whether they will be used as head-
quarters the year round or as stopping
places for fire guards. The ideal plans
are carefully scrutinized for all im-
provements needed to supplement the
force which it is estimated can be put
on the coming fire season. The direct
or indirect bearing of every piece of
proposed improvement on the whole
scheme of protection is considered.
The estimate of cost of each project is
given in the ideal plans as well as the
order in which the ranger considers
it should be undertaken. The matter
of improvements is directly correlated
with the plans for the organization of
patrol.
ORGANIZATION OF PATROL
The final decision on this extremely
important part of the protective scheme
can not be reached until the ideal plans
have been gone over with a fine toothed
comb. The ideal plans are more or less
impracticable in some instances through
the placing of undue emphasis on the
protection of comparatively worthless
areas, but the secondary plan must get
down to bed rock and consider what is
really worth intensive protection. A
fire in the rocks and brush may be
stubborn and cover considerable area
but it will not do a fraction of the
damage to the resources of the Forest
that a small fire will do in a heavy
stand of second growth pine or on a
planting or experimental area which it
has cost a lot of money to establish and
340
on which we are depending for data
to shape future policy.
One ranger this year estimated that
he needed eleven men, an automobile,
six horses and a wagon to secure ideal
protection in his district. This is very
interesting and proves the ranger is a
progressive, but necessity forbids that
his ideas be incorporated at this time
in a secondary fire-working plan. ‘The
estimate must be narrowed down to a
practical basis and all Utopian schemes
eliminated first of all. The process of
reasoning as regards the number of
men that can be employed is similar to
that applied in figuring on the number
of improvement projects that can be
undertaken. Attention is given to the
efficiency with which each particular
district was guarded last year on the
basis Of its: fire fecordgee tentative
assignment of men on paper is then
made over the entire Forest based on
the fire hazards and facilities for co-
operation. After this is done the sift-
ing process of men between districts
goes on until it reaches a point where
it is considered that the best disposal
of the funds available has been made.
The Supervisor then correspondingly
readjusts his estimate on improvements
to fit the patrol organization.
The secondary plan next proceeds to
outline the routes of patrol in each dis-
trict in accordance with the number of
men that can be assigned to that dis-
trict. The station of each man is given
as well as the route he will be expected
to cover. [he details of this matter
are not considered in the plan, but are
left to the judgment of the district
ranger who is picked for his position
on account of his administrative ability.
His chief instructions are to the effect
AMERICAN FORESTRY
that he arrange to have some one avail-
able at the telephone during the fire
season in case the Supervisor’s office
wants to get into quick communication
with the district. He is, of course, ex-
pected to take charge of all serious
fires in his district, but most of the
patrol work will be done by his as-
sistants.
After the Supervisor has gotten the
matter of men and improvements sifted
down to what he considers the last
analysis he still finds that he is going
to have parts of his Forest more or
less unprotected. This prompts him
to seek cooperation among the various
interests on the Forest, and he closes
his fire plan by urging the rangers to
work along this line and organize fire
brigades in different parts of their dis-
tricts as well as make arrangements
for having supplies on hand in emer-
gency cases.
Having threshed out the ideal plans
and embodied all that he thinks will
work during the coming season in his
secondary fire plan, the Supervisor
sends it down to the District Forester
with an itemized cost sheet. If he is
lucky, he may get what he asks for, but
the chances are that he must be con-
tent with less and that his fire plan will
have to undergo further readjustment.
He has it in such a shape, however,
that he can easily make the necessary
changes.
By this time the fire season has open-
ed and with his fingers on the pawns
he plays many games of chess all sum-
mer in his efforts to checkmate his grim
adversary which, like its crafty master
Mephistopheles, is fond of appearing
unawares and in different guises to the
innocent.
An educational effort is being made through the forestry department of the University
of Georgia to increase the timber supply of the South by reforestation.
The department
points out that cherry among other trees admirably adapted to the soils of the Appalachians ;
] . =.
that the black walnut grows readily on the Cumberland plateau, and that other trees find,
particular areas of the South exactly suited to their growth.
The Georgia department of
agriculture is also interested in the subject of reforestation.
A FAMOUS OLD TREE
Dia vitality and tenacity of life
in a tree are remarkable. A
tree will endure almost any sort
of treatment. Its life is endangered
only by the destruction of the heart-
wood. So long as the vital fluid, the
sap, is able to circulate through the
tree, it 1s vigorous.
A notable instance of this is the
famous Liberty Tulip Poplar, which
stands on the campus of St. John’s
College, Annapolis, in front of the main
building. Through the agency of Dr.
Fell, the President, who is an authority
on many scientific subjects this tree
was “doctored.” This Tulip-Poplar
first met with severe treatment when,
in 1840, some iniquitous boys placed
gunpowder in the hollow trunk of the
tree. The powder exploded. Im-
mediately the tree was ablaze. A
throng of citizens rushed to the scene
and deluged it with water. The explo-
sion was not so disastrous to the tree
as was first expected—rather a benefit,
for it destroyed the germs which were
propagating in the fungus. There was
a new lease of life. The following
spring showed an abundance of foliage
on the branches. In 1860, a second
wound was made by the falling of an
old branch. This was during the Civil
War when the Union men were en-
camped on the College Campus. It fell
between two tents without loss of life
or injury to anyone.
Through artificial means, the useful-
ness of the tree has been prolonged by
giving it support to make it rigid. This
support has been given through filling
the tree with fifty tons of cement. The
base was made broader than the upper
part. Iron rods were run through the
cement and these bind the parts to-
gether. Into the huge branches, which
were hollow, iron rods were also run.
Cement was inserted here as in the
trunk. This inner filling gives strength
and enables the tree to sustain itself.
There is no strain whatever on the tree.
The idea of the cement is to make an
air and water-tight plug, which prevents
growth of fungus. The fungus growth,
which destroyed the heart of the old
tree, was thus eliminated. This tree,
two feet from the ground, measures
twenty-nine feet and four inches in cir-
cumference. It stands about one hun-
dred and fifty-one feet high. Although
the trunk is a mere shell, the tree seems
to flourish, having thousands of blos-
soms on the branches every year. This
wonderful tree stands preeminent
among all others as a symbol of con-
stancy, perpetuating beauty and victory.
It is pictured on the canvas of the past
as rich in memories. It stands as a
tower of strength at the post of duty.
The Red Men gathered under its green
canopy of spreading branches for
council. Beneath it they sat to smoke
the pipe of peace or listen to the words
of the chief, who with dignified coun-
tenance and calm demeanor impressed
his tribe with wonderful authority. At
length, he told them of a treaty to be
made with the Pale Faces from the
far-off land across the Great Water.
They little realized that in signing away
their rights, they were permitting a new
nation to take root and that no longer
would they be permitted to commune
beneath those stately branches. History
records the particulars of an assembly
of advocates of freedom among the
colonists under this noted tree. There
they discussed the cause and their atti-
tude toward the men not in sympathy
with the movement—whether they
should be punished or not. In 1825, a
prominent personage, conspicuous in
history, General La Fayette, was enter-
tained at Annapolis under this tree.
341
From Science
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE CHESTNUT BARK DISEASE
NOTES ON GERMAN FORESTRY
By Pror. W. R. LAZENBY
RARE opportunity to observe
the forests, and to learn some-
thing of the German forest pol-
icy prompts me to write a few things
concerning the German forests and
their forest policy, which may be of in-
terest to the forestry men of the United
States. In the first place it should be
understood that the German Empire in
its federal capacity has nothing what-
ever to do with the forests. The con-
trol of the forests is exclusively in the
hands of the various states, who in
their confederation form what we know
as the nation called Germany. Each
state government directs the forestry
policy of its own state and the national
government has never interfered in any
way with this procedure. We should
not forget that the relation between the
German states and the German Empire
is exactly the same or analogous to the
relation existing between our American
states and our Union. In our country,
however, the federal government has
done much more to develop forestry
than has so far been done by any of
the state governments or state activity.
The first general forestry movement
began about 1750. At this time the
population began rapidly to increase,
most of the agricultural land had been
cleared of timber, there was no coal,
and no means of transportation of
wood from the mountain forests. A
succession of winters unusually severe
caused much discomfort and suffering,
and the people awoke to the importance
of a fuel famine.
RAPID FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT
From this time forestry developed
with great rapidity. Everybody was
interested because everyone needed
fuel. Within the next 25 years most
of the leading state governments had
formulated some forest policy, the
principal features being an effort to se-
cure a continuously substantial yield of
wood and timber from all state forests.
That is, no more wood should be cut
than was produced in the same year; or
in other words only the annual incre-
ment should be cut. After a time and
with the advent of better means of
transportation, the fear of a wood fam-
ine passed away, but the idea and
practice of conservative forestry had
taken such a deep hold upon the public
mind that the development of a sane
and rational forestry policy met with
little or no opposition.
It is well known that trees, especially
of the evergreen class, can be grown on
soil that is too poor for agriculture, and
the artificially planted forests on either
rocky or on poor barren sandy lands
that were unfit for remunerative farm-
ing. Each German state has three
classes of forests. First those owned
by the states themselves; second those
owned by the cities or small communi-
ties; third those owned by private in-
dividuals. Most of the communial and
private forests are regulated by the
state, that is to some degree at least.
One of the important restrictions is
that no private owner or community
can cut more than is produced and that
all deforested land must be reforested.
One of the largest state forests is
that of the Spessart mountains in Ba-
varia. This forest is composed very
largely of white oak, which is said to
be the finest in the world. Owing to
its slow growth it is very fine and even
in texture and yields veneer logs for
which extravagant prices are paid. The
average price of first class logs in the
woods, many miles from the railway is
something over $250 per thousand
board feet. While the choicest logs sell
for more than double this price. Not
a few of these old oaks have a value
exceeding $1000 each and they are only
cut when it is evident that they have
attained their highest value. The white
oak of this district is as famous
343
344
throughout Europe as the white oak is
famous in America.
EASY METHOD OF PLANTING
The city forests of Darmstadt in
Hessen are composed largely of pine
and beech. The oldest stands of pine
were started over 100 years ago, by
simply scattering pine cones upon the
ground and driving large flocks of
sheep over them. By this means the
seed were pressed into the ground and
a fair stand of seedlings resulted by
using this cheap and easy method. _
Especially fine are the stands of pine
in the pole stage, that is of size fit for
telegraph poles. These trees are 50
years old and were raised from more
carefully planted seeds. They have
long, clean, straight trunks, and the
largest specimens are being removed so
as to give a better chance to those that
are lett:
The youngest stands are for the most
part transplanted seedlings, which were
planted at the rate from ten to fifteen
thousand per acre. The cost of plant-
ing is not a great item for the two-year-
old seedlings can be raised at an ex-
pense of from ten to twenty cents a
thousand and the labor of outplanting
is from fifty to seventy-five cents a
day.
The German forest policy aims to re-
forest all waste lands, and to gradually
increase the forest area, under direct
state control. It aims to improve the
education and training of foresters and
rangers at the expense of the state, and
is seeking to extend fire and other
The state forests of Bavaria comprise 2,150,000 acres.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
forms of protection over all forest land.
Another feature is to encourage the
largest public use of all forests as a
means of health, recreation and enjoy-
ment for all the people.
Native American evergreens and
softwoods are being planted here on a
large scale. Among them the white
pine and Douglas fir are the favorites
on the better soils, while pitch pine and
Jack pines are planted on the poor,
sandy soils. Last summer was one of
unprecedented heat and drouth and this
caused the death of many young stands
of introduced species, while the natives
suffered comparatively slight losses,
and this emphasizes the greater vitality
of the latter.
Among the introduced deciduous
trees the American red oak seems to
be the one that is favorably regarded.
The financial success of German for-
estry depends mainly on two factors:
First, good means of transportation;
and second, that the owners, whether
they be state, city or private, refuse
absolutely to sell more than a small
annual percentage of the stand. By do-
ing this the market is never over-
stocked, for the demand is always
greater than the supply, and the price
received is much greater than the cost
of production, including the interest on
the money invested at compound rates.
The American foresters and timber-
land owners can learn many things
from the German foresters along many
lines, and many mistakes that might be
made in their work can be avoided by
the study of the European methods.
Thirty-three per cent of the
entire area of the country is covered with forest. Of these trees 77 per cent. are coniferous.
The average estimated value of the forest land is $50 per acre.
The annual aggregate ex-
pense of administering the forests, including salaries of officials, wages of workingmen, local
taxation, new purchases, etc., amounts to $4,965,204.
the same year amounted to $8,187,349.
The total revenue from the forests
A NATIONAL EXPOSITION ON CONSERVATION
N exposition of national scope,
A the purpose of which is to pro-
mote the conservation of our
natural resources, is to open in Knox-
ville, Tennessee, in September, 1913.
It is to be known as The National
Conservation Exposition, and while it
is to be open to all parts of the coun-
try, its special field will be the de-
velopment of the Southern States. An
Advisory Board of leaders in the vari-
ous branches of conservation work,
with Gifford Pinchot at its head, has
been formed as part of the Exposition
Company’s organization, and is now at
work formulating detailed plans for
the exhibits. Each department of Con-
servation is represented on this board
by one or more experts in that line.
The members of the board and the
particular work assigned to each are as
follows: Gifford Pinchot, President of
the National Conservation Association,
Chairman of the board and in charge
of general conservation and forestry;
Don Carlos Ellis, Secretary of the
board, forest . conservation), ; iii
Holmes, Director of the Bureau of
Mines, conservation of minerals and
the protection of human life in mining
operations; Bradford Knapp, in charge
of the Farmers’ Cooperative Demon-
stration Work of the Department of
Agriculture, scientific agriculture and
the conservation of soils; W. J. McGee,
Soil Water Expert of the Bureau of
Soils, Department of Agriculture, con-
servation of soils; Logan W. Page,
Director, Office of Public Roads, good
roads; Joseph EF. Ransdell, Representa-
tive and Senator-elect from Louisiana,
the development of waterways; P. P.
Claxton, U. S. Commissioner of Edu-
cation, the work of education; Dr.
Harvey W. Wiley, former chief chemist
of the United States, the conservation
of public health; Senator Duncan U.
Fletcher of Florida, President of the
Southern Commercial Congress, south-
ern development; Senator Luke Lea,
of Tennessee, general conservation.
Two other members are to be added
to the board to represent country life
improvement, domestic economy, and
child welfare.
An exposition company has been
organized and drafts have been made
of a charter for a capital stock of one
million dollars. The company has taken
over the plant and all property of the
Appalachian Exposition, which has
been held at Knoxville for the two
past years. This plant contains a park
of one hundred acres, two artificial
lakes and several excellent exposition
buildings, among which is a Forestry
and Mineral Building. A Southern
States Building is to be erected to con-
tain exhibits from all the Southern
States which participate. An Agricul-
tural and Land Building is also among
the new structures planned. A special
feature of this building will be an im-
mense bas-relief map of the Southeast,
200 feet long, upon which the principal
resources of the States represented will
be displayed. As an annex to this
building, will be a long auditorium for
assemblies, such as the National Conser-
vation Congress, the National Breeders’
Association, and Good Roads and Wa-
terway Improvement Conventions.
Knoxville was awarded the location
of the exposition because of its splendid
location in the midst of the Southern
Appalachian Region and in the midst
of a very rich section of the South, and
because of its preparedness in having
the Appalachian Exposition Plant.
The officers of the exposition are:
President, William S. Shields, presi-
dent of the City National Bank of
Knoxville; first vice-president, J. Allen
Smith, president of the Knoxville City
Mills ; second vice-president, Don Carlos
Ellis; third vice-president, George W.
Callahan, president of the Callahan
Construction Company; fourth vice-
president, H. M. Johnston, president
of the Union Bank of Knoxville; trea-
surer, S. V. Carter, cashier, East Ten-
nessee National Bank; general manager,
W. M. Goodman, secretary, Knoxville
Commercial Club.
345
OPPOSE STATE CONTROL OF FORESTS
EMBERS of the Colorado State
Forestry Association, of which
W. G. M. Stone is the president,
are vigorously combating a move to turn
over to the State the public domain and
all its natural resources. Such a change
would embrace the forest reserves and
if these passed into private ownership,
as some desire, it would unquestionably
lead to conditions involving the ex-
termination of the forests which con-
serve the snows and moisture at the
headwaters of the state’s mountain
streams.
The Association now declares that
whatever changes in the Land laws may
be necessary in other directions, that it
most earnestly protests against the
turning over to the state of that por-
tion of the public domain which in-
cludes the forest reserves.
The Association says: ‘To turn the
forests over to the state; for the state
to open them up to indiscriminate and
easy entry; letting in sawmills, tie cut-
ters, and others in countless numbers,
to get the forest products on the mar-
ket ; the building of thousands of cabins
necessary to shelter such an army of
mountaineers, and the providing of
food and clothing for so great a num-
ber would, without question, add greatly
to the activities of the state—for a time,
but—
“When the mountains are stripped
and there is no more timber to put on
the market:
“When the irrigated lands on the
plains begin to feel the effects upon the
water supply by reason of the deforesta-
tion of the mountains:
“When it is found that no further
irrigation development by the storage
of water is possible:
“When all further growth of our
agriculture in this direction is at an
end:
“When the so called mountain homes
are deserted and the lands are sold for
taxes with no buyers except the respec-
tive counties, what then? A blight. A
set back from which there could be no
recovery. A set back by the same cause
that brought desolation and ruin upon
Northern Africa, Syria and Babylonia,
once cradles of learning and homes of
the world’s best progress.”’
The resolutions passed by the Asso-
ciation heartily endorse the policy be>
ing pursued by the Forest Service;
which is opposed to turning over the
forest reserves to the state, and pledges
it support in its undertaking to protect
the forests and improve their greatly
dilapidated condition.
APPROVE A NATIONAL FOREST
T a recent meeting of the District
of Columbia Branch of the
Woman’s National Rivers and
Harbors Congress a subject under dis-
cussion was the advisibility of a na-
tional forest as a background and
worthy setting for the Capital, with its
classic buildings rising in stately splen-
dor. The tract of land in view, which
would be included in the proposed na-
tional forest, begins at Bladenburg and
extends northeast twenty miles, until it
346
crosses the Patuxent River. The
speaker said: “In all this tract includes
about 41,000 acres. Separated from it
by a narrow strip between Washington
and Laurel, there is another body of
16,000 acres. Beyond the Patuxent it
swings eastward, touching the Severn
and South rivers and reaching the out-
skirts of Annapolis, the seat of the
United States Naval Academy, and
thereby adds another area of 43,000
acres. Another forest district of vital
NEWS AND NOTES
importance to the nation’s capital, con-
taining some grand scenery which
should be included in the purchase,
borders the banks of the Potomac River
from the District Line to a point be-
yond the Great Falls, an area of 10,000
acres. All of this is a region unsur-
passed in natural beauty and wealth of
vegetation. Sixty-five varieties of trees
can be found upon it. It can be used
for practical and scientific demonstra-
tion and will therefore be as useful as
it will be ornamental.”
347
The following were present: Mrs.
Andrews, chairman of the committee
on education; Mrs. Randolph Keim,
Mrs. Herbert Knox Smith, Mrs. F. H.
Newell, Mrs. Ballow, member from
Hawaii; Mrs. A. P. Davis, Mrs. L. A.
Williams, Mrs. M. P. Keith, Mrs. J.
H. Shepperd, Mrs. I. W. Ball, Mrs. C.
A. Miner, Mrs. Earnest L. Miner, Mrs.
Richard B. Chew, Mrs. Clemons, Mrs.
H. Compton, Mrs. A. E. Murphy, Mrs.
J. E. Gadsby.
NEWS AND NOTES
Flood and Forests
An object lesson and a very startling one
of the value of forest conservation has been
shown along the Mississippi river. The flood
tide now sweeping through the lower valley
of the Mississippi is inundating towns,
paralyzing business, destroying argicultural
prospects and causing property losses which
will probably aggregate millions, not to speak
of the loss of human life.
We have often spoken of the necessity of
the forests to human safety and progress
and the present destruction by flood in the
Mississippi valley once more shows the im-
perativeness of forest conservation. The
reports demonstrate that the calamity is
largely due to the misbehaviour of the Ohio
river from which raging torrents are pour-
ing into the Mississippi. The states border-
ing the Ohio have not preserved their forests
and now as the water accumulates from
rains and from the spring thaws it is not
held in check in the forests until absorbed
by the earth. The forests that served as
checks have gone and the pools unite and
form rivulets and streams, gradually growing
in size. They seek an outlet and find it, in
the present instance to the great destruction
of property, later loss resulting from the lack
of storage and consequent shortage of water
when needed to furnish the motive power
for the wheels of industry.
The $80,000 Appropriation
_Prevention of the chestnut tree blight was
discussed before the House Committee on
agriculture on April 11, and the passage of
Representative Moore’s bill, appropriating
$80,000 for the purpose, as advocated by the
American Forestry Association was urged
by prominent men from Pennsylvania, New
York and elsewhere. Representative Moore,
who opened the discussion, said that the
losses, due to the blight, had already reached
$25,000,000.
Harold Pierce, of Ardmore, secretary of
the chestnut tree blight commission of
Pennsylvania, told what Pennsylvania had
done to protect trees in its own jurisdiction,
and urged government aid to prevent the
spread of the fungus elsewhere. Among
other speakers were Deputy Forestry Com-
missioner I, C. Williams, of Pennsylvania;
John Foley, forester of the Pennsylvania
Railroad; H. W. Markel, plant pathologist,
Bronx Park, N. Y., who is credited with
having discovered the disease, and J. S&S.
Holmes, State forester and geologist, North
Carolina.
Forestry Conference Plan
At a meeting in Albany, New York, on
April 10, of representatives of various State
departments and educational institutions in-
terested in forestry problems and work, the
New York State conference of conserva-
tion of forest resources was formed on
motion of Professor Walter Mulford, of
Cornell University. State Superintendent of
Forests C. R. Pettis was elected secretary.
_ The conferees agreed upon a comprehen-
sive plan of State-wide activity for the re-
forestation and preservation of the forests
of this State, together with the utilization
of vast areas of soil now idle. Various
Sripitters were appointed to carry out this
plan.
Killing the Bugs
A tubular gasoline torch designed especi-
ally for killing insect pests which damage
trees and growing crops has been perfected
by the Twiner Brass Works, of Sycamore,
Ill. It produces a flame sufficiently large to
cut off the supply of oxygen or air, which
is essential to animal life, also enough heat
to destroy the animal organism. ‘This new
348 AMERICAN
method has been found very effective and
has been endorsed by many authorities of
agriculture and horticulture. The habits of
many insects have been studied and means
have been found for trapping them as easily
as catching rats and mice and they can be
much more easily killed by means of this
new torch.
This is especially true of the chinch bug
which can be snared in passing from the
wheat to the green corn when the wheat
is being cut. This torch can also be used
very effectively for destroying the eggs,
larvae, etc., beneath the surface of the
ground.
White Mountain Reserves
There has been sent to the Forest Reser-
vation Commission at Washington by the
Boston Chamber of Commerce a memorial
adopted by the latter, requesting that the
Nation may acquire by eminent domain with-
in the fiscal year ending June 30, certain
lands in the White Mountains.
At present the Forest Service has options
on about 75,000 acres of land in this mountain
tract. This stretch may be increased to
90,000, and the whole purchased for a
National forest in the White Mountains,
STATE
Washington
Twenty lumbermen, representing corpora-
tions and individuals owning timber worth
many millions, and a half dozen state and
government foresters, from California, Ore-
gon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, met
recently in Spokane for the annual business
session of the Western Forestry and Con-
servation Association. Plans were outlined
for the protection of the western forests
against fire next summer. FE. Allen,
forester of the association explained to the
members that under the Weeks’ law creating
the Appalachian forest reserve, all states
protecting forests at the head of navigable
streams are entitled to claim up to this
amount from the government. Only the
application is necessary.
“Oregon already has availed itself of this
privilege,” said Forester Allen. “There is
no reason why the other four states of the
association should not have their share. The
Federal government appropriates the money
on the condition that the state appropriates
an equal amount to be used in protecting
the sources of navigable streams. Money
for this purpose, in excess of $10,000, is
already appropriated by each of the states
named, There is, therefore, no reason why
FORESTRY
providing the geological survey
favorably within the given time.
That the purchase may be made seems
probable in view of the recent favorable
report of the Forest Service on some lands
in the Southern Appalachians and the state-
ment issued by them that they “hope to make
a favorable report” on this district also.
reports
Reforesting Pike’s Peak
The Government has started work re-
foresting the north slope of Pike’s Peak. The
improvements proposed will cost about $100,-
000, although the work planned for this
wear will take only about one-tenth of that
appropriation. It will require about 10 years
to complete the work.
The work outlined for this spring will
cover a period of about two months. About
100,000 trees, including the Douglas fir, En-
glemann’s spruce and the yellow pine, are
to be replanted. Seeds from the same trees
will be planted over about 1,000 acres.
The area which will be planted to seed
and young trees is at the headwaters of
Cascade creek, about three and one-half
miles from Cascade. The Government has
closed the work of planting seed on snow
in an adjoining area of about 500 acres.
NEWS
the government aid should not also be se-
cured.”
Wisconsin
How Arbor day and Bird day and Fire
Prevention day may help reduce the high
cost of living is the lesson sought to be
brought home to school children and others
in the Arbor day annual issued by the
Wisconsin State Department of Public In-
struction. The annual is for the first time
joined with the fire prevention cause.
“Tf we knew the amount savable annually
by a wise forestry policy in reducing the
cost of wood as a raw material in manu-
facturing industries,’ says the editor, “in
lessening the cost of water power, and in
lowering transportation charges on bulky
commodities; if we knew the amount of
annual loss to agriculture by insect pests
which will be prevented by protection of
bird life, and if we then were able to add
to these amounts the $200,000,000 of pre-
ventable fire loss, we should have a total
annual saving of certainly not less than
$1,000,000,000, and possibly several times
that amount.
“If this saving were equitably distributed
there would be a substantial reduction in
the cost of living for all.”
STATE NEWS
Massachusetts
In Massachusetts negotations have been
carried on for some weeks between State
Forester Rane and the State Department of
Agriculture and the Government postal
authorities in Washington with the result
that the mail carriers of that State employed
in the rural service will receive instructions
as to their duties within a short time.
The plan suggested by the State Forester
of Massachusetts and the one which has been
ordered by the United States Government
is to be put in operation, is that all rural
mail carriers in Massachusetts be required
to report any forest fires that they may dis-
cover while traveling over their routes to
the forest warden or deputy warden re-
siding nearest the fire.
In that State the average length of the
rural mail routes is about 20 miles, and
there are 300 rural mail carriers in the serv-
ice, which through the adoption of this
method, creates an auxiliary patrol service
over 6,000 miles of country roads.
Maine
A recent item in the Bangor Commercial
of Maine states that Land Commissioner
Mace has just turned into the treasury of
that State $18,252.52, received for the sale
of stumpage and rentals from the reserved
school lands of the plantations and town-
ships. It appears that the State of Maine
has wisely retained control of sixty-nine
different tracts of a thousand acres each in
as many unorganized sections of the State,
the timber land to be available for school
purposes as soon as the townships are settled.
Oregon
Governor West has received copies of a
bill which has been introduced in the Senate
by Senator Chamberlain providing for the
State to create a state forest through ex-
change of scattered school sections in
Federal forests for a compact body of forest
reserve lands. In substance, the bill makes
the following provisions:
“That where any state or territory owns
lands lying within the boundaries of a
National forest, or where its right of in-
demnity selection in respect to school sec-
tions within such boundaries has not been
fully exercised, said state or territory is
hereby authorized, subject to the approval
of the Secretary of Agriculture, to exchange
such lands for or make indemnity selections
of other National forest lands of like quantity
and value; the same to be selected in rea-
sonably compact bodies, which lands shall
thereon be excluded from the National
forests for the benefit of said state or terri-
tory.
“Provided, that in fixing the value of state
school sections offered in exchange the Sec-
retary of Agriculture shall take into con-
sideration the value of such lands to the
349
State by reason of their being available and
salable for script or base for indemnity
selections.”
California
Articles of incorporation for the California
Forest Protective Association, a non-profit,
co-operative corporation, have been filed in
the office of Secretary of State Jordan. The
purpose of the organization is the co-opera-
tion between forest land owners, Govern-
ment and State authorities, for the better
protection of California’s wooded lands. The
principal offices of the association are to be
at San Francisco, and the fifteen directors,
all of San Francisco, are the following:
Miles Standish, S. D. Johnson, R. W.
Landon, C. R. Johnson, H, G. Lawrence,
C. C. Smith, E. F. Metlan, M. L. Euphiat,
R. T. Buzard, C. E. Kimbal, O. C. Haslett,
C. A. Strong, L. O. Van Brundt, M. W.
McIntosh, W. B. Weston.
Utah
District Forester E. A. Sherman reports
forest conditions favorable in all sections
of the country embraced in his district. The
prospects for the season regarding range
conditions, timber growth and protection, in-
cluding the installation of fire-fighting ap-
paratus, have never been brighter, and it
is expected that better results will be obtained
this year than in previous years.
Meetings of rangers and supervisors have
been held in all parts of the district and
the men from the field say the department
could not well ask for better conditions. The
watersheds are being protected better than
ever before and the ranges have so improved
in the past few years that stockmen are
rejoicing over the abundance of grass and
good water supply.
It is stated by the foresters that in dis-
tricts where floods were frequent a few
years ago, overflows are now almost un-
known, the saving of life and property being
almost beyond calculation. The preservation
of trees and underbrush on the mountain
sides and in the canyons has been the means
of holding the snow longer in place and the
flow of water in the springtime has not been
so rapid as when the mountains were bare.
North Carolina
The Appalachian Forestry Reserve Com-
mission has purchased 21,090 acres of wood-
land in Macon County at a cost of $200,000.
The land was the property of the Macon
County Lumber Company, which had cut
a large portion of the lumber from it in
the past ten years.
The immense tract which is now practically
depleted of lumber will lie untouched for
the most part for a number of years, as a
forest reserve, while young trees which are
now growing and which will be planted by
350 AMERICAN
the Government, are allowed to reach tim-
ber size.
Idaho
Seeds from 20,000 bushels of white pine
cones, recently gathered on the Kaniksu
national forest reserve, in Northern Idaho,
will be planted on the Coeur d’Alene, St. Joe,
Lolo and Cabinet forests in districts swept
by fire in the summer of 1910.
A seed extracting mill is being installed
by the Government at the Falls Ranger sta-
tion, and it is expected to secure 14,000
pounds of seed at a cost of about $1 a pound.
Henry H. Farquhar, chief of planting of
the United States Forest Service, who is
in Spokane, reports that the cones were
collected entirely from the squirrel caches.
Operations were spread over a territory 22
miles in length and five miles in width, 100
men being located in four camps, each with
two cooks and a camp foreman.
The men were paid by the day, with a
bonus if they averaged a certain number
of sacks each day. Several collected more
than 10 two-bushel sacks a day during the
30 days they were at work.
Pennsylvania
The Sharpsville, Pa., station of the Balti-
more & Ohio Railroad is being cited as
evidence that some of the so-called “soulless
corporations” are not so soulless after all.
At Sharpsville the railroad company pur-
chased extra land for tracks and a station
in order to allow two beautiful specimens
of the silver leaf maple tree to keep on
growing on the right of way, although by
chopping them down many hundreds of dol-
lars would have been saved.
When the engineers ran their lines into
town the plans called for the tracks to be
laid over the ground now occupied by the
trees. Then some of the officers of the
company inspected the route and discovered
the trees, and some lovers of trees made
pleas for the preservation of the trees.
The pleas were heeded and the engineers
had to run new lines and make plans for
a curved track in order that the trees might
stand undisturbed,
similar condition cannot be found
throughout the country, according to travel-
ling men. It is not uncommon for strangers
to stop and wonder at the sight of the trees
growing between railroad tracks.
Michigan
In his report to the directors of the North-
ern Forest Protective Association, Chief
Forester Thomas B. Wyman, of Michigan,
said that the total loss suffered last year
on lands over which the patrol existed was
less than $6,000. Many fires were extin-
guished in their incipiency.
There are nineteen wardens in the service
FORESTRY
of the association, and it was decided at
the annual meeting to provide mounts for
these men. The mounted forest rangers of
the upper peninsula may, therefore, be ex-
pected to become picturesque figures.
It was the intention of the directors to
raise the tax levy to seven-eights of a cent
an acre, in order to enlarge the scope of
the work of protecting the forests against
fires, but it developed that the increase of
acreage expected the coming year will af-
ford sufficient funds at the old rate of five-
eights of a cent an acre. The committee,
however, reserves the right of calling further
assessments in case the season should be
particularly dry and necessitates additional
precautions.
Massachusetts
The chestnut blight which has made its
appearance in Massachusetts, has resulted in
the placing on the market of considerable
standing chestnut timber which, will become
affected unless it is cut and used. The State
owns as a reserve what is known as “Squaw
peak” on Monument Mountain, and the State
officials have decided that itis the ad-
vantage of the State to dispose of the stand-
ing chestnut that is on this reserve, and a
number of contractors have been figuring on
certain sections of it. There is quite a large
quantity of chestnut timber on the mountain
and most of it will probably be cut off. In-
dividual owners are also becoming alarmed
on account of the blight, and it is probable
that considerable chestnut timber that has
been held for a number of years will be
disposed of within a short time.
New Hampshire
In the interest of further promoting
forestry in the State of New Hampshire,
the State Forest Commission have just issued
an interesting circular, together with infor-
mation that such tree-planted land will be
subject to a tax rebate of 90 per cent the
first 10 years, 80 per cent the next 10 years,
and 50 per cent for the third period of 10
years.
Nearly every farmer or large land owner
has some unproductive land on which he is
paying taxes and getting no return. Such
land, if planted to trees, will increase in
value rapidly. Moreover, forest-planting in
this region is no longer in the experimental
stage. Enough plantations have been made
to demonstrate the success of planting certain
kinds of trees, and experience has developed
cheap methods of planting. In the spring
of 1911 the Forestry Commission distributed
230,000 trees. Reports made by the owners
indicate that about eighty per cent of these
trees survived the extreme drought of last
summer and are growing well.
New Jersey
The New Jersey State Forest Commission
EDUCATIONAL
has been notified that the Postmaster-General
has decided to order rural mail carriers to
keep watch for forest fires and when one
is seen to send word to the nearest fire
warden.
This order is the outcome of a plan first
proposed by the State Fire warden and taken
up by him with the Post Office Department
through the United States Forest Service at
Washington, and is a further endorsement
of the effort the Forest Commission is mak-
ing to provide protection to the woodlands
of the State.
Under the scheme, eacli rural mail carrier
351
will be furnished from Trenton with a list
of the fire wardens in the territory through
which his route runs. Also every fire warden
will be notified of the arrangement and in-
structed to find out which carriers work
in or near his district and let them know
where he can be reached and how word may
be gotten to him in the easiest and quickest
way.
The United States Secretary of Agricul-
ture has notified the Commission that the
fund allotted to New Jersey for forest fire
patrol in 1911, viz. $1,000, will be doubled
for 1912, making the amount $2,000.
EDUCATIONAL
The Biltmore Class
Members of the Biltmore Forest School
class who recently returned from Europe
and spent a week in Washington, together
with the alumni of the school in the various
branches of the Forest Service, gave an in-
formal smoker on Wednesday, April 17, at
a Washington hotel. Besides the alumni
and members of the class a number of prom-
inent men were present.
After a most profitable instructive and
interesting six months in Germany the class
of thirty-five under the tutelage of Dr. C.
A. Schenck returned at the end of March
and then spent two weeks at Tupper Lake
in the Adirondacks. From Washington they
went to Newburn, S. C., and from there they
go to Sunburst, near Asheville, and on to
Cadillac, Mich., where they will spend the
greater part of the summer. From there
they go to Oregon, later returning East by
way of Texas and Louisiana.
New Head for Forest School
Professor William Darrow Clark has been
selected to fill the vacancy, due to the resig-
nation of Dr. Hugh P. Baker, at “Penn
State” Forest School. Professor Clark is
especially qualified to succeed as head of this
important Forest School and we prophesy
a continuation of the success which the
school has achieved in the past. Professor
Clark is a graduate of the Yale Forest
School, Class of ’09, and has served an ap-
prenticeship in the United States Forest
Service. In September of 1909 he accepted
an appointment as Assistant Professor of
Forestry in the “Penn State” Forest School,
where he has demonstrated his worth as
teacher and executive. Kind and generous,
yet with a keen sense of right and justice,
he is a favorite with faculty and students
alike, holding the respect and esteem of all.
With the change in her curriculum, the
“Penn State” Forest School offers a four
year undergraduate course unsurpassed in
the United States. Following the Sopho-
more year the students are given two months
of field work on a 20,000-acre tract of vir-
gin white pine in the western part of the
State. Here are taken up the subjects of
Mensuration, Surveying, Silviculture and
Systematic Botany. A large mill in the im-
mediate neighborhood offers opportunity for
studies in mill scale and simliar work. Fol-
lowing the Junior year the students are given
an opportunity to spend a summer in the
Forest Service or in the Forestry. Depart-
ment of one of the several States. In ad-
dition to this practical experience, the entire
second semester of the Senior year is spent
in the woods of the South and every facility
is offered for a broad and comprehensive
study of Lumbering and Management. This
makes a total of about ten months practical
work during the four-year course, sufficient
time for a perfect correlation of theory and
practice.
There are more than one hundred and
fifty students enrolled in the forestry course
and the present graduating class numbers
thirty. Many of these men hope to enter
the Forest Service, but an equal number are
planning on private work in forestry; as
timber estimators, woods agents, railroad
foresters, park superintendents, and city for-
esters.
A New Ranger Course
The Department of Forestry of Colorado
College (Colorado School of Forestry), an-
nounces that it wil! establish a one-year
ranger course next fall. The purpose of
this course is to give practical instruction
to rangers or to those interested in ranger
work. Such a course should ultimately im-
prove greatly the efficiency of the ranger
force on the National Forests. Engineering,
estimating, silviculture, mensuration, grazing,
and fire protection will be emphasized and
there will be instruction in other subjects
of practical usefulness in the Rocky Moun-
tain Region. The course will be conducted
352
largely in the field—from September 10 to
December 1, and from April 1 to June 28,
on the College Reserve at Manitou Park.
From December 1 to April 1, the course will
be conducted at Colorado Springs.
The installation of this course is the re-
sult of the success of the ten-weeks ranger
course given last winter.
At the same time the proportion of field
work in the regular two-year technical course
is to be greatly increased. The students will
be at Manitou Park the same time as the
rangers.
Ranger Course Closes
The students of the first ranger school
finished their work in the department of
Forestry at the University of Idaho on Fri-
day, March 8. Thirteen students registered
‘for this course, two of whom are already
employed as rangers in the Forest Service;
two others have decided to remain in the
forest school and complete the entire four-
AMERICAN FORESTRY
year course. The others will endeavor to
secure employment in forestry work during
the summer and either return to pursue
additional forestry courses in the autumn
or take the rangers examinations and enter
-he Government Service permanently.
Mr. Start’s Position
Edwin A. Start, for three years past the
secretary of the American Forestry Asso-
ciation, has gone to Seattle, where he be-
came the director of the university exten-
sion work in the University of Washington.
Mr, Start has done notable service in the
forestry association for nearly ten years,
having been secretary of the Massachusetts
association before taking up the larger post.
The position in the Northwest is a large
one, the university having 3,000 students and
having grown the last ten years with great
speed. It is interesting that it was begun
when the city had only one hundred and
forty-nine inhabitants.
CURRENT LITERATURE
MONTHLY LIST FOR APRIL, 1912
(Books and periodicals indexed in the
Library of the United States
Forest Service)
Forestry as a Whole
Noyes, William. Wood and forest. 309 p.
il. Peoria, Ill, The manual arts press,
1912.
Bibliographies
Stockbridge, Helen E., comp. A bibliography
of the southern Appalachian and White
Mountain regions. 82 p. Wash., D. C.,
Society of American foresters, 1911.
Proceedings and reports of associations, for-
est officers, etc.
Canada—Dept. of the interior—Forestry
branch. Report of the Superintendent
of forestry, (1337p) jal.) ‘Ottawa, 1911'
Massachusetts—State forester. Eighth an-
nual report. 1911. 145 p. pl. Boston,
1912.
Schlesischer forestverein. Jahrbuch fiir 1911.
198 p. Breslau, 1912.
Union of South Africa—Forest department.
Report of the chief conservator of for-
ests for the year ending 31st December,
1910. 30 p. pl. Cape Town, 1911.
Forest Education
Arbor day
New Jersey—Public instruction, Dept. of.
Arbor day, 1912. 31 p. Trenton, N. J.,
1912.
Forest schools
Harvard university—School of forestry.
Prospectus, 1912-13. 24 p, ‘il. Cam-
bridge, Mass., 1912.
Forest Description
Holmes, J. S. Forest conditions in western
North Carolina. 116 p. pl. maps.
Raleigh, N. C., 1911. (N. C. Geological
and economic survey. Bulletin 23.)
Forest Botany
Trees: classification and description
Maiden, J. H. The forest flora of New
South Wales, pt. 46. 22 p. pl. Sydney,
Govt. printer, 1911.
Seton, Ernest Thompson. ‘The forester’s
manual, or, The forest trees of eastern
North America. 141 p. il. Garden
City, N. Y., Doubleday, Pase & Co.,
1912.
Silviculture
Planting
Perez, G. V. and) Jahandiez, , Recherches
sur la germination des graines de
genévrier. 3 p. Toulon, Imp. Mouton,
1912.
Forest Protection
Insects
Stebbing, E. P. On some important insect
pests of the conifere of the Himalaya
with notes on some insects predaceous
and parasitic upon them. 39 p._ pl.
Calcutta, Supt. govt. printing, 1911. ( In-
dian forest memoirs, Forest zoology
SETIES, 'V./2 pt.) 2.)
CURRENT LITERATURE
Diseases
Chestnut tree bark disease conference. Res-
olutions adopted at MHarrisburg, Pa.,
Feb. 21, 1912. [3] p. Harrisburg, Pa.,
1912.
Heald, Frederick D., and Wolf, Frederick
A plant-disease survey in the vicin-
ity of San Antonio, Texas. 129 p. il.
pi. |’ Wash; Dy. Cemgiar CU) S.—Agri-
culture, Dept. of-—Plant industry, Bu-
reau of. Bulletin 226.)
Spaulding, Perley, and Field, Ethel C. Two
dangerous imported plant diseases. 29 p.
il. Wash., D. C., 1912. (U. S—Agri-
culture, Dept. of. Farmers’ bulletin
489.)
Forest management
United States—Agriculture, Dept. of—For-
est service. Assistance to private own-
ers in the practice of forestry. 8 p.
Wash., D. C., 1912. (Circular 203.)
Forest mensuration
Fankhauser, Franz. Praktische anleitung zur
holzmassenaufnahme ftr unterforster,
bannwarte, privatwaldbesitzer und holz-
industrielle. 105 p. Bern, Fr. Semmin-
ger vorm. J. Heuberger’s verlag, 1909.
Forest Economics
Statistics
Alsace-Lorraine—Abteilung ftir finanzen,
handel und domiinen. Beitriige zur
forststatistik von Elsass-Lothringen, hit.
29, 1910. 130 p. Strassburg, 1912.
Forest Administration
National and state forests
United States—Interior, Dept. of the. Rules
and regulations for the sale and use of
timber upon the unreserved public lands
in the district of Alaska. 5 p. Wash.,
De C1912. 1(Cinculamesos)
Forest Utilization
Burdon, FE. R. The study of timber and
forest products in America: a report
presented to the forestry committee of
the University of Cambridge. 24 p.
Cambridge, Eng., University press, 1912.
Wood using industries
Gould, Clark W. and Maxwell, Hu. The
wood-using industries of Mississippi. 12
p. New Orleans, Lumber trade jr.,,
1912.
Hatch, Charles F. and Maxwell, Hu. Wood-
using industries of Missouri. 16 p. St.
Louis, Mo. St. Louis lumberman, 1912.
Red cedar shingle manufacturers’ associ-
ation. The red cedar shingle. 18 p. il.
Seattle, Wash., 1912.
United States—Agriculture, Dept. of—Forest
service. Paper pulps from various for-
est woods; experimental data and speci-
mens of soda and sulphite pulps, com-
piled by Henry E. Surface. 29 p. 55 pl.
Wash., D. C., 1912.
353
Forest by-products
Singh, Puran. Memorandum on the oil
value of some sandal woods from
Madras. 11 p. Calcutta, 1911. (India—
Forest dept. Forest bulletin, n. s., no.
6
J
Singh, Puran. Note on the chemistry and
trade forms of lac. 20 p. Calcutta, 1911.
(India—Forest dept. Forest bulletin, n
Senor 72)
Auxiliary Subjects
Botany
Griffiths, David. The grama grasses, Boute-
loua and related genera. 86 p. il., pl.
Wash., D. C., 1912. (Smithsonian insti-
tution-—United States national museum.
Contributions from U. S. national her-
barium, v. 14, pt. 3.)
Schneider, Albert. Pharmacal plants and
their culture. 175 p. Sacramento, Cal-
ifornia, 1912. (California—Forestry,
State board of.
Agriculture
Fisher, Martin L. and Cotton, Fassett A.
Agriculture for common schools. 381 p.
il. N. Y., Chas. Scribner’s sons, 1910.
Clearing of land
Thompson, Harry. Cost and methods of
clearing land in western Washington.
Bulletin 2.)
60. p. 1... Wash, C., 1912) GUS" S—
Agriculture, Dept. of—Plant industry,
Bureau of. Bulletin 239.)
Water power
United States—Commerce and labor, Dept.
of—Corporations, Bureau of. Report on
water-power development in the United
States 220) Da inapser Washi Dyn @
1911.
Periodical Articles
Miscellaneous periodicals
Agricultural journal of the Union of South
Africa, Feb. 1912.—Forestry for farm-
ers, by G. A. Wilmot, p. 8.
Botanical gazette, Jan. 1912—An isolated
prairie grove and its phytogeographical
significance, by H. A. Gleason, p. 38-49.
Breeders’ gazette, March 13, 1912.—Erosion
of agricultural lands by J. C. Pridmore,
p. 647-8.
Country life in America, March 15, 1912.—
The cheapest house; the log cabin, by
A. R. Ellis, p. 39-41.
Gardners chronicle, March 2, 1912.—The
giant cypress of Formosa, by A. Henry,
p. 132-3.
House beautiful, Jan. 1912.—The gentle art
of pruning, by E. B. Clark, p. 58-60.
Outing, March 1912.—Sugar trees and honev
trees, by E. P. Powell, p. 700-5.
Scientific American. March 16, 1912—The
chestnut tree blight; an incurable dis-
ease that has destroyed millions of dol-
lars worth of trees, p. 241-2.
Scientific American supplement, Jan. 27,
1912.—The kola tree and its seed, p. 51.
354
World to-day, Feb. 1912.—Mysterious octo-
pus, the lumber trust, by Cc. E. Russell,
p. 1735-50.
Trade journals and consular reports
American lumberman, March 16, 1912. How
railways can take measures to prevent
forest fires, by G. E. Marshall, p. 46 D;
Timber in Australia, by L. C. Moore,
Bato be
AuicHead lumberman, March 30, 1912.—
Utilization of waste, by J. M. Gibbs, p.
46 B-C; Various ways of utilizing saw-
dust, by C. W. R. Eichoff, p. 47. |
Barrel and box, March 1912.—The price of
lumber, by R. S. Kellogg, p. 53-5. :
Canada lumberman, March 15, 1912.—Fire
fighting, by J. F. Kimball, p. 44-5.
Canada lumberman, April 1, 1912—lDLumber
industry in New Brunswick, p. 28-9;
Keeping fire out of forest reserves, by
H. R. Macmillan, p. 38-9; Passing of the
amateur ranger, p. 40-1.
Engineering news, April 4, 1912.—Preserva-
tion of power transmission poles, by W.
R. Wheaton, p. 624-5; The timber sup-
ply, and the railways, p. 642-4.
Engineering record, Jan, 20, 1912.—Various
features of wood preservation, p. 76-81.
Engineering record, Feb. 10, 1912.—Creosoted
wood block pavement with cement grout
filler, by A. J. Schafmayer, p. 153-4.
Hardwood record, March 25, 1912.—Lum-
bering in the West Indies, by H. C.
Kluge, p. 29-31.
Hardwood record, April 10, 1912.—Evolution
in lumber seasoning, p. 29-31; Wood
composite flooring, p. 37-8.
Lumber trade journal, March 15, 1912—The
wood-using industries of Mississippi, by
C. W. Gould and H. Maxwell, p. 19-29.
Lumber trade journal, April 1, 1912.—Mis-
sissippis freak land taxation measure,
p. 36.
Lumber world review, March 25, 1912.—
Efficient forestry methods, by J. L.
Bridge, p. 17; The use of wood in [lli-
nois, by R. S. Kellogg, p. 24, 27.
Mississippi Valley lumberman, March 29,
1912.Forest industry, by E. T. Allen,
p. 42-3; Experiments in wood preserva-
tion; work being done at the Forest
Service laboratory at Madison, Wis.,
p. 43.
New York lumber trade journal, March 15,
1912.—Forestry committee report, Na-
tional wholesale lumber dealers’ associ-
ation, p. 55-6.
Paper trade journal, March 7, 1912.—Paper
making in the south, by E. S. Farwell,
p. 40, 44.
Paper trade journal, March 28, 1912—A log
loader, p. 44; Manufacture of cellulose
eo wood, by FE. L. Rinman, p. 48, 56,
6
Paper trade journal, April 4, 1912—Remov-
ing bark from logs, p. 44, 48, 50.
Pioneer western lumberman, March 15, 1912.
—Replanting cut-over lands, p. 28.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Pioneer western lumberman, April 1, 1912.—
California conservation commission and
timber taxation, p. 21-5.
Pulp and paper magazine, March 1912.—The
degradation of mechanical wood pulp
during storage, by F. Barnes, p. 80-4.
St. Louis lumberman, March 15, 1912.—Re-
lation of railroads to the lumber indus-
try, by B. F. Bush, p. 54-5; The wood-
using industries of Missouri, by C. F.
Hatch and H. Maxwell, p. 68-83; Types
and uses of the “American” log loader,
p. 90 A-B.
St. Louis lumberman, April 1, 1912.—The
Black forest; Biltmore doings, p. 44.
Southern industrial and lumber review,
March 1912.—A splendid presentation of
wood paving, p. 28, 80-1.
Southern lumberman, March 23, 1912.—Re-
cent experiments in distillation of wood
at government laboratory, v. 30.
Southern lumberman, April 13, 1912.—For-
est fire problem in southern states, chief
topic discussed at notable conference of
foresters and lumbermen at Nashville,
p. 32-5; Forest problem in the south, by
H. S. Graves, p. 35; Waste of forest re-
sources by insects, by A. D, Hopkins, p.
36-8; Methods of combating the south-
ern pine beetle, by E. B. Mason, p. 38.
Timber trade journal, March 30, 1912.—Cut-
ting wrest planks, p. 446; The export
wood trade of Russia, p. 481-526; The
Safveans Aktiebolag; scientific box mak-
ing, p. 532-3; Review of the timber trade
of 1911, p. 561-626; Lumber trade of
Sweden, 1911, p. 627-38; Lumber trade
of Norway, 1911, p. 639; Lumber trade
of Finland, 1911, p. 641; Lumber trade
of Austria-Hungary, 1911, p. 642; Lum-
ber trade of Canada, 1911, p. 643-5;
Lumber trade of the United States, 1911,
p. 646-7; Lumber trade of Germany,
Spain, Holland and France, 1911, p.
648-9; Recent improvements in power
and its transmission, by M. P. Bale, p.
651-4: Sawmill machinery made by
British manufacturers, p. 655-94.
United States daily consular report, April 5,
1912.—_The extensive German forests, by
A. M. Thackara, p. 71.
United States daily consular report, April 13,
1912—Shade-tree planting in Prussian
city, by F. D. Hill, p. 188.
West Coast lumberman, March 1912.—Cre-
osoted block paving, bv G. Winslow, p.
389-90.
Wood craft, April 1912—The economical
piling of lumber, by J. F. Hobart, p. 4-6;
Working in rare and valuable woods, by
G. E. Walsh, p. 24-5.
Forest journals
Allegemeine forst- und jagd-zeitung, Jan.
1912.—Die standortsuntersuchung beim
forstlichen versuchswesen, by Leistner,
p. 1-3; Einige untersuchungsverfahren,
p. 3-11; Zur zinseszinsrechnung, by
Fischer, p. 11-19.
CURRENT LITERATURE
Allegemeine forst- und jagd-zeitung, Feb.
1912—Wald und wild by Jurgens, p.
45-7.
Bulletin de la Société centrale forestiére de
Belgique, Feb. 1912—Commerce de bois
dans l’empire austro-hongrois, by H. de
Laubespin, p. 78-94.
Bulletin de la Société centrale forestiére de
Belgique, March 1912.—L/amélioration
et Pextension des foréts au point de vue
du régime des eaux, by O. Richir, p.
139-151.
Canada forestry journal, Jan-Feb. 1912.—
The thirteenth annual convention, p. 1-22;
La forét, la température et le régime des
pluies, p. 25-6.
Centralblatt fiir das gesamte forstwesen, Jan.
1912.—Das verschwinden der eichenwal-
dungen und die bedeutung des eichen-
holzes fiir die brauindustrie, by H. Jirsik,
p. 16-23; Bodenrentenlehre und um-
triebsregel des jahrlichen betriebes, by
C. Hub, p. 23-9; Die wirtschaftlichen
verhiiltnisse Japans, by J. M., p. 45-50;
Anpassung des eichhérnchens an grosse
spriinge, by R. Kowarzik, p. 50-1.
Centralblatt fiir das gesamte forstwesen, Feb.
1912.—Einige beziehungen zwischen wald
und wasser, by J. Sigmond, p. 55-69;
Uber die notwendigkeit einer auffor-
stungsaktion im hoheren bohmischen
Erzgebirge, p. 93-6.
Forestry quarterly, March 1912.—Method of
taking impressions of year-rings in con-
ifers, by L. S. Higgs, p. 1-2; New tools
for transplanting conifers, by W.
Mast, p, 3-8; Scientific management and
the lumber business; a possible field for
foresters, by E. Braniff, p. 9-14;
Boom areas, by A. M. Carter, p. 15-16;
Reproduction of lodgepole pine in rela-
tion to its management, by N. C. Brown,
p. 17-23; Progress in sales of fire-killed
timber in Idaho and Montana, by W. B.
Greeley, p. 24-6; Results of direct seed-
ing in the Black Hills, by J. Murdock,
p. 32; Operations under the Weeks law
in the southern Appalachians and White
Mts., p. 33-7; Permanent sample plots,
by T. S. Woolsey, p. 38-44; Some needs
in forestry education, by H. P. Baker, p.
45-9; Management of western yellow
pine in the southwest, by B. Moore, p.
51-6.
Forstwesenschaftliches _ centralblatt, Feb.
1912.—Ueber die beziehungen zwischen
der massen und der geldverzinsung in
hochwaldbetriebsklassen, by Eberbach, ».
77-80; Die diirre des letzten sommers im
walde, by Krug, p. 81-9.
Forstwesenschaftliches centralblatt, March
1912.—Aus den nordischen wiildern des
Europaischen Russlands, p. 150-60.
Hawaiian forester and agriculturist, Feb.
1912.Forestry at the sugar planters’
meeting, p. 62-5; Notes on some Hono-
lulu palms, by V. MacCaughey, p. 66-74.
355
Indian forest records, Oct. 1911—The host
plants of the sandal tree, by K. Rao, p.
159-207.
Indian forester, Feb. 1912—The calculation
of the yield by the number of trees un-
der the selection system, by R. S. Troup,
p. 75-84; New forest legislation in Italy,
p. 110-13.
North woods, Feb. 1912.—The conference
with the railroads, p. 6-10; How to set
apart the state’s non-agricultural lands
for forestry purposes, by C. C. Andrews,
p. 10-14.
Revue des eaux et foréts, March 1, 1912.—
La critique de l’ecole de Nancy, by C.
Guyot, p. 129-37.
Schweizerische zeitschrift ftir forstwesen,
Jan. 1912—Zur bestimmung des ab-
standes von einbauten beim lawinenver-
bau, by F. Fankhauser, p. 11-21; Hitze-
risse, by F. Fankhauser, p. 21-6.
Schweizerische zeitschrift ftir forstwesen,
Feb. 1912.—Die behandlung der gebirgs-
wiilder im bereich von eisenbahnen, p.
37-45; Die witterung des jahres 1911 in
der Schweiz, by R. Billwiller, p. 45-54.
Tharander forstliches jahrbuch, 1911.—Un-
tersuchung des standortes der forstlichen
versuchsflachen in den kgl. sachs. fors-
trevieren Lauter abt, 19 und Reudnitz
abt. 13, by K. Leistner, p. 143-91; Die
forstwirtschaft Schwedens, by F. Die-
penhorst, p. 192-216; Zur_ ermittelung
des zulangens der nahrstoffe im wald-
boden, by H. Vater, p. 217-71; Gesetze,
verordnungen und _ dienstanweisungen
welche auf das forstwesen bezug haben,
fiir das Konigreich Sachsen, 1910, by
Flemming, comp., p. 273-309.
Tharander forstliches jahrbuch, 1912.—Das
licht als produktionsfaktor in der forst-
wirtschaft, by R. Beck, p. 4-28; Die
dkonomischen aufgaben der forstwirt-
schaft mit besonderer beriicksichtigung
der preussischen staatsforsten, by Mar-
tin, p. 40-58; Einiges vom waldmantel;
ans der sdchsischen forsteinrichtungs-
praxis, by Deicke, p. 64-78.
Zeitschrift fiir forst- und jagdwesen, Jan.
1912.Bodenuntersuchungen im gebiete
der Liineburger heide, by R. Albert, p.
2-10; Aus dem grossherzogtum Olden-
burg, by Guse, p. 10-15: Zur wirtschaft-
lichen interpretation der bodenertrags-
wertformel, by E. Ostwald, p. 16-20;
Einige bemerkungen zur provenienz-
frage, by A. Orlowsky, p. 20-6; Rabat-
tenkulturen und ihre erfolge, by Emil
Stolze, p. 26-33.
Zeitschrift fiir forst- und jagdwesen, Feb.
1912.—Unsere holzeinfuhr und ihr
zusammenhang mit der allgemeinen
wirtschaftlichen lage, by Schilling, p.
85-95; Alte und neue verfahren der
anlage gemischter bestiinde, by Kienitz,
p. 96-105; Die reinertrage der forsten
und der grundsteuereinertrag, by Buhr,
p. 105-9.
356 AMERICAN FORESTRY
Plans have been completed for the annual meeting of the National Lumber Manu-
facturers’ Association at Cincinnati on May 7 and 8, and a number of prominent speakers
will read papers and make addresses on subjects of tmportance,
At the twenty-sixth annual meeting of the Lumbermen’s Exchange of Philadelphia, W.
T. Betts was elected president; Benjamin Stooker, vice-president; Charles P. Maule,
treasurer,
John Muir recently found in the forests of Brazil along the Parana a large number of
araucarias, called by the natives Brazilian pine, and growing 120 feet tall. The foliage of
the trees was in bunches at the tops. The spines on the trees prevent the monkeys from
climbing them and they are called “monkey puzzles.”
A final warning in regard to the pine beetle has been issued by Dr. A. D. Hopkins, of
the United States Bureau of Entomology, who announces that infested trees may safely be
destroyed until May 1, but that after that time felling of live or dead pine timber will only
aggravate the ravages of the pine beetle.
American Forestry
VOL. XVIII
JUNE, 1912 No. 6
EXTINCT VOLCANOES OF NORTHEAST NEW
MEXICO
Bye WWiniTs. Vo LEE
RAVELERS over the Santa Fe
route in .Colorado and New
Mexico are probably all familiar
with the striking scenic features near
Raton Pass. @ChietWamone these 1s
Fisher’s Peak, the most conspicuous
object in view as one approaches Trini-
dad. It is an impressive mass of rock
that rises more than 3,500 feet above
the city, where the traveler stops for
refreshment and where the engine that
has raced for hours over the plain re-
tires and gives place to fresh ones that
pant and throb with impatience for
the long climb over the pass. This
peak, which by the way is not a peak
at all, but is the point of a flat-topped
table-land known as Raton Mesa, has
a pointed appearance when viewed
from below, because of the angle of
observation. It is the northwestern ex-
tremity of a volcanic region stretching
eastward through southern Colorado
and northeastern New Mexico into Ok-
lahoma, a distance of more than 80
miles. It is far removed from the
Rocky Mountains, its western extrem-
ity being nearly 50 miles from the foot-
hills.
This region contains many unique
and attractive scenic features, but for
the most part these lie at considerable
distances from ordinary lines of trans-
portation, and because they are in a
sparsely settled and little known part
of the country almost nothing is known
of them by the general public. The
volcanic activity of former times is
evidenced in this region by the pres-
Published by permission of the Director ofthe U. S.
ence ols ereat; sheets: of lava, “dilkes.
plugs, intrusive sills, conical mountains
of igneous rock obviously of volcanic
origin but without depressions at their
summits indicative of craters, and
other mountains which are unques-
tionably volcanic but wanting in the
symmetry of form that usually char-
acterizes a volcano.
The lava flows date back to some
unknown period whose antiquity it is
quite useless to speculate upon. Since
the time of the flow of which Fisher’s
Peak constitutes a part, erosion has
removed from the country to the north
rocks about 3,500 feet thick. The mesa
maintains its form because of the su-
perior hardness of the igneous rock at
the top. This covering varies in thick-
ness from 100 feet or less to 500 or 600
feet. It was not formed by a single
welling out of molten rock, but by
many successive flows. It consists of
numerous sheets, probably separated by
long intervals of time, and were the
history of the lavas known it would
doubtless prove to be a long and va-
ried one, extending over centuries of
time; and yet, as compared with the
duration of time that the volcanic
forces have been active here, the for-
mation of the lava sheet seems like a
single event. The surfaces of these
great mesa flows are more or less ir-
regular, and from them rise such ele-
vations as Red Mountain and Town-
drow Peak. The summit of the latter
rises about 450 feet above the general
Geological Survey.
=~)
ise)
or
958 AMERICAN
PORES TRY
FISHER’S PEAK AS SEEN FROM NEAR TRINIDAD, COLO.; A PART OF THE RATON MESA
STANDING 3,500 FEET ABOVE
level of the mesa and Red Mountain is
considerably higher. These elevations
have the conical form of volcanoes,
but if they ever possessed craters all
evidences of them have been destroyed.
The older and more extensive sheets
of lava are supposed to be products of
fissure eruption. The molten rock
welled up through great cracks in which
the lava finally solidified, giving rise to
the dikes now exposed in the eroded
areas surrounding the mesas. In some
places also the lava was extruded
through relatively small pipes. In these
pipes the lava consolidated and inas-
much as it is harder than the rocks
through which it found passage, it has
not been eroded so fast as the soft
rock surrounding it, and the solidified
filling of the pipes now protrude from
the surface as “plugs” such as Water-
vale Buite.
After the first group of lava flows
had been formed, there seems to have
THE
POINT OF OBSERVATION.
been a cessation of volcanic activity
and the lavas were attacked by ero-
sion. The sheets were cut through
and great quantities of them, as well as
of the older rocks, were eroded away.
Then the dormant forces became ac-
tive again and other lava sheets were
formed in the degraded areas below
the older sheets. The younger lavas,
at least in part, issued from volcanic
vents and the volcanoes formed about
these vents still remain, but in their
turn these lavas were attacked by ero-
sion and deeply dissected before still
later eruptions occurred, resulting in
the recent flows and in such perfect
cinder cones as Mount Capulin and
others illustrated in this paper, a dozen
or more of which were formed.
There were three well-marked peri-
ods of volcanism in this region sep-
arated by long periods of time and
doubtless numerous less well-marked
EXTINCT VOLCANOES OF NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO
359
CAPULIN MOUNTAIN, AN EXTINCT VOLCANO OF RECENT ORIGIN, NEAR FOLSOM, N. M.,
AS SEEN FROM THE TOP OF A NEIGHBORING VOLCANIC PEAK FIVE MILES AWAY.
THE CINDER CONE RISES NEARLY 1,500 FEET ABOVE THE PLAIN.
periods will be recognized when the
region is studied in detail. Three peri-
ods are well illustrated in the canyon of
the Dry Cimarron, where the rim of the
canyon consists of lava belonging to one
of the ancient sheets. This sheet was
eroded and the canyon cut down nearly
to its present depth when a fiocd of
lava was poured into it probably from
the crater of Mount Emery, an extinct
volcano standing about a mile south
ef the Cimarron. The sheet thus
formed within the canyon was later
partly eroded away. ‘The bed of the
canyon was lowered slightly below its
present level when a great stream of
lava, presumably from Capulin, flowed
down the canyon for a distance of
about 27 miles filling the stream bed
and overflowing it in some _ places,
spreading to the confining walls of the
canyon. The surface of this youngest
lava constitutes the present floor of the
canyon.
Just as there are three conspicuous
and well-defined periods of lava flow
in this region, so are there three dis-
tinct groups of extinct volcanoes which
correspond in time, in a general way,
to the lava flows. The oldest’ is repre-
sented by Sierra Grande which is the
only one of this group known to the
writer; the second, by Robinson,
Emery, and half a dozen unnamed
peaks; and the youngest group by Cap-
ulin, the Horseshoe, and a large but
undetermined number of volcanic cones
of recent origin.
THE SIERRA GRANDE
Sierra Grande forms one of the
most conspicuous geographic features
of the volcanic region of northeastern
New Mexico. It is a conical mountain
of volcanic origin, about 10 miles south
of Folsom, New Mexico, standing
AMERICAN
360
alone on the great plain, which toward
the east, south, and west stretches
away nearly level as far as the eye can
reach. It is the largest and probably
the oldest of the extinct volcanoes in
the region described. If there are
older volcanic mountains the evidence
of their extrusive origin has not been
.ound. Its altitude is given on some
of the maps as 11,150 feet, but my
aneroid registered little more than
8,000 feet at the top. The cone is
nearly circular in outline and the slopes
of the sides are gentle. There is a
fairly well-marked crater at the sum-
mit, but one side is broken down, leav-
ing a crescent-shaped rim enclosing the
old crater which was estimated to be
half a mile across. This rim is gently
rounded at the top, and its breadth in
some places is quarter of a mile or
more.
The rock is dark colored andesitic
lava varying in character from vesic-
ular to compact. No cinders or scori-
aceous material was found on the
outslopes, but beds of red cinders occur
within the crater. The slopes seem to
be made up of successive flows of lava
having approximately the same gradi-
ent as the mountain slopes, so that the
mass seems to be composed of con-
centric layers like an onion. The outer
edge appears to be lobed, due to the
extension of some flows beyond the
limit of others, but this character was
noted only from a distance. No evi-
dence of explosive action was found
in Sierra Grande. The character of
the rock and the gradient established
by its flows indicate a volcano of quiet
action in which the lava poured over
the rim or broke through the side with-
out violent demonstration as that from
Kilauea does at the present time.
Canyons have been cut to a depth
of 200 feet or more in the sides of
sierra Grande. Erosion to such a
depth in hard andesitic rock in a semi-
arid region where the only water avail-
able for erosive work is the slight
amount that falls on an isolated cone, is
evidence of a long period of time. No
canyons at all comparable to those of
Sierra Grande were found on other vol-
FORB ST RY
canic cones of this region. This, to-
gether with the subdued form of the
cone and the rounded contours of its
surface, seems to place Sierra Grande
in a class apart from the other volcanic
mountains of the region and to prove
that it is the oldest of the cones now
known to be of extrusive origin.
ROBINSON MOUNTAIN
Robinson is the name given to a vol-
canic mountain located about 7 miles
southwest of Folsom, New Mexico, It
has an altitude of about 8,000 feet, but
inasmuch as the cone rests upon a
broad and rather high mesa it 1s much
less conspicuous than the neighboring
mountains of about the same altitude.
The sides of the cone are steep in some
places, but on the whole the approach
to the summit is easy. There is a well-
defined depression in the summit but
the confining rim is broken away on
one side so that the crater has a cirque-
like form. The rock is highly scoriaceous
and much of it has the character some-
times known as “rock foam,” that 1s,
the gas cavities constitute so large a
proportion of the rock that it will float
in water like a cork. In some of this
rock the gas cavities are so uniform in
size and so regularly distributed that
some people who are ignorant of its
origin call it petrified honeycomb.
The fact that Robinson Mountain
is younger than Sierra Grande and
older than Capulin is proved in several
ways. Although composed of rocks
much softer than that of Sierra
Grande, it has not been so deeply dis-
sected by erosion and it rests on a
lava platform much lower than the
lavas of the high mesas that resulted
from the earlier volcanic eruptions. On
the other hand, the platform is much
higher than that on which Capulin
stands, and the rounded outlines and
soil-covered surface are in marked con-
trast with the rough, angular outlines
and fresh appearance of the “mal pais”
surrounding the younger cones.
CAPULIN MOUNTAIN
Capulin is the name given to a mag-
nificent example of extinct volcano near
EXTINCT VOLCANOES OF NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO 361
CAPULIN MOUNTAIN AS SEEN FROM THE PLAIN BELOW IT.
Folsom, New Mexico, about 30 miles
southeast of Raton. Until recently it
has been readily accessible only from
Folsom, a small town on the Colorado
and Southern Railway, but recently a
railroad has been constructed from
Raton eastward which passes within
three miles of the summit. The moun-
tain has an altitude of about 8,000 feet
or about 1,500 feet above the general
level of the plain on which it stands.
There is a broad platform at its base
built up by successive flows of lava,
and on this platform rests a_steep-
sided crater cone nearly circular in
outline and probably a mile and a half
in diameter at the base, having a well-
defined crater at its summit. The bot-
tom of the crater is about 75 feet lower
than the lowest part of the rim and
about 275 feet lower than the highest
part lite “diameter qfromi rita -to- min
was estimated at 1,500 feet.
The lava platform on which the cone
stands is composed of scoriaceous,
ropy lava evidently extruded from
Capulin in the early stages of its vol-
canic activity, in successive flows sep-
arated by considerable periods of time.
Some of the older lavas where they
were not covered by more recent ones
have decomposed at the surface form-
ing a thin layer of soil in which grass
and shrubs have taken root. Some of
the younger flows have all the ear-
marks of recent origin. They are very
slightly decomposed, are scoriaceous
and ropy, and have fractured crust,
cavernous openings, blister cones, etc.
In short, they form typical ‘‘mal pais.”
The appearance of the nearly vertical
faces of some of the more recent flows
suggests a rapidly advancing tidal wave
frozen in transit. As the surface of
the molten rock cooled the solid crust
at the advancing front was fractured
and rolled under, and when the whole
mass ceased to move this rolling front
stopped in the position seen at the pres-
ent time. In some places where the
nearly vertical front is 25 to 30 feet
high, scarcely a block has fallen from
it, so recently was it formed.
362 AMERICAN FORESTRY
AS “BLISTER CONEY Al LEE
It is probable that in its early stages
Capulin was a much broader volcano
than its present cone would lead one
to believe. The quantity of material
outpoured would seem to require a
very large vent. Lava that would flow
27 miles before it congealed, as in the
case of the flow down the Dry Cimar-
ron, would seem to require a larger
crater than the one now in evidence in
Capulin Mountain. Furthermore, there
are remnants of what may have been
an old crater rim outside of the pres-
ent cone. The crater cone is composed
in part of flow lava, in part of ce-
mented breccia, and in part of uncon-
solidated cinders. The cinders are
rather fine and make climbing difficult,
inasmuch as one’s feet sink ankle deep
into them at every step. The occur-
rence of these loose cinders in the sides
of the mountain where the conditions
for rapid erosion are most favorable
speaks rather eloquently of the recency
of the eruptions that extruded them.
The formation of the cinder cone was
the last and relatively feeble effort of
the dying forces, but although it is
surrounded by several small craters, no
solfataras, hot springs or other evi-
dences of slumbering fires have been
found.
BASE OF CAPULIN MOUNTAIN.
“MAL PAIS”
Near Capulin, as in many other
places in the volcanic region, there are
extensive sheets of fresh lava, which
in New Mexico are ordinarily called
mal pais, a name meaning “bad coun-
try.” The appropriateness of this
name becomes forcefully evident when
one attempts to cross a field of fresh
lava. It is said by some that the name
was applied years ago by soldiers who
had been sent to fight the Indians. No
hoofed animal can make its way for
any considerable distance over fresh
mal pais, for the knife-like edges of
the lava cut its hoofs to pieces in a
short time. Knowing this fact, the In-
dians, when chased by cavalrymen,
took refuge in the lava fields where
they were acquainted with the tortuous
trails that led through the mal pais.
The cavalrymen could not follow these,
and once off the trail their horses were
soon disabled.
There were probably reasons other
than safety why the Indians frequented
the mal pais fields. Small caves are
numerous, formed by the still fluid lava
flowing from beneath a _ hardening
crust. These caves afforded shelter
for the savages. Smaller cavities offer
shelter for rabbits that inhabit the mal
pais fields in countless myriads. These
BXTINGT VOLCANOES OF NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO
363
HORSESHOE MOUNTAIN, A VOLCANIC CINDER CONE OF RECENT ORIGIN, NEAR
CAPULIN MOUNTAIN.
in turn attracted wolves, wild cats, and
other savage animals, as well as savage
men, so that good hunting was afforded
as well as safe habitation. Also, the
cavernous “mal pais” has the power of
this semi-arid region, and springs of
pure water often occur in or near it,
although in other kinds of rock in the
same region the springs may be very
poor or wholly wanting.
BLISTER CONES
Blister cone is a name applied to cer-
tain elevated parts of the surface of
mal pais. They are often) conical,
globular, or elliptical, and consist of
irregularly shaped blocks of lava. In
the more perfect ones these blocks are
arranged in symmetrical order as if
fitted together by design. Obviously,
they were formed at a time when a
solid crust had formed at the surface
of the lava that was still viscous below,
and shortly before the whole mass
ceased to move. Thus the rigid crust
buckled and broke as the viscous mass
beneath continued to move. The early
blisters were destroyed entirely; later
ones, broken and warped out of shape,
appear now as heaps of blocks without
symmetry of form; still later ones ap-
pear in such perfect symmetry as the
one illustrated; and the last to form
may appear as oval mounds of slight
elevation. Blisters may be found show-
ing every stage from the first slight
buckling of the crust to unsightly heaps
of angular blocks.
In the more perfect blisters the form
and structure indicate that the blocks
are parts of a once continuous crust
or sheet of lava, although they are now
separated by considerable distances.
In many places the cavities are large
enough for a man to crawl through.
Into the base of one of these blisters
near Capulin, a young man who accom-
panied the writer made his way on
hands and knees, and after a tortuous
passage among the blocks he emerged
from the top, 20 feet above the point
where he had entered. This, however,
is an operation that few would care
to repeat, for the knife-like edges of the
lava cut one’s clothing and lacerate
one’s hands. But the more serious ob-
jection arises from the tact that rattle-
snakes which infest this region regard
these cavities as their own private do-
main. The dark-colored. lava is
warmed by the rays of the sun, and
these venomous “sons of Satan,” as
they are often called, seem to find con-
ditions here quite to their liking. Their
364 AMERICAN FORESTRY
WATERVALE BUTTE, A VOLCANIC PLUG OF BASALTIC ROCK IN SOUTHERN COLORADO,
SURROUNDED BY SOFT SHALE.
ROBINSON MOUNTAIN, AN EXTINCT VOLCANO NEAR FOLSOM, N. M.
ANOTHER MOUNTAIN OF VOLCANIC ORIGIN, APPEARS IN
EEL.
color differs but little from that of the
lava, and it is no uncommon thing for
beast or man to step on a sleeping rep-
tile before he knows of its presence.
Fortunately, a rattlesnake will usually
give warning of his belligerent intent
before beginning hostile operations, and
he prefers blissful solitude to the so-
ciety of those who never neglect an
opportunity to bruise his head. Never-
theless, while in the lava fields, the
writer learned, after several narrow es-
capes, to examine a rock rather care-
fully from a biological point of view
before examining it geologically or be-
fore sitting down on it to rest. ‘The
snake is especially peevish about his
un bath, and the man who disturbs
imbers by sitting down too near
him is very likely to rise again without
E MOUNTAIN
i - Lb i | ay Oe 4
Horseshoe Mountain is the crater
cone of an extinct volcano consisting
at the surface entirely of scoriaceous
MOUNT EMERY,
THE DISTANCE AT THE
cinders. It is nearly circular in outline
and the rim of the crater is broken
down on one side, giving to the crest
the general form of a horseshoe. The
cone rests on a broad platform of flow
lava that is relatively old. Its surface
is rolling, and it is covered with soil,
but the cinder cone is very young. Al-
though it is composed of loose or
slightly consolidated material that
washes down in considerable quantities
with every rain, giving the surface a
corrugated appearance, the sides are
still nearly as steep as it is possible for
them to be with loose material, and the
absence of large accumulations of cin-
ders at the base that can be attributed
to wash from its slopes indicates that
the cone still retains essentially the
form that the extruded material orig-
inally assumed.
The Horseshoe is typical in many
ways of the younger volcanic cones of
northeastern New Mexico. During
their early eruptions the lavas seem to
have flowed out gently, but the last
PROTECTING NEW
eruptions were mildly explosive. Cin-
ders were blown out, but settled close
to the crater building up the conical
mounds. In some cases small bombs
were ejected. Great numbers of bombs
4 to 5 inches in diameter were found
in the sides of the Trinchera volcano,
but even here the act:on seems to have
been relatively mild for the cinders and
bombs are arranged in evenly laminated
beds which are steeply inclined in the
sides of the cone as indicated in the
illustration.
There are no known data by which.
one can compute in years the time that
HAMPSHIRE
FORESTS 365
has elapsed since the last eruption, but
geologically speaking, the formation of
the volcanic cones, like Horseshoe and
Capulin, was the last event of the region,
and although volcanic forces may have
been inactive for a hundred years or
more, it is quite impossible to know
whether the fires are extinct or only
slumbering, and as one stands on the
rim of a crater and contemplates the
result of the titanic forces so recently
in operation, one can scarcely escape
the gruesome thought that these forces
may be only slumbering and may
awaken at any moment.
PROTECTING NEW HAMPSHIRE FORESTS
N its annual report, recently is-
sued, the Society for Protection
of New Hampshire Forests tells
what it has accomplished Wien e stem
years of of its existence. It says:
“The Society takes much satisfaction
in the results of its ten years’ work.
While the problem of saving New
Hampshire's forests for their greatest
use, by adopting a saner method of
harvesting the product, is still largely
unsolved, yet we begin the second
decade with far more hope and confi-
dence than at the time of organization.
We have helped to secure legislation at
Washington and at Concord, which
gives the forests of the state more
nearly adequate fire protection, stimu-
lates reforestation, encourages careful
management, and reserves completely
some of the places of special attraction.
Ten years of educational work has been
faithfully done. It is possible to be-
lieve that the time may not be far dis-
tant when the annual harvest of tim-
ber in New Hampshire will not exceed
the annual growth, and when large
areas of timber, valuable for scenic
beauty and for protecting the flow of
streams, are permanently safe from or-
dinary destructive lumbering and from
the ravages of soil-consuming fires.
“The reorganization of the State For-
estry Commission was one of the first
and most important objects. The So-
ciety was organized because a few men
and women, who met at the call of Gov-
ernor Rollins ten years ago, were not
satisfied with the progress of the for-
estry movement in New Hampshire.
With the rapid development of the pa-
per and pulp industry, forests in the
mountains were being swept away with
no effort within the state to save them.
Few realized the importance of saving
timber as a source of supply for the
future needs of a growing population ;
fewer believed that the mountain for-
ests could be protected in a manner to
prevent the rapid run-off of streams
over areas sufficiently large to affect the
water-powers and navigation.
“The new Society at once undertook
an educational campaign. It employed
a forester who spoke at meetings of all
kinds throughout the state, showing by
photographs and lantern slides the act-
ual conditions, and pointing out what
other states were beginning to accom-
plish. With the appointment of Mr.
Robert P. Bass, now Governor, and Mr.
Robert E. Faulkner, of Keene, to the
Forestry Commission, and with the co-
operation of General Tolles, of Nassau,
who was already a member, an efficient
and progressive administration of the
State Forestry Department - was
brought about. Legislation, advocated
by the Society, was passed, securing the
appointment of a state forester. The
fire laws were rewritten. Co-operation
from the Federal Forest Service was
secured.
“From its first ye
r the Society ad-
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BE INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL FOREST.
Photo by Guy L. Shorey, Gorham,
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PROTECTING NEW AvP SEIRE, FORESTS
vocated a National Forest in the White
Mountains, and engaged actively in
work for this object several months be-
fore the Intervale meeting, called by Dr.
Edward Everett Hale for the same pur-
pose. Dr. Hale became an honorary
life member of the Society, and worked
early and late for a National Forest
in the White Mountains. It was a sin-
cere regret that his death came before
the bill was finally enacted; but his
faith foresaw the result, in which he
found much satisfaction. The enact-
ment of the Weeks bill, in spite of active
opposition from the leaders of both po-
litical parties, was a triumph of popular
agitation throughout the length and
breadth of the country. In this nation-
wide agitation the Society took a prom-
inent part, as its present wide mem-
bership list testifies. The co-operation
of the men of the South was particu-
larly gratifying. The governors of the
New England States and the Southern
States appeared repeatedly together be-
fore committees of Congress. The bat-
tle was won and the President signed
the bill on March 1, 1910.
“Since its formation one object of
the Society has been the acquisition of
the forest lands by the state and town
governments in New Hampshire. The
Crawford Notch is one of the famous
pieces of scenery in the White Moun-
tain region. When logging operations
threatened to disfigure it, the Society
proposed that it be acquired by the
State of New Hampshire, and a bill
was prepared for the legislature. The
suggestion was promptly approved by
Mr. W. A. Barron, of the Barron &
Merrill Company, and the late John
Anderson, of Bretton Woods. The Ap-
palachian Mountain Club joined with
the Society in an appeal for funds with
which to carry on the campaign. A
complete and careful survey of the
timber in the Notch was made by the
Society and maps were drawn. ‘The
bill was passed in the session of 1911.
Through a clerical oversight it proved
defective, and the state is unable to is-
sue the bonds authorized in the bill to
buy this property; but owing to the in-
terest and energy of Governor Bass,
the difficulties have been partly over-
come and the more picturesque portions
of the Notch, the northern half, are’ be-
369
ing purchased from current state funds.
“In 1909 the residents around Suna-
pee Lake began a campaign under the
leadership of Mr. Herbert Welsh, of
Philadelphia, for acquiring the forests
on Sunapee Mountain. They invited
the co-operation of the Society, which
aided in the technical forest work and
in the legal work required. ‘Through
the efforts of Mr. Welsh, $8,000 have
been subscribed and six hundred and
fifty-six acres purchased, covering the
entire top of the main mountain, be-
sides the north and south peaks, with
the long sky line, and Lake Solitude, a
charming body of water, near the top
of the main mountain, with the timber
around its entire margin. At the re-
quest of the contributors the entire
property has been placed in the care of
the Society as trustee, together with a
fund of $500, covering the expenses of
management for a term of years. Now
that the purchase has been completed,
the contributors seek additional funds
with which to clear up the slash and
make trails. The Society believes that
when the plans adopted are fully de-
veloped, Sunapee Mountain will be+
come a most beautiful mountain park.
“The Society made an appeal during
the past winter, for sufficient money to
accept a gift of the Lost River and one
hundred and forty-eight acres of land
adjoining it, offered by the Publishers’
Paper Company, provided the Society
would buy the standing timber upon
the tract. This, on careful estimate,
was found to amount to $7,000. By
means of a legacy of $5,000, left by
Miss Dora Martin, of Dover, a portion
of which became available, together
with contributions amounting to $1,315
from the prominent hotels in the White
Mountains, and the remainder from
generous contributions on the part of a
large number of members and friends
of the Society, the gift was accepted,
and the timber purchased. Lost River
is located seven miles west of North
Woodstock. The region is one of great
beauty, majestic in its setting and
charming in detail.
“For ten years the forester of the
Society has been examining woodlands
throughout the State, giving advice to
the owners on methods of management.
Since the reorganization of the For-
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Photo by
PURCHASE
STATE
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Dublin.
Pearman,
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PARADISE FALLS, LOST RIVER.
estry Commission, the state forester and
his assistants have been doing the same.
During the past year two additional
foresters, one employed by the Timber-
land Owners’ Association and another
by the State College at Durham, have
taken part. This means that a very
large aggregate of timbered land is
managed with a view to a better crop
instead of in a haphazard manner.
With the advance in the price of tim-
ber, owners have realized that the ad-
vice given is valuable in helping them
to produce better material and avail
themselves of better markets.
“From the start the Society has
realized that a fundamental change in
public sentiment, through the education
of the people as a whole, is a necessity
if it would accomplish its desired re-
sults in a substantial manner. To im-
prove the forests of the state requires a
long continued public interest, which
can only be secured by thorough knowl-
edge on the part of a large number of
AMERICAN
FORESTRY
Se
STREAM
EMERGES, PLUNGES THIRTY FEET, AND ENTERS ANOTHER RE-
MARKABLE SERIES OF CAVERNS BELOW.
AT THIS POINT THE
citizens. The Society is happy upon
having on the statute book at this time
every one of the important legislative
measures which it undertook at the
time of its organization.
“At this time there are four reserva-
tions in the hands of the State For-
estry Commission in addition to the
Crawford Notch purchase. There are
two in the care of the Society, the
Sunapee and Lost River tracts. These
are in addition to seven reservations in
the care of the Appalachian Mountain
Club, for which the Society is not re-
sponsible. Several beautiful forests in
the state are owned by individuals, and
held free and open to the public use.
Striking examples of these are the for-
ests purchased and held for public use
by Mrs. B. P. Cheney in Peterborough,
Mr. Daniel C. Remick in Littleton, and
the beautiful pine woods on the road
between Bethlehem and _ Franconia,
held for public use by Miss Sarah H.
Crocker, of Boston.”
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Photo by
THE LOGGING ENGINEER IN THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST
By A Loccinc ENGINEER
than Government or State em-
ploy, I have received quite a
number of letters from prospective for-
esters asking for information as te just
what opportunities were offered a tech-
nical man with private logging and tim-
ber companies in this section oi the
country. The purpose of this article
will be to set forth very irankly the
advantages and drawbacks of such em-
ployment ; the ultimate reward to which
he may look forward, if successiul, and
the special preparation needed for this
particular line of work.
In the Pacific Northwest we are not
yet to that stage of development in
which our timbermen and millowners
can see the end of their resources im
the near future and are sufficiently
jarred by the prospect into taking steps
to provide for a perpetual timber yield.
As a matter of fact we cannot even ap-
proximately utilize our present waste.
We are simply in the position of Wis-
consin and Minnesota in the 90's with
the important exception that our busi-
ness men are wiser from past experi-
ence and the most oi them more than
willing to take any necessary steps to
avoid the serious consequences of an
exhaustion of our timber supply, pro-
vided they can get together, as to ways
and means, and can be shown that dol-
lars invested now will at least earn their
5 per cent a year. That we are pro
gressing along the right lines is shown
by our forest fire laws and their effec-
tive enforcement, and by the very able
work done by Mr. E. T. Allen, forester
for the combined timber and fire asso-
Gations of our Northwestern States.
So far this work has been mostly edu-
cational and tending toward the enact-
ment of such laws as will enable the
work of providing for future genera-
tions to be put on a sound and profit-
able basis.
I would like to call attention to one
fundamental difference in the situation
SS INCE entering corporation rather
of these Northwestern States to day,
and that of Wisconsin and Minnesota
in a like stage of their timber develop-
ment, namely, the great national forests
occupying the greater part of our
mountainous country, which will not
only serve as an example of practical
conservation, but furnish a very con-
siderable source of permanent timber
supply around which, and modeled on
which, we can maintain our large
private holdings of the future.
While these foregoing paragraphs
may seem quite a digression from my
subject, they are necessary to an intel-
ligent understanding of the field in
which the labor of the future logging
engineer is to be spent. It is so easy
for the young forester, fresh from his
studies of the latest and most advanced
methods, to make the mistake of con-
demning local methods before fully un-
derstanding the underlying principles
and conditions which may justify these
seemingly incorrect and wasteful ways
of going at things. Let him first ask
himself “Why,” and after thoroughly
threshing it out he will be in a better
position to suggest changes.
First and foremost, you must
specialize on the importance of the log-
ging railroad. The railroad is the main
artery of the modem logging plant,
and, aside from the timber itself, it is
the most important consideration in
planning for a logging operation.
Under this head comes your topog-
raphy taken in connection with a thor-
ough reconnaissance of the entire tract.
You will have very little use for trian-
gulation or traverse methods in this
first preliminary examination. he
general mapping will be done by pacing
and the use of the aneroid, with checks
on the section and quarter section corn-
ers. All section lines should be run out
and reblazed and the mapping done by
the contour method using irom 20 to
50 foot contours, depending on the re-
lief of the country, and accuracy re-
quired.
5--*
ode
378 AMERICAN FORESTRY
SIMPSON LOGGING CO.’S BRIDGE IN CONSTRUCTION STAGE.
BEGINNING OF FOOT-
HILLS OF THE OLYMPICS.
Once you get your country mapped
you have a splendid basis from which
to work on the preliminary reconnais-
sance for the railroads. It usually pavs
well to go over as closely as possible
the route to be taken by the road and
get thoroughly familiar with the topo-
graphic details that will control the fu-
ture road. For instance, suppose, after
you have gone a mile or so, following a
tentative grade of, say 2 per cent, you
will find that by increasing your grade
one-half foot to the hundred you can
gain a bench, which will give much
lighter construction for a considerable
distance. This will be a vital control
in the laying out of the road, either
necessitating an increase in grade, or a
1ew starting point for your climb. In
general, the whole line must be laid out
fer the points of chief diffi-
culty or where the greatest saving can
be made in cost of construction without
impairing the value of the road as an
cutlet for the timber. The latter point
is one which must never be lost sight
of.
You must thoroughly understand
logging to successfully construct log-
ging roads. It is just here that the con-
tracting surveyor or engineer falls
down. His ideal is the road itself.
Yours must be the logging operation as
a whole. Your cost must be governed
by the amount of timber to come over
the road and the probable expense of
logging it. When possibly you will
want to limit yourself to a 16-degree
curve and a 3 per cent grade on main
lines, but quite often you will have to
depart from these limits and will be en-
tirely justified in doing so.
Having threshed out the main line,
you are ready for the preliminary sur-
vey, and I want to say right here that
out in this country the day when rail-
roads could be laid out by eye, and with
curves run in with a tape, is past. It
is real railroad engineering; a transit
should be used on main lines, while a
good compass and hand level will serve
very well for the spurs. You must be
able to give a pretty close estimate on
each mile of proposed construction
THE LOGGING ENGINEER IN THE
NORTHWEST 379
STEAM SHOVEL AT
SHELTON, WASH.
COMPANY.
WORK ON NEW
from, cross sections of the excavations
and fills, including drains, culverts,
trestles, bridges and equipment. We
have a number of logging bridges over
100 feet high and from 600 to 1,000
feet long in this State and every year
as the logging gets further back into
the foothills, the longer and more per-
manent are the main lines of the log-
ging railroads.
You may find several preliminary
‘fly lines” necessary in the very diffi-
cult places before the final location can
be determined. The preliminary lines
are platted in the office, usually by “lat-
itudes and departures,” and from your
cross section topography, the final lo-
cation can be sketched in, subject to
further changes)on the Sround, 2 it
necessary.
The spurs are laid out much in the
same manner, economy, however, being
the main consideration. You can af-
ford to haul over a 6 per cent grade and
32 degree curve for a few months on
EXTENSION, SIMPSON
CONSTRUCTION OUTFIT OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE LOGGING
LOGGING (COYS PR. Ra AL
spurs where two or three loads can be
switched out at a time. In most in-
stances a light locomotive, geared or
direct connected, is kept especially for
switching from the jandings on the
spurs to the main line side track.
Then there is the maintenance to be
supervised, and a close watch kept on
construction. At the end of each year
you will have a detailed report on the
railroad work, cost of engineering, con-
struction and maintenance, cost per M.
for timber coming out over each spur,
and cost per M. over the main line.
Another duty will be the laying out
of pole and skid roads when necessary.
Together with the spur work this
should be done with the co-operation
and help of the logging foreman. Your
idea must always be to facilitate his
work in the actual logging operation as
much as possible, and you must be
aware of his future plans, governing
your work accordingly.
As a general rule you will co-operate
with the foreman and superintendent in
380 AMERICAN
BRIDGE OVER WEST FORK OF TATSOP
ONE MILE ON THIS SAME ROAD
RIVER,
Se -DEUE, Wal
BORE ST RY
130 FEET ABOVE THE RIVER.
OF THE BRIDGE. etats
WITHIN
ESTIMATED
THAT THE LAST 1% MILES OF THIS ROAD, INCLUDING THESE BRIDGES, COST NEARLY
$100,000 TO PUT INTO OPERATION. IT
LOGGING CO., SHELTON, WASH.
selecting camp sites and in locating
landings. At the landing there should
be enough grade toward the main track
to drop the loaded cars by gravity and
yet not too much grade, as that would
make this proceeding dangerous. It
is very easy to let a loaded car get
away on a grade, and even where prop-
er precautions are taken as to safety
switches and derailing devices a great
deal of damage may be done by such a
run away.
While much more might be said on
this subject, to go into further detail
ould more likely prove confusing
n enlightening. So I will
ther phases of the work
will probably come in
th tha
. the purely engineer-
ing side our work will
prote
greater part «
more or les
come fire
quite true that the
his country is patrolled
s thorot ehly by one of the
TSS Seer vs
A LOGGING ROAD. SIMPSON
fire protective associations. But in
nearly every instance the effectiveness
of their patrol depends almost entirely
on the co-operation of the logging com-
panies. And nine times out of ten the
actual handling of any fire on your
lands will devolve on you. Hence. the
necessity of adequate preventative
measures, such as the burning of slash,
clearing up of the railroad right of way,
construction of fire trails, and organt-
zation of the logging force so that at a
moment’s notice it may be converted
into an efficient fire fighting body with
proper equipment, ready for use. In
this one particular alone the logging
companies of this section have per-
laps more room for improvement than
in any other branch of their organiza-
tion. I sincerely believe that enough
property, camps, logs, donkey sleds,
etc., together with the often misplaced
energies of a typical logging crew fight-
ing fire, would fully meet the expense
DEE, POGCCING BNGCINEER IN THE NORTHWEST 381
of such an organization for fire pro-
tection within a short period of years,
not to mention the practical insurance
against loss from fire that such sys-
temization would constitute.
The timber end of the work is by
no means unimportant. There wil! be
quite a large amount of cruising and
scaling to do, and I wish to state most
emphatically that a man new to this
country needs several years experience
in timber before he can constitute him-
self a competent judge. Different lo-
calities have their own characteristics :
in mixture of species, variations of
growth conditions, marketability and
special conditions, such as the preva-
lence of pin-knots, pitch-pockets or
coach.
Any questions of subdivision or sec-
tions or of trespass will come under
your duties. The accurate scaling of
trespass from the stumps is quite an
art of itself, and many of the larger
timber holders employ men who give
practically their whole time to watching
for trespass.
At the close of each year’s work, in
connection with the railroad report
would be a report on the year’s logging,
showing the area cut by each camp, the
average yield per acre, and the average
cost of logging per M by the month
Also the cost of timber left on frac-
tional forties. This would give the
owners of the company an idea of how
their cruises were panning out and how
much timber was still left tributary to
the camps in their present location.
Another problem you will want to be
up on is the final utilization of the
logged over lands. Will it pay to re-
forest? If so, what method will be best
suited to the land in question? If not,
what will it cost to clear and subdivide
into small farms? Can you successful-
ly clear by the charpit method, or will
it have to be done with dynam:te and a
donkey engine. In short, the question
of our logged off lands is as import-
ant to this section of the country as is
irrigation to the arid lands of the West
or the drainage of swamp lands to the
South, and the man who can present
and work out a satisfactory solution
to this problem is going to be one of
the “big” men of this section. And it
is by no means an unsolvable question.
I have laid out townsite additions
and drafted plans for a hospital; esti-
mated power generated by our moun-
tain streams and = surveyed mining
claims. In fact, the diversity of the
work and the continual game of work-
ing out new problems (for no two
logging propositions require the same
treatment) is one of the biggest at-
tractions in this sort of work. And it
takes a good man and a versatile man
to succeed. There is not a large log-
ging company in the country that does
not need such a man. They may not
all realize their need, but it is there
just the same. And there is no better
training in the world for a first class
woods superintendent. Add to that the
fact that really “A Number One”
woods superintendents are not readily
picked up these days and you have
the ultimate answer. Make yourself
valuable enough to your company to
demand an interest or else have the
ability and knowledge to put in with
capital in the development of an opera-
tion of your own.
This does not sound much like for-
estry, does it? But after all, what is
forestry but scientific management and
operation of timber lands? And if
State laws and local market conditions
make it impossible to either hold your
timber or to utilize it completely, is it
not good forestry to operate to the best
possible advantage under present con-
ditions and in the meantime try to bet-
ter the conditions? Of course we can
better our methods now, and year by
year in the future, but we cannot do it
all at once, and the more technical men
who become associated with the actual
logging and manufacture of timber,
who will work toward the end of prac-
tical conservation, the sooner we are
going to get such conservation. And
who can foretell what the next two dec-
ades will bring forth in the line of real
forestry. I for one will not be sur-
prised to see large companies in this
western country who, operating under
wise tax and fire protection laws, will
iS)
CO
rau)
AMERICAN FORESTRY
DOUGLAS FIR LOG, TEN FEET SIX INCHES INSIDE
BARK. LOGGED AT CAMP 5, TWIN FALLS LOGGING
COs (CLARK ‘COUNTY:
own tracts large enough to give their
mills a perpetual supply of logs. And
when that time comes, it will be the
forester working from the inside of the
actual operation who will know best
what may and may not be attempted.
But it means work and more than
that—drudgery, especially to a college
graduate whose pride is going to be
irt re than once while he is doing
subordinate work, often under men
vho, lacking education, affect to look
upon any
y one who has been a “college
boy’ as no good when it comes to real
work. You will often find yourself re-
garded as a failure simply because you
WASHINGTON.
are working up in a big business; and
that by men who have had some one to
pull and push a bit for them when they
started on their business career. I
thoroughly believe that this is one busi-
ness that has to be learned by actually
getting in and working at the various
subordinate jobs that go to make up
the whole of a really big business. Our
best loggers are men who have worked
since they were boys, and they will tell
you that they are always learning some
new wrinkle. I know from experience
that this is very true. No two logging
companies operate under the same prin-
ciples; some have a good selling organ-
STATE FIGHT ON TREE PESTS
ization and fall down on the actual log-
ging; others have a splendid railroad
system and do not seem to get the logs;
one man is logging small timber, an-
other large timber, one in ragged coun-
try, another on comparatively level
land. Everywhere you turn there is
something different and there is no
business in the world where the indi-
vidual efforts of the superintendent or
manager count for more in the general
result attained.
There will be many times when you
will ask yourself whether or not you
have made a mistake after all in taking
up private rather than Government or
State work. You see your classmates
going ahead more rapidly at the start
than you can hope to do. They re-
ceive more money to start with and are
promoted more rapidly the first year or
so; and here is the biggest question of
all; they are doing more technical work,
are using their education, while you are
way back in the primary grade again
learning your “A, B,. C’s” of the busi-
ness. This is the hardest rub of all
and I believe it influences more men to
go into the Government service than
any other one thing. But just wait a
383
little longer and I'll tell you about the
rewards, as I begin to see them. When-
ever I began to get discouraged during
the first few years I used to remember
the words of a man who had done both
private and government work, and who
knew what he was talking about. He
said, “Ten years may seem a long time
to a young fellow, but to a big corpora-
tion, training men for the work of a life
time, it is but a short and necessary
period of preparation.” Now I do not
expect to have to put in ten years of
drudgery. I can begin to see the end of
it now. Why? Simply because I am
getting to know the business from the
ground up and I know that I know it.
This knowledge is going to be capital-
ized before long and it is worth just
what I have spent on it. And mean-
wile el shave made. a. living --for
myself and family; not much, but
enough. I have good friends and
the respect of those with whom
if amte throws inescontact. «)Aurd I
would not trade my chances for the
future with any one of those who en-
tered the business handicap at the same
time and with the same equipment I
had.
STATE FIGHT ON TREE PESTS
13, is being devoted by Pennsyl-
vania to demonstrating methods
for the control of the codling moth,
cucurlio and other insect pests which
have started to get busy on the fruit
trees which are in blossom.
Dr. H. A. Surface, the State’s zo-
ologist, says that the demonstrations
will be held in twenty counties the first
week and in thirty-five counties the sec-
ond, the northern counties being in the
third week, as the time to demonstrate
the methods for control of the pests is
just after the petals of the blossoms
fall.
“Several meetings are to be held in
F's: four weeks, starting May
each county,’ says the zoologist.
“This is so that everyone will get a
chance to see the demonstrations which
will be in charge of our best men. This
is the time to get after the codling
moth, the chewing insects and pests
which are now infesting trees in some
parts of the State or are likely to de-
velop. Pennsylvania has advanced the
value of its fruit crop wonderfully by
using scientific methods in the com-
batting tree pests, and it is believed
that as soon as fruit tree owners realize
the possibility of reducing the number
of culls or unsound fruit from ten per
cent to two per cent. I think there
will be still greater gains.”
FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
By J. Ss
. HoLMES
Forester
i lS probable —thatmaw ester
North Carolina is more widely
known for its fine climate, pure
water, and beautiful scenery than for
any others of its natural advantages.
Thousands of health and pleasure
seekers come each winter to this “Land
of the Sky” to escape the rigors of the
northern and eastern states, while tens
of thousands flock each summer from
the south. The entertainment of these
summer and winter visitors or tourists
forms a most important and promising
industry, for they bring into the coun-
try each year from two and a half to
three million dollars. The large part
that the forests play in the tourist traf-
fic, by increasing the purity of the
streams and making the country more
beautiful and interesting, is not gener-
ally realized; yet forest and stream and
climate are Western North Carolina’s
most valuable assets. With the con-
servation of the forests, the improve-
ment of the roads, and the extension of
railroads, the attractiveness as well as
the accessibility of the country will be
tremendously enhanced, and the num-
ber of visitors will steadily increase.
Of even greater economic import-
ance are the timber resources. The
hardwoods of the Southern Appalach-
ians are as widely known among buy-
ers and users of wood products as the
climatic advantages are by the travel-
ing public. Oak, chestnut, poplar,
cherry, walnut, and other woods are
shipped to all of the eastern states, even
to Canada and to Europe; and furni-
ture made in North Carolina from
wood grown in these mountains goes
all over the world.
\griculture, which in most parts of
stands first among the im-
lustries, takes third place in
ins, and, if only those farm
products which bring a cash return are
unimportant, though con-
juantities of aj yples and cab-
out of the region,
Cc yunted
siderable «
bages are shipped
384
and corn, cattle, chickens, eggs, butter,
fruit, and garden truck are sold locally.
ACCESSIBILE TED Ys OR EE aMENViBE R=
The accessibility of timber largely
determines its value and also deter-
mines methods of forest management.
Western North Carolina is well sup-
plied with railroads, there being no
fewer than ten railroad outlets. Yet
the greater part of the best timber is
remote from transportation and cannot
be marketed profitably until new lines
are built or extensions made. Since
1909, however, railroad development
has been rapid, so that now only the
three extreme northeastern counties are
without railroads, while spurs or ex-
tensions are under construction or are
definitely planned for about half the
mountain counties. The wagon roads,
which are the chief feeders for the rail-
roads, are in most cases unimproved ;
and though they are often fairly good
in dry summer weather, many of them
become almost impassable in winter.
Nothing could add more to the value
of timber and give proper encourage-
ment to proper methods of forestry
than the construction of good roads.
This question of transportation is dis-
cussed in more detail later.
CLASSIFICATION OF LAND
Throughout the region, agricultural
land is held mostly in small areas, and
a farm of more than 500 acres is excep-
tional. In nearly all counties, however,
some forest land is held in large bodies
by lumber companies, or speculators ;
and in some counties more than 60 per
cent of the land is in tracts of more
than 1,000 acres in extent. But since
all of this is rough, mountain woodland,
unsuited to agriculture, such tenure 1s
no drawback, but rather an advantage ;
for by keeping the full stand of timber
the land retains a full valuation, which
is reduced as soon as the timber is
taken off.
FOREST CONDITIONS
IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
O85
LOGGING WHITE PINE AND HEMLOCK,
The proportion of cleared to forested
land varies considerably in the different
counties, depending on the transporta-
tion facilities and suitability for farm-
ing. In the region as a whole about 2+
per cent of the land has at one time
been cleared. While most of this land
still produces agricultural crops, a good
deal of it in some counties has been
“thrown out,” or abandoned, because
it is too poor and too much washed for
profitable cultivation. Such land usual-
ly produces wort thless briars and bushes
or in some cases reverts to a scattered
growth of oldfield pine or hardwood of
little present or prospective value.
THE FOREST CONDITIONS
The forests of this region are largely
confined to absolute forest land, that is,
land potentially more valuable for for-
est growth than for anything else. The
forest may best serve for the produc-
tion of timber, or it may be required
MITCHELL COUNTY.
mainly to prevent erosion or to protect
and regulate a water supply. In the
main, the mountains are so steep and
the soil is so shallow that the removal
of the forest cover and the cultivation
of the land are followed in a compara-
tively few years by the washing away
of the fine surface soil and the aban-
donment of the land for agricultural
purposes. Not only have practically
all of the areas suitable for agriculture
been cleared—including the bottoms
along the streams, gently rolling
plateau land and hilitops, the lower
gradual slopes, and the mountain cover
—but much absolute forest land has
also been cleared. It used to be that
farmers cleared a “new ground” each
year, and abandoned to “old fields” an
equivalent of “worn out” land. This
practice is now giving place to im-
proved methods by which the cleared
land is kept in good condition. Though
much land has been cleared for agri-
‘ALNOAOOD NIVMS “LOCIM SUMOAH WOW MYLA “VNI’IONVO HLMON NWISUM FO LSHVOX COOMGUVE TWOTd AL
FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA = 38%
BINDING POPLAR BOARDS FOR EXPORT, SWAIN COUNTY.
culture, some of which is now reverting
to forest, 76 per cent of this region is
forested, or a little more than three
million acres in the 16 counties.
PRESENT STAND
The greater part of the forest has
been reduced to cull stands of compara-
tively small and second class timber.
Only two or three counties have virgin
forests of any considerable extent, and
these are mostly controlled by large
lumber firms. Table 1 shows the rela-
tive amount of forest in each county,
by areas and by species. About eleven
billion feet of timber in trees 10 inches
and over in diameter breasthigh re-
mains; this is equivalent to an average
stand of a little more than 3,000 board
feet for every acre of forest land. The
larger part of the forested area, how-
ever, has less than this, as shown on the
accompanying forest map.
ANNUAL OUTPUT
The lumber cut for the entire State,
which had been gradually rising,
amounted to more than 1,622 million
feet in 1907, but because of business de-
pression declined 30 per cent in 1908.
In 1909 North Carolina jumped to
fourth place, from thirteenth in 1908,
with a cut of 2,177,715,000 board feet.
It is estimated that uncared-for hard-
wood forests, such as those in Western
North Carolina, are growing at the rate
of from 12 to 15 cubic feet per acre
per year. Assuming even that the
greater figure represents the annual
growth in this region, then the timber
is being cut much faster than it is
growing. This can not last indefinitely.
Either the annual cut must be reduced
to coincide with the growth, or else the
growth must be made to keep pace with
the demands upon it. The latter is cer-
tainly the most economical and busi-
nesslike way of dealing with the prob-
lem. By protecting these forests from
fire, and by encouraging the more rap-
id-growing and more valuable species,
the annual yield of timber per acre can
be largely increased in a comparatively
short time. The large furniture and
related industries in Piedmont, North
Carolina, which now draw the greater
part of their timber supplies from the
region in which they are situated, will
388 AMERICAN
FORESTRY
THRIFTY GROWTH OF BALSAM
PLANTATION, AT ELEVATION OF 3,800 FRET,
WATAUGA COUNTY.
depend more and more on the moun-
tain forests. ‘The demand for this ma-
terial, aided by improved transporta-
tion facilities and methods of manufac-
ture, should make it evident that the
establishment of a maximum timber
yield would constitute one of the most
important contributions which — the
mountain counties could make toward
the economic development of the State
as a whole.
FOREST DISTRIBUTION BY TYPES
The forests of Western North Caro-
lina are a part of the great Appalachian
hardwood region, which extends from
southern New England to the moun-
tainous portions of northern Georgia
and Alabama. These forests differ
trom those of the central hardwood re-
gion, into which they gradually merge
beyond the western border of this State,
in their possession of several important
ies which do not grow beyond the
itains, Or grow in very small quan-
species as chestnut, red
S14 2]
Wu Lk
hemlock id white pine form a
oportion of the Appalachian
rests, and scarcely appear in those of
the central hardwood region.
There are two di stinct classes of for-
ests in this region; the spruce forest on
the tops of the highest mountains, and
the hardwood forest, either pure or as-
sociated with pine. On some mountain
slopes hemlock grows in almost pure
stands, and some old fields at the lower
elevations have grown up to pure or
mixed stands of pine; with these excep-
tions the hardwood stand covers the
whole area.
SPRUCE FOREST
The spruce forest grows only on the
tops and upper slopes of the high
mountains, and rarely below an aver-
age elevation of 5,500 feet. This for-
est is an extension of the great spruce
forest of the North, which seeks in-
creasingly higher altitudes as it extends
south, and reaches its southern limit on
the western shoulders of Clingman’s
Dome, a peak 6,600 feet high, in Swain
County. The largest spruce areas in
this region, as will be seen by the map,
occur in Swain, Jackson, Haywood,
Yancey and Mitchell counties. The
distribution of the type is dependent
not only upon elevation but also upon
moisture conditions and to a large ex-
tent on protection from storms by the
surrounding mountain peaks. The
type extends down only a short dis-
tance on the southern slopes of even
amet
9 as oe ae ar sae
MATURE SPRUCE FOREST SHOWING ADEQUATE REPRODUCTION.
1p
EARS AGO.
TWELVE Y
STROYED
ER AND DE
=
NT OV
EF FOREST BUR
RE SPRUC
ATU
M
SPRUCE PULPWOOD, FROM FLUME TO CARS.
CHESTNUT EXTRACT WOOD IN YARD OF CHEROKEE TANNING EXTRACT CO., ANDREWS.
FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
ool
UNLOADING BARK FROM CARS AND STORING IN SHED.
the highest mountains, but along north-
erly ridges and slopes it sometimes de-
scends to 4,500 feet.
The stand of spruce and balsam av-
erages from 15 to 25 thousand feet an
acre over the whole area covered by
this type, and many stands will cut
from 40 to 50 thousand feet to the acre.
Where this timber is being cut for pulp
wood from 40 to 50 cords per acre is
an average yield. Spruce varies in
height from 40 to 50 feet on the ridges
to 80 or 90 feet on the north slopes and
in the heads of coves, where it attains a
diameter of three feet. Balsam is
smaller and is rarely more than two
feet in diameter.
In the mature forest reproduction is
good, owing to the very favorable mois-
ture conditions and the freedom from
fire. In dense stands there is a larger
percentage of balsam, but where the
forest is more open spruce reproduction
is favored. On areas that have been
cut over and not burnt, the young
growth which had started before cut-
ting continues to thrive, and on many
areas seedlings of both species have
started since cutting. Unfortunately,
no very heavy cuttings could be studied,
since logging for pulp wood has been
carried on for only two or three years.
Both spruce and balsam need moist
humus for successful reproduction, and
where fire recurs after cutting neither
of these species will be perpetuated.
The abundant rainfall, which is heavier
on these mountain tops than anywhere
else in the State, assisted by the dense
shade of these evergreen trees, affords
an efficient fire protection for spruce
forests while they remain largely in
their natural state. But when the trees
are removed, allowing the large amount
of vegetable matter on the soil and the
tree tops left in logging to become dry,
fires burn through the remaining timber
with disastrous results. The current
belief is that it is impossible to keep
fires out of this type after logging, and
that then these forests will disappear.
If fires can not be kept out, this will
certainly be the case, and all this type,
amounting to some 100,000 to 150,000
acres of splendid forest land, will very
rapidly become barren mountain tops.
On certain areas that have already been
cut and accidentally burned, grass has
been sown, the owners claiming that
the land will pay better in pasture than
in timber. There are, however, only
limited areas that are suitable for pas-
ture, and most of the land is so steep
and so rocky that once the dense forest
cover is destroyed the soil will soon
wash away and leave only the bare
rocks. In the opinion of well-informed
men, if this happens the land will event-
392
AMERICAN FORESTRY
A LARGE CROP.
ually revert to the State for unpaid
taxes.
The hardwood forests, which occupy
all but the highest peaks, vary consid-
erably, according to soil, aspect and
elevation. They can be separated into
four important types: plateau, chestnut,
red oak, beech and maple.
THE TIMBER INDUSTRIES
Practically all of the timber cut in
Western North Carolina is sawed or
STACKING SURPLUS BARK IN THE OPEN.
otherwise manufactured in that part of
the State; little is shipped out in the
log. Two-fifths of all the timber cut
for sale is manufactured into lumber ;
but the greater part of this is shipped
out of the region.
Except for agriculture, almost all of
the products of which are consumed
locally, lumbering is by far the most im-
portant industry. In 1909 about 185,-
000,000 feet of lumber brought a
money return of nearly $3,000,000.
INCREASE FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE
State Forester Edgar C. Hirst has been notified by the forestry department in Wash-
ington that the government will again this year co-operate with the State authorities in pro-
tecting the forest lands of the north country from damage or destruction by fire, and that
the sum of $8,000 has been allotted to the State, as against $7,200 last year.
REFORESTATION STARTED
The board of water commissioners of Massachusetts decided to undertake the experi-
ment of reforestation of the Little river and Ludlow watersheds, and in pursuance of that
idea voted to buy 10,000 young pine trees for planting on the two watersheds.
The work
will be started within two or three weeks, 5,000 of the trees being set out on each watershed.
TREES OF INDIANA
landowners
he Indiana State Board of Forestry, in response to a demand from teachers, pupils,
and millmen for information on the trees of Indiana and their uses, have devoted
the greater part of their 1911 report, which has just been published, to this subject.
This
report ulustrates each species of forest trees of the State, with a full-page drawing, and
gives a detailed botanical description of each species with its distribution in the State.
of the different kinds of wood are given, together with a table showing the
The horticultural and forestal values of many
CCOnOMIC USES
comparatiz
'e weight of the different woods.
The
Species are discussed in detail, and information is given as to the best kind of trees to plant
for ornamental and forestal purposes.
A LUCKY CHANCE ASSIGNMENT
By WALTER J. Morri.t,
worn out with forest fires on
Pike. They came in
One of the worst was on
ele N the summer of 1908 we were
the
bunches.
Elk Creek.
A new guard, Joseph E. Smith, was
the first to report it to our headquarters
in Denver. He had frazzled nerves
acquired in his capacity as city editor
on a Denver paper, which was fight-
ing us at that time. He needed out-
door employment for a season, and we
sorely needed on that newspaper staff
some one with a little first-hand knowl-
edge. Moreover, few were applying
for positions. He was a good fellow,
the acme of urbanity, and the quadru-
ple> ‘extract of — politenesss = et = we
thought it wise to fill his days with
arduous labor, while we trusted that
his natural instinct would lead him
to employ his evenings in literary work.
Accordingly, he was assigned a reason-
ably long patrol in dry weather, and
on rainy days he was given a trail to
build. His principal equipment con-
sisted of an ax, shovel, and a quantity
of yellow scratch paper.
Within a few days there came from
him a long distance message: “A hor-
rible big fire on Elk Creek.” Was this
some newspaper scare line stuff? I left
for Baily’s on the next train; recruited
all the available native force; took an-
other glance at the billowing smoke
12 miles north, and telephoned the
Supervisor for 30 men from the Den-
ver.
We fought against odds that night.
It seemed at first as fruitless as old
King Canute’s endeavor to stop the
ocean tide, but finally we held the line
on one side. Then help came, and
with it two Forest Assistants to serve
as my lieutenants. Two more days of
rounding in and holding the fire fol-
lowed. By this time the editor-guard
was exhausted. He had served well
as a mounted aid to carry messages
from different portions of our front.
We now had the fight well in hand.
It occurred to me to assign the guard
to the comparatively easy task of scout-
ing the district from a divide. It was
possible that other fires might start in
distant places in that wild region. In
the forenoon he set out with a young
ranchman on this seemingly unimpor-
tant mission. The divide was two
miles or more to the right of our sur-
rounding fire; its ascent was rough.
An hour later the unexpected, the
disastrous thing happened. The wind
shifted and became rapidly stronger
until it was violent. Smouldering
snags burst into flames; embers car-
ried across our north line. After one
low branching spruce had flared with
a roar, and then another, soon a crown
fire was racing up the gulch, preceded
by swiftly flowing low clouds of dingy
smoke. Up the canyon the flames as-
cended with incredible speed, as fire
sweeps up a soot-filled smoke stack
or the chimney of a foundry. Since
the guard and the ranchman should
be well on their way, perhaps they
could reach timber line. So we re-
arranged our forces on each side of
the canyon along the high walls. We
could not head it. Valuable timber on
either side stretched away for miles.
The gulch must burn, but we hoped
to confine the fire to it.
I felt no small anxiety concerning
the two men. Occasionally I ascended
to a rocky point, but at no time did I
see them. Nor was it ‘likely that I
could, since the distance was consid-
erable, and at times the smoke ob-
scured. I looked nervously for smoke
columns on the other side of the di-
vide, although I doubted whether
brands could carry to the adjoining
watershed.
A sleepless night of worry and patrol
inspection followed. My thoughts
dwelt upon the task that I feared would
be mine on the morrow, when the
gulch could be traveled. Daylight
came, and I went to camp. The night
men had come in for a few hours’
393
394 AMERICAN
sleep. Nobody had seen the missing
men. My fears seemed realized. Lit-
tle was said, and a funereal atmosphere
prevailed.
Could I believe my bloodshot eyes!
Yes, there were the guard and the
ranchman, black-faced like minstrels,
crippled like old stage horses, strug-
gling into camp. The case-hardened
old reprobates of my cursing, tired,
faithful crew from the “lower pre-
cincts” broke into a spontaneous cheer.
A lump obstructed my throat, and I
merely grasped the two by their hands
and led them to the camp stove for
their coffee.
The guard finally recounted their ex-
periences. First the eddying smoke
and the increasing wind had aroused
their apprehension. Then the roar of
the oncoming crown fire had spurred
them forward. As the walls of the
canyon did not permit of escape to
either side, their only chance lay in
gaining timber line ahead, a distance
only vaguely known by either. Up
they clambered. A sense of anxiety
soon took the place of the first spirit
of adventure, as violent exertion
brought them distress, and the smoke
was increasingly irritating. Soon a
louder roar and crackling convinced
them that the fire was overtaking them.
The way was steep and boulder strewn,
the smoke choking. Fright urged
them on. The red glared dully down
the gulch through black smoke; the
heat was already appreciable. Gasping,
terrified, and exhausted they wildly,
but more feebly, stumbled forward.
The smoke was blinding them now.
Flying embers and pieces of burning
bark shot past them, and burned holes
in their clothing. Then, when hope
was all but gone, a bunch of scrub wil-
low was in their path, and then another.
Rank grass appeared. ‘The ranchman
shouted encouragement, for to his ex-
perienced eye these were evidences that
timber line was gained. Now they
were in dense, scrub willows that
scarcely reached waist height. On and
up they slowly faltered, but safe. Re-
laxation overcame them, anda nervous
reaction caused them to jest about their
FORESTRY
recent plight. But soon sprains and
bruises, previously unnoticed, began to
appeal. Thirst was parching their
throats.
By brief advances they gained the
crest. A lurid spectacle appeared be-
low—a world afire. Embers still
whirled past them. Could the flaming
missiles possibly touch off the heavy
spruce on the Bear Creek side? Duty
demanded an immediate inquiry. Down
the other side they painfully made their
way. A tiny column of thin blue
smoke greeted them here, and another
there. Again they were running, their
infirmities forgotten, but toward the
fires. They beat out the flames here,
only to find themselves more urgently
needed elsewhere. With bleeding
hands they scraped earth to throw on
resin-filled, burning snags. Flames
were curling up from the needle-lit-
tered forest floor, spreading like the
ripples from a stone thrown into a
placid lake. Sometimes it seemed that
only two were no match for the in-
sidious blazes. Once the ranchman
fainted. He was dragged from danger
and revived. Again the two men
wrestled with odds against them. For
hours they fought. It seemed to them
their whole life time had been spent in
fighting the flames. Burning thirst,
physical and mental exhaustion were
always present, but not one moment of
respite.
Indomitable will and perseverance,
however, were beginning to tell. No
longer did the battle seem hopeless,
for they were surely succeeding, and
the prospects of victory inspired them
to renewed exertions. The day
passed, and night ushered in a calm.
Finally one could hold the line of de-
fense, yet with some danger, while the
other went in search of water down the
forest-clad slope, returned and relieved
his companion. Hunger, faintness, and
fatigue held vigil with the two as they
made their incessant rounds, for no foe
is SO \Craity.as.a tOnestabe:
Long after midnight, when all
seemed secure, they painfully climbed
the crest. Far down the canyon that
they had traveled long, long ago there
FORESTS AND FLOOD PREVENTION
gleamed a myriad of isolated fires, like
camp fires of an army. But the fire
zone was narrow. It was evident that
the crew had held it to the canyon.
Soon the pale gray of approaching
dawn appeared over Meridian Hill. A
little later they could safely trust them-
selves on the crags; and then came the
395
slow, weary march by a long detour to
camp.
Thus ended the crisis in that fight,
won by the two on a lucky chance as-
signment. And now no newspaper
writer more ably defends the Service
than the former guard. He has seen,
and he knows.
FORESTS AND FLOOD PREVENTION
HE report of the United States
Waterways Commission, re-
cently made public, devotes ten
pages to a review of the conflicting
opinions, statements and reports upon
the influence of forests upon naviga-
tion and flood prevention.
The Commission says that the offi-
cers of the Corps of Engineers and
meteorologists are, as a rule, inclined
to minimize the influence of forests
upon rainfall and stream flow, while
geologists, foresters and others are in-
clined to emphasize it and civilian engi-
neers are about equally divided.
The Commission reviews the investi-
gations made by Prof. Mead, of the
University of Wisconsin, and those of
Colonel Burr, of the Corps of Engi-
neers, both of which showed that no
particular variation in stream flow
could be traced to the large changes in
forest cover which have taken place in
certain drainage basins. It also re-
views the studies made by M. O. Leigh-
ton, of the Geological Survey, and
Messrs. Hall and Maxwell, of the
Forest Service, tending to show that
a number of streams in the eastern
United States were becoming more ir-
regular in their flow. The Commission
rejects all these records, however, as
not finally settling the question.
The final conclusion reached by the
Commission is that whatever influence
forests may exert upon precipitation,
run-off and erosion, it will evidently be
greatest in mountainous regions. In
no case, however, can forests be relied
upon to prevent either floods or low-
water conditions. There is substan-
tial agreement of all the witnesses on
this point.
The prevention of erosion undoubt-
edly outweighs all other benefits of
forestation, and the Commission favors
the prevention of forest removal on
mountain slopes wherever the land is
unsuitable for agricultural purposes. It
urges the reforestation of tracts which
have already been stripped of timber,
not only when located at the head-
waters of navigable streams, but wher-
ever this would be the most valuable
use of the land.
Of at least equal importance with
forest preservation are the prevention
of forest fires, the regulation of hill-
side farming, and prohibition of strip-
ping the forest cover on mountain sides
where the soil cover is thin. The Com-
mission concludes that the chief re-
sponsibility for forest preservation and
protection of lands from erosion rests
with the separate States rather than
with the Federal Government.
CITIZENS INTERESTED
Secretary A. C. Carton, of the Michigan public domain commission, says that corre-
spondence he has had indicates that about four hundred citizens interested in various phases
of conservation of public resources will attend a conference called to meet at the State
capitol on June 12.
INSPECTION OF PLANTATIONS AND
HEN you show a lumberman
that the scientific replanting of
denuded forest lands can be
done at the rate of one cent a tree,
planted from four to five feet apart;
that the cost of proper fire protection
is very small; that the trees planted
can be thinned in twenty years at a
profit, and that in from forty to fifty
years the replanted section will be a
valuable forest, he is likely to be im-
pressed. Lumbermen, figuratively,
are from Missouri. ‘They are also in-
tensely practical. They must be shown
actual conditions, see the actual results.
This is what they did see when a
number of them, all representative men,
accompanied the directors and mem-
bers of the American Forestry Asso-
cation on a tour of inspection of the
New York State nurseries and planta-
tions at Lake Clear, Paul Smiths, and
Saranac Lake on May 3. There, under
the direction of Clifford R. Pettis, su-
perintendent of state forests, they trav-
elled over miles of replanted forest
lands, and traversed acres of thriving
nurseries, and what they saw and what
they heard of the progress the State has
made in the last ten years astonished
them.
The first plantation made by the State
in the Adirondacks was in the vicinity
of Lake Clear Junction in the spring
of 1902. About 600,000 trees were
planted at that time, covering, approxi-
mately, 500 acres. No plantation was
made in the spring of 1903, but the
Ray Brook plantation was commenced
that fall. The plantations are located
at Lake Clear, near Saranac Lake, at
Ray Brock, at Chubb Hill, near Lake
Placid, and at Paul Smiths. Planta-
tions are being made this year at Ben-
sons Mines in St. Lawrence County;
the Paul Smiths and Ray Brook plan-
tations are being increased, another
plantation is being made between Ray
Brook and Saranac Lake, and one at
Schroom Lake in Essex County. About
6,000 acres of State land have already
been reforested.
396
NURSERIES
Now as to what has been accom-
plished toward helping private owners
of forest lands. During the past four
years the state has made over 1,500
shipments of trees to private land own-
ers who have purchased the stock to
reforest their own lands. This spring
the sales approximated four million
trees. The state is also giving trees
to the various state institutions for re.
foresting their lands.
As to the nurseries and their devel-
opments, the first Adirondack nursery
was established at Saranac Lake in
1903. That nursery has been greatly
increased in size, and in 1906 a forest
experiment station was established in
co-operation with the Forest Service,
and various experiments were con-
ducted and nursery practice studied.
Since that time two nurseries have been
established near Lake Clear Junction,
one at Salamanca, one at Saratoga, and
one is now being built at Comstock, at
which place convict labor is being used.
The American Forestry Association
party gathered at Paul Smiths on the
morning of May 3, and after a de-
lightful breakfast, for which the keen
mountain air gave a decided appetite,
the party drove to a series of extensive
plantations. These plantations were of
particular interest because they repre-
sent a complete series of experimental
plantings by seed spot methods, direct
seeding, and the use of nursery trans-
plants, and also include a large va-
riety of species. The broadcast sow-
ing of white pine, for example, seems
to promise ultimate success, although
at present the stand is not as uniform
as from planted trees. The seed spot
method showed a great variation in
results, due partly to damage by mice
and squirrels. Even where good ger-
mination had been secured in the seed
spots, one drawback appeared in that
a little group of seedlings had to be
thinned out and the extras used for
filling in blank spaces, which adds ma-
terially to the expense.
Of the various species tried, Scotch
INSPECTION OF PLANTATIONS AND NURSERIES
pine, Norway spruce, and strangely
enough, western yellow pine showed
the best results, Douglas fir and Colo-
rado blue spruce being almost a total
failure. Near the seed spot planting
an extensive flat, which, according to
local history, had been open land for
probably over fifty years, although still
showing evidences of an original stand
of white pine, offered an interesting
lesson as to the influence of soil on the
growth of seedlings. This particular
flat is of a sandy nature, probably un-
derlaid with clay or hardpan, produc-
ing conditions so unfavorable to tree
growth that, although the plantation
had been once replanted, the trees were
not in a vigorous condition and were
making very slow growth. The ulti-
mate success in the planting of heath
lands in Europe leads to the conclu-
sion that the trees will eventually be-
come established in this poor Adiron-
dack land. On the slopes in the same
region the growth of planted trees is
very vigorous, and many of them show
a height growth of one to two or more
feet annually.
In the afternoon the party visited the
plantations near Lake Clear Junction,
which were established ten years ago,
and found a solid forest of fast-grow-
ing Scotch and white pine from ten to
fifteen feet high, covering land which
for years before had been a barren,
burned-over waste. The Adirondack
nurseries of the State were visited dur-
ing the same afternoon, and the vari-
ous operations from seed planting to
transplanting were seen.
The action of the American Forestry
Association in inaugurating educational
trips of this kind is a distinct feature,
and the fact that within a night’s ride
of New York City can be seen as ex-
tensive nursery and planting operations
as can be found anywhere in Europe
is an indication that some of our waste
lands at least will be reforested. The
most striking lesson, however, and one
particularly apparent to those who have
followed the developments in New
Work State for ten years, is that in
this comparatively short period the at-
397
titude of the lumbermen, State officials,
and of the public generally is absolutely
changed. Ten years ago, when the
first planting was done by the State and
the nursery work was started, the
whole scheme was subject to more or
less ridicule. Ten years later we find
some of the largest lumbermen in the
East accompanying an_ educational
party of this kind and studying with
the greatest interest the methods of
nursery practice and planting in vogue.
Not only this, but several companies
have in the meantime inaugurated
work upon their own lands, specific
cases being the International Paper
Company, which is planting at the rate
of 500,000 trees a year; the Union Bag
Company, which has also been setting
out young forest trees extensively ; and
the Brooklyn Cooperage Company,
which is planting about 100,000 trees
per year. There is no prophet who can
foretell what the next ten years will
bring forth; but if our legislatures will
give us equitable forest tax laws and
the fire problem comes under a fair
measure of control, it is not a vain hope
that the lumbermen, in addition to re-
planting, will be managing some of
their properties on a long-time basis
and cutting under methods which will
insure natural regeneration instead of
denudation, which has to be followed
by artificial reproduction.
In the party were: Chester W. Ly-
man, International Paper Company,
ING aC. . Ouincy,, President iO &
Ce Cone N: Y¥2; KE. Ae Sterling; Horest
and Timber Engineer, Philadelphia;
C. H. Griffing, International Paper
Company, N. Y.; J. W. Toumey, Di-
rector Yale Forest School, New Haven,
Conn.; J. Randall Williams, wholesale
lumberman, Phila.; W. D. Clark, Penn
State College, State College, Pa.; War-
ren H. Miller, Camp Fire Club, Editor
Field and Stream, N. Y.; R. M. Par-
ker, Pres. Brooklyn Cooperage Co.,
N. Y.; P. S. Ridsdale, Executive Sec-
retary, American Forestry Association,
Washington, D. C.; C. F. Moore, Edi-
tor “Paper,” IN. Ye>. John M. French;
Editor Paper Trade Journal, N. Y.;
F, W. Kelsey, Nurseryman, N. Y.;
398 AMERICAN
Otto Luebkert, Vice President Ameri-
can Audit Company, Washington,
D. C.: C. R. Pettis, Supt. State Forests,
Albany, N.-Y.; M. H. Hoover, Cher
Publicity Bureau, N. Y. Conservation
Commission, Albany, N. Y.; Hugh P.
Baker, Director N. Y. State College of
Forestry at Syracuse University;
F. F. Moon, Professor of Forestry,
Massachusetts Agricultural College,
FORESTRY
Amherst, Mass.; Walter Mulford, Di-
rector Department of Forestry, Cornell
University; A. E. Edgcomb, Lumber-
man, Knoxville, (Pa:;) We —. \ Sykes,
Pres. Emporium Lumber Co., Buffalo,
N. Y.;- Co EE Sissonts Ac ais Sherman
Lumber Co., Potsdam, N. Y.; James
L. Jacobs, Supt. Santa Clara Lumber
Co.; and George A. McCoy, Interna-
tional Paper Company.
LUMBER MANUFACTURERS MEET
ELEGATES to the National
Lumber Manufacturers’ Associ-
ation convention held a very en-
thusiastic and interesting meeting at
Cincinnati on May 7 and 8, and among
other things decided upon an aggressive
policy for informing legislators and the
public of the truth regarding the lum-
ber industry, endorsed the work of the
American Forestry Association and
urged the members of its affiliated or-
ganizations to join the Association.
The resolutions asked for an amend-
ment to the Sherman Anti-trust Law
by which it will be possible for associa-
tions and combinations of lumber deal-
ers of this country to compete on a
fair basis with lumber corporations of
other countries. They also asked Con-
gress to permit the free passage of the
Panama Canal to American vessels en-
gaged in coastwise trade, for the pur-
pose of encouraging American shipping
and trade. Legislation providing for
prompt measures of relief and pro-
tection from the Mississippi floods was
urged, as also was legislation prevent-
ing the importation of nursery stock
except under direct and full control of
the Agricultural Department. Placing
the diplomatic and consular service un-
der civil service regulations was advo-
cated and it was decided to oppose the
Interstate Commerce Commission in
its effort to surround milling-in-transit
and concentration rates with so many
restrictions as to make them of no prac-
tical use to lumber and box manufac-
turers. It was also decided to join the
Chamber of Commerce of the United
States. The Association expressed its
gratification at the exoneration of Ed-
ward Hines, James T. Barber and his
associates, and Frank W. Gilchrist from
the charges brought against them.
President EF. A. Griggs presided and
addresses were made by W. E. De-
Laney, president of the Hardwood
Migs. Asso.; F. E. Parker, president
of the National Wholesale [umber
Dealers’ Association; Manager L,eon-
ard Bronson; Hon. J-3B2= Waite: o£
Kansas City; R. A. Long, of Kansas
City, Mo.; Paul-.. Page, of Buckley,
Wash.; R. M. Carrier, A. T. Gerrans;
W. G. Collar, M. B. Nelson, all mem-
bers of committees; Charles S$. Keith,
who spoke on the relation of the trust
question to the lumber industry; R. S.
Kellogg of the Northern Hemlock and
Hardwood Mfgs. Asso.; Horton Cor-
win, of the North Carolina Pine Asso-
ciation; Bruce Odell, of the Michigan
Hardwood Mfgs. Asso.; Samuel J.
Carpenter, of the Yellow Pine Mfgs.
Asso.; Robert H. Downman, of the
Southern Cypress Mfgs. Asso.; W. A.
Cooper, of the Western Pine Mfgs.
Asso.; George X. Wendling, for the
Pacific Coast Sugar and White Pine
Migs. Asso.; George H. Holt, of Chi-
cago; J. J. Donovan, of Bellingham,
Wash.; H. S. Betts, of the Forest
Products Laboratory, Madison, Wis.;
P. S. Ridsdale, of the American For-
estry Association, and E. A. Sterling,
president of the National Wood Pre-
servers Association.
ARE THERE TOO MANY FOREST SCHOOLS?
By Freperick A. GayLorp
New York State Forester
cation in this country, there has
been raised a cry of too many
forest schools. Some of the leading
foresters in the country have done all
in their power to keep the number of
forest schools down as low as possible.
Is this the proper sentiment? In my
opinion it is an extremely poor policy
and it is the purpose of this article to
try and show why it is a poor policy.
Although I consider it one of the
least important arguments for increas-
ing the number of forest schools, let
us first review the field of the forester,
both present and future. Until 1911
the United States Forest Service was
the chief market for trained foresters.
By far the greater per cent of the men
turned out went into the national work,
a few, a very few, went into State
work, a few more went in with lumber
companies. Aside from these posi-
tions there was little chance to obtain
employment.
In the future the U. S. Forest Serv-
ice will never again be able to take in
all eligible applicants and there will
constantly be more and more men
thrown in to other channels. The
government, however, will always
be an important source of employment
as, with the increasing intensiveness of
management, we will have an increase
in the number of foresters employed
per unit area. The government also
will be heavily drawn upon by outside
operators requiring foresters.
At the present time, outside of Penn-
sylvania, there are less than fifty scien-
tifically trained foresters in State em-
ploy. In the near future the State of
New York alone will employ that many
and at least two-thirds of the other
States of the Union will employ them
in like proportion. It is only a ques-
tion of time before the timber resources
of New York are unlocked, and when
this occurs fifty foresters will be a
small number to look after the details
Ore the start of Forestry edu-
of State work. This may seem like a
large figure, but after a sane considera-
tion, realizing that there are 12,000,000
acres of forest land in the State (of
which one-sixth is now under State
ownership), and a population admitting
of very intensive management, the
handling of these lands alone, to say
nothing of the nursery work, the edu-
cation of the public, surveying, etc.,
which will have to be done, makes this
figure really seem very small. ‘There
is a tendency at the present time to
regulate private cuttings. Ultimately
this regulation will have to come about
and thus bring at least 8,000,000 acres
under State supervision. I take New
York as an example of what will hap-
pen in practically every other State in
the Union.
WITH LUMBER COMPANIES
Until the present-day lumber com-
panies have employed extremely few
foresters. In the future this; will be
the great field for trained men. The
lumbermen of the United States are
primarily business men and they only
need to be shown how they can make
a dollar more in order to take up the
idea. In the past, because of the time
element, danger from forest fire, mar-
ket conditions, etc., the lumbermen
have been very slow to take a serious
interest in forestry. The next decade
will see a tremendous change in this
direction and already some of the larg-
est companies operating in the east have
employed foresters and other com-
panies are rapidly showing signs of
awakening interest.
When the lumber companies do come
to a full realization of the benefits and
profits derived from a. scientifically
managed forest I firmly believe that
there will be a demand made on the
forest schools of the country, propor-
tionately equal to that made by the
government in the last few years. The
conditions are vastly different with the
399
400 AMERICAN
profession of forestry than with a pro-
fession such as mechanical engineering.
In the latter the demand for men had
to be made by the mechanical engi-
neers themselves, in other words, they
built the business as they went along.
With forestry we have this business
already in operation to its maximum
extent and it is a business second only
in importance to that of agriculture.
A fourth great source of employment
for foresters is to be in connection with
water companies and other companies
or individuals holding timber land for
other purposes aside from lumbering.
Here will be one of the best chances
to practice proper management and
show that the net income depends di-
rectly on the amount of the invest-
ment, as the financial gain from the
management of such forests will not
be the all-important consideration.
Water companies, the entire coun-
try over, are making a serious effort to
gain control of their watersheds merely
for protective purposes and the grow-
ing of timber is the only use consistent
with this object to which such holdings
can be put and companies are usually
satisfied if the revenue returned will
pay taxes, etc., and at the same time
show improvement of their land. It
will be only a few years before the
importance of wood production will not
fall far below the main object of such
companies.
The country over, there are millions
of acres held by private individuals who
have only an aesthetic interest in their
holdings. If the aesthetic value of
these forests will not be destroyed,
when such forests furnish an appreci-
able revenue, so much the better and
foresters surely will manage all such
estates at a not very distant day.
CITIES EMPLOY FORESTERS
Many of the cities, particularly in
castern United States, employ foresters.
in the true sense of the word these men
cannot be called foresters and yet there
1S no training except that of forester
which would fit them for their duties.
Where these men are employed, the
Satisfaction obtained is very marked
FORESTRY
and every town of over 40,000 to
50,000 inhabitants can well afford to
employ a forester, and the larger cities
more than one and ultimately they will
be brought to this. In this connection
would come also the handling of large
public parks, of which there are a
great many throughout the country.
Here, of course, financial return
would not be considered and yet to
properly administer such lands, a great
deal of forestry knowledge would be
needed.
The vocation of teaching will con-
stantly make more and more of a drain
on all branches of forestry practice.
At the present time it is almost im-
possible to get efficient teachers to
properly equip such schools as are in
existence.
Another branch of forestry which
has not been developed as yet is that
of the management of communal for-
ests. Just how much of a factor this
will be is very uncertain, but that it
will be a factor, to some extent, we
are very sure. Legislation making it
possible to establish such forests, has
already been passed by one State and
steps toward establishing a county and
also a city forest, have been taken in
another State. Such forests will be
largely managed by scientific men.
A very important field of the forester
is in consulting work. There are some
very successful men making a business
of this at the present time and _ this
line of work must necessarily increase
by leaps and bounds in the future.
There are thousands of holders of for-
est land whose possessions are not ex-
tensive enough to permit a forester
spending his whole time thereon and
yet the owner is ready to pay for the
proper management. Reforestation,
surveying, estimation of fire damage
and the making of working plans, are
all broad subjects and fall easily to the
consulting foresters.
But let us get down to the real in-
fluence of the increasing number of
forest schools. From the very begin-
ning of the forestry movement, the ad-
vocates of this phase of conservation
have spent their greatest amount of
ARE THERE TOO MANY FOREST SCHOOLS?
energy in bringing the public to realize
what forestry was and how it could be
applied to advantage. ‘This has been
the fundamental principle underlying
the whole movement. The American
people as a whole stand high in the
scale of civilization and they also are
intensely practical. As with the lum-
bermen, they, as a whole, only have to
be educated to the fact that the end
of our timber supply is in sight and
that by the proper management we can
hold off that evil day, as well as make
a good profit, and they will manage
the forest lands of the United States,
both public and private, accordingly.
VALUE OF TRAINING
I can conceive of no way of reaching
the people more quickly and more
thoroughly than by mixing in with
them a large body of trained foresters.
The point will probably be made that
there will be many of these men turned
out who will do much to give forestry
a black eye, because of impractical
recommendations. That there will be
these men there is no doubt, but do
people throw over the engineering sci-
ences because some engineers are im-
practical? Would we close our church-
es because there are a few hypocritical
ministers? I believe that forestry, as
a profession, is at the present day able
to stand alone and that the time has
already passed when it is necessary for
the forest schools to weed out their
men for the sake of forestry. It may
be policy to weed out men for the sake
of the schools, but not for the sake of
forestry. If we are considering the ad-
vancement of forestry, let us turn out
all the men we can and through com-
petition, let the best man win.
How many lawyers are there in the
country that know anything at all about
forestry? Probably not more than a
score. Have you ever stopped to think
what the future of forest law is to be,
the number of questions which will arise
from the destruction of timber or for-
est soil, the effects of forest cover on
the country, trespass suits, etc., which
the high price of timber is going to
cause exactness in and only those law-
yers who have had a forestry training
401
will be properly able to handle these
cases,
Forest entomology and pathology are
two sciences which are only in their in-
fancy in the United States and for the
bringing out of the proper relations of
insects and disease to our forests, the
investigators along these lines must
have a broad forestry education.
A training in forestry, no matter how
small, will be a decided advantage to
any man who intends to handle timber
land, even though he never intends to
practice forestry himself and more and
more business men will acquire a for-
estry education that they may be better
enabled to carry on their business,
where such a business is allied to tim-
ber or lumbering in any way.
Many men will take the forestry
courses merely because of their broad-
ness. Is there any other profession of
the present day that requires as general
and broad a training as that of the for-
ester? I for one look forward to the
day when such men, men who do not
intend to follow forestry, will be turned
out by the thousand, these men later to
bob up in our courts, our city govern-
ments and our State or National Gov-
ernment, or even as the every-day sort
of citizen, who will be able to take
themselves, as well as to be able to in-
struct others to take an enlightened
view of forest conservation, as its prin-
ciples come before the people in the
form of legislation or practice.
In short, I think forestry in the
United States will advance in direct
proportion to the number of men who
are annually turned out from the for-
est schools of the country.
There is to be a place for all schools,
the post-graduate schools, the under-
graduate schools and the ranger
schools, all combined to turn out men
better equipped to advance the cause
of forestry and only when every uni-
versity and most engineering schools
and colleges give forestry courses, then
and only then will the profession of
forestry be on an equal footing with
other professions and then and only
then will the progress of forestry ob-
tain its maximum momentum.
SPORTSMEN AND FOREST FIRES
By Hon. JEFFERSON BUTLER
President Michigan Audubon Society
bile inventor of Detroit, has a
farm ten miles out at Dearborn,
containing 2,100 acres. I have super-
vision over the work being done for the
protection of birds. Before Mr. Ford
came into possession, this land was
farmed by many small owners. They
pastured the land, including the woods,
with the result that we will spend five
or six years in trying to get this land
into proper condition for bird life. If
pasturing causes so much trouble, what
would a fire mean?
We have about 60 bob-whites that
do nicely, they having quadrupled their
number during the past two years, but
no part of the farm is in condition for
grouse and prairie chickens. We did
have Hungarian pheasants but they left
the farm and were probably shot. I
think the growth was not dense enough.
If we have a light growth, we will not
have our game birds and the same is
true of many varieties of our song and
insectivorous birds, also. Our forest
fires are for the most part wanton de-
struction and bring irreparable injury,
not only to the sportsmen, but to every
member of the community, State and
nation.
During the past three or four forest
fires in Michigan, I received communi-
cations from naturalists concerning the
destruction of bird life. One swampy
place near Alpena, which was _ sur-
rounded by woods, had ducks, quail,
coots and some of the plovers that had
nested and reared their young. A wit-
ness wrote that he saw the old birds
come out in large numbers toward the
lake, circle around and go back, prob-
ably for their young, and he was cer-
tain that they had all perished, as he
afterwards found remains that showed
that at least large numbers had been
destroyed.
Professor
partment of the University of Michi-
gan, informs me that we are using two-
@' HENRY FORD, the automo-
444
402
thirds more of our forests than we
plant, which of course means famine in
the future. He also informs me that as
much timber has been destroyed by for-
est fires as has been used for building
and every other purpose in this coun-
try. Jf we had the forests that have
been destroyed by forest fires, we
would not be in the midst of a strug-
gle to save our land game birds from
destruction.
Our water birds prefer to follow the
water along the woods because they
find a greater variety of food and of
course in greater abundance. ‘The
sportsmen should not only take active
measures to prevent forest fires, but
should use their whole influence in set-
ting adequate measures to institute the
work of reforestation. Much of our
land, especially in the Upper Peninsula
and the northern portion of the Lower
Peninsula, is better suited for that pur-
pose than for agriculture, although I
know that some products grow in
abundance. The States of Ohio, In-
diana, Illinois, are populous and cannot
now give the land for great forests.
The more northerly States should reap
a harvest from their forest preserves.
Most sportsmen I have met are fond
of their wild songsters and they are
generally acquainted with the chick-
adees, woodpeckers, blue jays, the owls,
hawks and other varieties of useful
birds. Many of them tell me they go
not so much for the outing as for the
shooting. I have kept closer records in
regard to the song and insectivorous
birds and know that many thousands
have perished in forest fires. Sports-
men go out to commune with nature, to
get acquainted with wild life. Man un-
acquainted with wild nature soon be-
comes superficial and artificial. What
does a devasted forest present? I
know of no sadder sight in nature.
In my judgment, Michigan should
follow the United States Forestry
Service in providing for a patrol. The
ATTENTION,
loss through fire in their work is but
a fraction of one per cent of the tim-
ber. Michigan lost about $3,500,000
in forest fires last year. Such a de-
fenseless condition as now obtains
should not be tolerated in a civilized
community, especially since it has been
demonstrated that adequate means can
be employed.
Every sportsman and _ naturalist
knows that forests not only provide the
necessary food for many wild birds
and animals, but afford protection also
for the winter. To permit the destruc-
tion of the forest means the loss of
their food supply and homes. ‘Those
that are left will not have adequate
protection for their nests and young,
and of course, being in a defenseless
ATTENTION,
resolution was
HE, following
passed at the annual convention
of the National Lumber Manu-
facturers Association at Cuincinnati,
Ohio, on May 8:
WHEREAS, THE AMERICAN
FORESTRY - ASSOCIATION 3s
maintained as a voluntary public serv-
ice organization to further the perpetu-
ation and better use of our forest re-
sources, and
WHEREAS, it is the only organiza-
tion which reaches and appeals direct
to the public in a popular way regard-
ing forestry and lumber matters, and
maintains for this purpose a monthly
magazine known as AMERICAN For-
ESTRY, and
LUMBERMEN 403
condition, their extermination will be
all the more rapid.
The Michigan Audubon Society, of
which I am president, was organized
for the protection of all forms of wild
bird and wild animal life. We offer
our co-operation to those engaged in
the upbuilding of our forests, knowing
that if we have not forests, we will have
but few varieties of the wild birds and
animals. We must stand together and
help each other in every way possible
in order that we may not only preserve
the beauty of the landscape, but the
many delightful forms of wild crea-
tures that make life better and because
we owe it to posterity to pass down the
splendid inheritance we have received.
LUMBERMEN
WHEREAS, the lumber industry
as a whole is keenly interested in for-
est conservation and in means of ac-
quainting the public with the problems
of fire protection, forest taxation,
freight rates, legislation, and conserva-
tive management and reforestation,
BE Tl RESOLVED) that the Na=
tional Lumber Manufacturers’ Associ-
ation endorse the work of the American
Forestry Association and pledges its
support to the cause,
AND BE ll. PURTHER: RE
SOLVED, THAT EACH MEMBER OF THE
NATIONAL LUMBER MANUFACTURERS’
ASSOCIATION BE URGED ‘TO AFFILIATE
WITH THE AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSO-
CIATION BY BECOMING A MEMBER AND
SUBSCRIBING TO THE MAGAZINE.
AN TMA CIA OI, TAKIVAS,
Gifford Pinchot, of the class of 1884, Phillips Exeter Academy, and former national
forester, has offered a small annual prize for proficiency in woodcraft and forestry which
he hopes will incite the boys of the academy to use the woods and forests on Plimpton field
more than they ordinarily would.
ENGLAND'S VANISHED FORESTS
The forests for which England was at one time famous have vanished, or only exist in
the attenuated form of carefully preserved woods and parks, from which can be obtained
only a fraction of the supplies needed.
SIXTY-FIVE PER CENT AGRICULTURAL SOIL
—WHAT OF THE BALANCE?
By Tuos. B. WyMANn
Secretary-Forester, Munising, Mich.
ALLEN, after wide investiga-
tion, makes the statement that of
the entire Upper Peninsula acreage the
soil of sixty-five per cent is suitable for
agriculture.
In round numbers there are ten mil-
lions of acres in this peninsula and Mr.
Allen’s figures, therefore, show six
million five hundred thousand acres of
land upon which agricultural crops
can be successfully grown.
We are all interested in the develop-
ment and settlement of this great area,
which, each possessing a farm of a
quarter section, would permit 40,625
farmers to permanently locate among
us and create that unchanging popu-
lace that brings prosperity to every
community possessing it. But, while we
all possess the spirit to assist in this
agricultural development work, there
is a progressive association, the Upper
Peninsula Development Bureau, which
already has this matter well in hand,
and to this association we offer our as-
sistance in so far as it may be of serv-
ice.
But that which concerns us more
particularly at this time is the unmen-
tioned balance—the worthless third—
the thirty-five per cent or 3,500,000
acres not fit for the plow and harrow.
In the study of forestry, we learn
that there are two general classifica-
tions of soil—agricultural and forest.
The agricultural soil has already been
mentioned and the second classification
or forest soil covers that acreage with
which we as timbermen have most to
|
ao.
Gy in GEOLOGIST Rae:
learn, further, that every acre
be devoted to that crop which
will pay best and since we have been
forced to eliminate agricultural crops,
f timber alone cen be consid-
Shouid
The agricultural presents to the tim-
berman the very poorest soil. He takes
the best to himself; but after all, this
is a fair proposition for the farmer
growing his tender succulent crops,
must produce them quickly, must har-
vest them before frost, must possess a
soil rich in surface nourishment, while
the hardy timber crops can grow slow-
ly; is practically free from winter-kill
and takes its nourishment from deeper
soil strata. Again the most valuable
timber species are often the least ex-
acting in their soil requirements as is
evidenced by the magnificent and high-
iy valuable stands of white and Norway
pines stocking our otherwise valueless
sandy lands.
Further, extremely rough, hilly land
of high fertility which, if cleared and
cropped would suffer materially from
hasty run-off, through gulleying and
erosion can be cropped in timber to the
advantage of all.
However, an unfortunate condition
obtains; the great areas of level land
formerly producing pine have been
clear cut. No provisions were made
for succeeding crops. No protection
has been offered the regeneration which
sprung up from the seed scattered be-
tween a few unsound and undersized
trees which were not thought worthy
of the ax. Fires have crept in through
carelessness of fishermen and hunters
and through the design of the berry
picker. Natural regeneration has been
swept away, the seed trees successively
damaged until their crops of seed have
become too small and too infrequent to
restock the area. These pine lands are,
therefore, largely pine plains unproduc-
tive, uninviting, and existing as a
standing argument for a higher, more
highly defined and perfected system of
forest utilization and management.
Let the farmer produce single crop
SIXTY-FIVE PER CENT AGRICULTURAL SOIL
and then abandon his farmstead and he
becomes the subject of severe criticism ;
is given no sympathy; is accused of
laziness, shiftlessness and a poor man-
ager; of being unworthy of the title
“Farmer.” But can we not apply all
of these criticisms to the timbermen
who have reduced the forests with no
attempt to reproduce it; who have re-
moved valuable property from the tax
rolls, leaving in its stead a fire trap and
menace which must constantly threaten
all neighboring investments. That such
methods of harvest have characterized
the utilization of our forests to date is
indisputable. Let us admit that there
is a vast area capable of producing the
crop which is the basis of our activities
now lying idle. Let us admit, further,
that we are collectively responsible for
a large percentage of this unproductive
area. I say “we” advisedly, meaning
those timbermen of our Peninsula both
past and present who have taken wealth
from the woods and have left poverty
to posterity.
Admitting our share of responsibility
for the conditions which exist upon
three and one-half million acres of for-
est soil, or upon that portion which has
not been cut over, have we not a duty
to perform to those who will follow us
as citizens of this great forest common-
wealth.
Given a huge fortune and the means
of creating a reasonable and permanent
interest should we not perpetuate this
asset and leave it as an inheritance to
those who are entitled to share the
pleasures which have been showered
upon us.
Were proper rules adopted for those
stands of timber which now stock our
poorer soils, the conditions would not
grow worse. Were reasonable precau-
tion against fire, coupled with the en-
couragement of natural seeding distri-
bution and occasional artificial plant-
ing of fail places, put into practice over
405
our barren and partially barren lands,
we could look for and experience a
constant improvement, and _ constant
betterment of conditions, and we would
experience further the feeling of a
worthy accomplishment. If this area
were placed under strict forest man-
agement, values would begin to accrue
from the moment a proper stand of
young timber was established and with-
in very few years our unmarketable
plains lands, now unsightly and unde-
sirable, would have a sale value and be
in commercial demand.
Since our forest soils are diversified
in character, and timber seeks the soil
in which it is best adapted, our forests
would show diversified species, which
again would best serve the needs of our
peninsula. Pine would grow where
they should and hardwoods on the soil
of greater strength.
The Northern Forest Protective As-
sociation is endeavoring to protect the
holdings of its members from fire and
trespass. Could we not well undertake
the discouragement of clear cutting on
absolute forest soil and the rehabilita-
tion of its already stripped areas, do-
nating our services in this manner to
the common good? Can we not adopt
some forceful measure which will be
the beginning of an attempt to procure
and perpetually maintain for the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan 3,500,000 acres
of productive forests? We need the
forest covering for climatic reasons ; we
need the covering to ally erosion and to
increase soil fertility; we need the cov-
oring to protect the game and the game
birds of our forests and we need the
timber. But the greatest need is that
spirit of fair play which demands that
when a wrong has been done, a repara-
tion be made. Let us lay the corner
stone of the greatest public forest in
the world by lending our aid in the up-
building and maintenance of the
“worthless third.”
MRS. WILDER’S ARTICLE
The interesting article entitled “A Famous Old Tree” in the May number of AMERICAN
Forestry was by Mrs. Anna A. Wilder of Washington, D.
C., who is shortly to bring out
a book entitled “Message of the Trees.’ Mrs. Wilder is the vice-president of the League
of American Pen Women.
ERIC OUTLOOK SYSTEM
By F. B. Knapp
UST as scientific fire fighting is
taking the place of the cruder
methods of ten years ago, so
outlook stations are being located in
many States throughout the country to
give quick and sure notice of fires in
their incipient stages. An _ inquiry,
however, brings out the fact that the
methods of locating the fires when dis-
covered are in general very rough.
The writer has been working on this
problem for some years, and has found
great difficulty till lately in interesting
others in it. The answers, in response
to letters and a circular recently sent
out, indicate, however, that many of
those in charge of the suppression of
forest fires are now fully alive to the
importance of more systematic meth-
ods.
All but five of the States with a
forest service have been heard from.
In many, the work is in its infancy or
very much restricted by lack of funds.
Indiana represents four States where
the wooded areas are so small and the
houses so close together that no sys-
tematic means of discovering and locat-
ing fires is needed. Two replies came
about the same time; one from the
mountains, approving the plan for com-
paratively level country; and the other
from the plains, considering it a fine
thing for mountainous districts. In
New Jersey the telephone is found suf-
ficient ; and in Washington patrols and
telephone prove to be most effective,
because the atmosphere is obscured in
the dry season by smoke from land
which is being cleared. Most of the
other States, as well as some private
organizations, either have outlook sta-
tions established, are now installing
them, or are making plans and looking
forward to such a system as soon as
their legislatures give them the neces-
sary laws and money.
The national forest service locates
fires from two stations by compass and
triangulation; and will soon issue a
bulletin by Mr. D. W. Adams, on the
406
location and control of forest fires.
New York has the most complete sys-
tem now in operation of any State;
using maps, which are, however, not
oriented, and triangulation. New
Hampshire has adopted the system de-
scribed below, and will be ready for its
use for the first time this spring; while
other States are giving it a more tenta-
tive trial. ;
My attention was called to a German
apparatus described in the Forestry
Quarterly, volume 2, p. 253. It was
designed and patented by Oberforster
Seitz; and divides the district into 90
radial parts, with a color and form
scheme for blocks which are hung out
in varying combinations to designate
the direction of the fire. Also fish
horns are used which carry two or
three miles. The area covered is with-
in a circle of less than two miles radius.
The plan of the Eric Outlook Sys-
tem is to have main outlook stations
manned as near as practicable and not
more than twenty-five miles apart.
These are provided with an outlook
table, 26 inches or more in diameter,
fixed in position, with an orienter map
in the center, surrounded by a divided
azimuth circle, and a panorama of the
country giving names and distances.
An aledade, pivoted at the center, is
directed toward a fire, discovered by
the marked eye or field glasses; and
a thread is thereby stretched across
the map, circle, and panorama to show
the line of sight. If the fire is in plain
view it is located by the panorama and
map. When the smoke rises between
two ridges it is determined within cer-
tain limits by the panorama and in di-
rection by the circle. When seen
vaguely, or over a ridge with a broad
unseen expanse beyond, the direction
is obtained by the circle, the exact lo-
cation to be determined by tying in
from another station or substation.
Secondary stations, manned at times
of special danger, are located on inter-
mediate elevations and are supplied
GROWING A WOODLOT FROM SEED
with either the outlook table or a sub-
table.
Substations, with no regular ob-
server, have a subtable, eight inches in
diameter, fixed in position, with divided
circle, and a pin-and-thread aledade.
All stations are connected with each
other, fire wardens, and officials.
The despatcher (who may be in the
District Chief’s office or an observer at
a main outlook station) has the dis-
trict map on a large table. He is the
central officer to whom fires are re-
ported; who gives orders; and in a big
fire, till superseded by a _ superior
officer, directs the general movements
of firefighters, apparatus, and supplies.
407
All maps, including the pocket ones
of the wardens, are supplied with a
thread fastened at the location of each
station within its bounds and a four-
inch protractor surrounding such sta-
tion. The fire is recorded on the map
by description; by one hearing and the
distance; or by two hearings indicated
by the intersection of threads.
The adoption of such a comprehen-
sive system for the quick and accurate
location of forest fires will be one more
step toward obtaining the control over
them which all recognize as a neces-
sary preliminary to the practice of sci-
entific forestry in this country.
GROWING A WOODLOT FROM SEED
By J. A. FERcuson
University of Missouri
VERY farm should have a wood-
eI lot 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 trans-
ported long distances at considerable
expense. Nearly every farm contains
some land that is too poor for raising
crops or that is not available for graz-
ing 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 pro-
duce from one to three thousand fence
posts in twenty 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 ex-
pensive one. It can be done without
any cost to the owner except the time
and effort necessary to grow and plant
the trees.
In starting a woodlot the selection of
the kinds of trees to plant is an im-
portant consideration. They must be
trees that will give the product desired
in the shortest possible time, and that
will be suited to the particular condi-
tions of soil and moisture of the tract
to be planted. Because a tree grows
well in deep, bottom land soil is no
reason to believe that the same tree will
grow well when planted on high dry
uplands with thin soil. Trees vary
greatly in their demands. Some are
naturally hardy and will grow under
many conditions of soil fertility and
moisture. But most trees are fastid-
ious in their demands and will not
thrive unless they receive the amount
of nourishment they need. So in se-
lecting the trees, the site to be planted
must be considered first and trees
chosen that are suited to that site. The
trees growing thriftily on situations
similar to the one to be planted should
be noted, and such trees selected for
the planting. Often a tree not native
to the region can be found that will
produce better results than native trees.
Nearly all trees grow well on deep,
moist, fertile soil, so it is only when a
planting is to be made on poor soil that
the choice of species becomes impor-
tant.
One reason why farmers do not start
forest plantings is because they believe
large trees are necessary which can be
408 AMERICAN
purchased only at considerable cost.
The best trees for starting 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 wind-
FORESTRY
breaks. 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 nur-
sery 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 han-
dle in transplanting.
AROUSING SCHOOL CHILDREN
NE MILLION circulars on the
‘@) prevention of forest fires are
now being sent out from Phila-
delphia to the schools of Pennsylvania
for distribution among pupils. It is
planned to place at least one in the
hands of each school boy and girl in
the state; any other persons who wish
one or more copies can easily obtain
them.
The circulars, which teach the fire
prevention in a practical way, are the
result of co-operation among the Penn-
sylvania Forestry Association, the
Pennsylvania Conservation Associa-
tion, the Philadelphia Museum and Le-
high University.
On the first page are indorsements by
the state superintendent of public in-
struction, Nathan C. Schaeffer; the
commissioner of forestry, Robert S.
Conklin, and Governor Tener.
To print the million copies of this
circular, which is merely a four-page,
6 x 9 folder, required more than five
tons of paper and 125 pounds of ink.
It is printed in red and black.
Cuts in the leaflet show a raging for-
est fire, such as one cigarette or one
match will start; while a cartoon is
printed showing “the fool who rocks
the boat,” “the fool that didn’t know it
was loaded,” and various other fools
salaaming to “The Prize Fool—the
Fool That Tosses Away a Lighted
Match in the Woods.”
Warnings against carlessness with
fire in the woods and a list of practical
things to do, and another list of what
not to do, are printed, together with
concise information as to the indirect
and economic loss’ which results
through forest fires as well as the di-
rect loss.
Copies of this circular are distributed
free of charge from the Pennsylvania
Conservation Association, Harrisburg;
the Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
1012 Walnut Street, Philadelphia; the
Philadelphia Commercial Museum,
Philadelphia, and Lehigh University,
South Bethlehem.
FORESTRY CONFERENCE IN THE WHITE
MOUNTAINS
NDER the auspices of the So-
ciety for the Protection of New
Hampshire forests, and the New
Hampshire Forestry Commission, the
Annual Forestry Conference in the
White Mountains will occur this year
at Bretton Woods, Thursday and Fri-
day, July 18 and 19, 1912. There will
be a preliminary day at North Wood-
stock, N. H., in order to visit the new
purchase by the Society for the Pro-
tection of New Hampshire Forests at
Lost River, and a meeting at the Deer
Park Hotel in North Woodstock Village
on the evening of that day. The North-
Fastern Foresters, an organization that
includes the State Foresters, the in-
structors in Forestry, and a few other
WOOD PRESERVING AND THE LUMBER INDUSTRY
professional men, from Maine to Mary-
land, will meet at the same time and
place. There will be meetings of the
New Hampshire Timberland Owners’
Association, and representatives present
from Forestry Associations in the sev-
eral New England States.
The Governors of Maine and New
Hampshire have indicated that they will
take part in this Conference. Repre-
sentatives of the Forest Service, and
other departments of the Government
at Washington, connected with the ad-
ministration of the Weeks Bill, will
explain the progress of the National
Forest in the White Mountains. Other
topics for discussion will be, the ac-
quisition of forests by towns and States
in New England, protection of forests
from fire, and regulation of the flow of
water by forest cover.
409
Special consideration will be given to
the subject of taxation of forests, and
leading experts upon the subject will
take part. This is an important subject
in New England at this time, because
efforts are being made both in Massa-
chusetts and New Hampshire to change
the Constitution and permit forests to
be classified separately from other prop-
erty. Reports will be made on recent
purchases to save forest lands, both by
public and private agencies, including
the purchase of the Crawford Notch
by the State of New Hampshire. The
sessions of the Conference at Bretton
Woods will be at the Mt. Pleasant
House, that makes a special rate of
$3.00 per day to members of the Con-
ference. The Mt. Washington Hotel
and the Deer Park Hotel also make
special rates. A cordial invitation is
extended to all who are interested.
WOOD PRESERVING AND THE LUMBER INDUSTRY
tional Lumber Manufacturers
Association, E. A. Sterling, a
forest engineer, of Philadelphia, and
President of the American Wood Pre-
servers Association, in a brief address,
said:
“You all know that the wood pre-
serving industry comes into contact
with the lumber industry, and overlaps
it at many points. The wood preserv-
ing industry is growing faster than
many of us can keep up with. In 1900
there were 11 plants in the country.
the last figures were 101 plants, with a
growth of 120 per cent in the number
last year. The value of the product
represented at present is $40,000,000,
and the gross amount of wood treated
in 1910 was 110,000,000 cubic feet.
“This is of interest to you, first of all
because preservation takes certain
woods and species which you have a
difficulty in finding a market for. In
the East it takes beech, birch, maple
and red oak for cross ties and like pur-
poses. In the South it takes sap pine,
gum and so on down the line. It is of
ak THE annual meting of Na-
great importance because in a way it
means the opening of new markets.
“In this connection there is one thing
on which we ought to cooperate, and
that is inspection and grades. ‘To my
mind there is a distinct gap between
the official grades of your various al-
lied associations and the requirements
of the consumer for treated material.
This has come up in the case of every
railroad which operates a_ treating
plant. Say they have a use for long-
leaf pine for various purposes. They
want to get a pine which will treat
better than the heart pine, but will have
practically the same strength. In none
of the existing specifications is any-
thing which meets their need. The
American Maintenance of Way Asso-
ciation has been working on this. I
think it would be well to appoint a
committee from the Wood Preservers’
Association to cooperate with some of
your committees on this question of
specifications for creosoted material.
“There is one other thing, though it
is still in the future. You are up
against the fire question. Take
410 AMERICAN
shingles for instance. I believe the
time is coming when a preservative
treatment, combined with a fireproofing
treatment, is going to be developed for
use by you as lumbermen. Although
their shingles perhaps do not need a
preservative treatment particularly,
suppose the Pacific coast shingle manu-
FORESTRY
facturers could advertise a preserved
and fireproofed shingle, and push it
as the cypress people are pushing their
product in the magazines, wouldn’t that
counteract this movement against
shingles? I believe it entirely possible
to combine a preservative treatment of
lumber with a fireproofing treatment
for use under certain conditions.” -
STATE NEWS
Minnesota
Active opposition has developed to the bill
recently introduced in Congress by Repre-
sentative Lindbergh of Minnesota, which
would allot 45,000 acres of land in the na-
tional reserve, near Cast Lake, to the White
Oak Point band of Chippewa Indians. The
State Forestry Service is up in arms over
this attempt to cut down the area of the for-
est reserve, and will make every effort to
have the bill defeated.
“I do not know whether this band of In-
dians is deserving of further allotments or
not,” said Forester W. T. Cox. “But I do
know that they should not be given land in
this reserve. The land is poor for agricultural
purposes, but it has fine pine trees on it.
The stand is good and the park is beautiful.
There is land worth ten times as much as
this north of Red Lake. If these Indians
are to be given allotments it should be there,
and not in the reserve.
“The timber has been cut according to
scientific rules in there. There is a good
second growth that is being protected, and
the reserve is being given the best of forest
fire protection. It is also valuable to regu-
late the flowage of the upper waters of the
Mississippi. There is no occasion to give
these Indians land in there, and it should
not be done.”
Washington
In the last seven years the State of Wash-
ington has appropriated $153,950 for forest
fire prevention and this year a fund of $40,-
243.04 is available, says State Forester and
Fire Warden J. R. Welty, who summarizes
work done by the State in protecting the
timber wealth and what is to be done this
season.
Mr. Welty believes the State should make
an annual appropriation of $100,000 for for-
est fire prevention as good insurance on tim-
ber valued at $400,000,000 in Washington.
The work of the State Forestry Service for
its seven years of existence, he says, has
Saved 6,000,000,000 feet of timber to the
State that otherwise would have been de-
stroyed—timber valued at $9,000,000.
New Hampshire
The Board of Forestry Commissioners has
issued a circular in relation to reforesting
waste and cutover land, which is being sent
broadcast throughout the State.
The subjects covered in the circular are
the increase of forest planting in New
Hampshire, tax abatement on land planted
to trees, State forest nurseries, kinds of
trees to plant, how to secure trees for for-
esting lands, list of trees that can be ob-
tained from the forestry commission, the
preparation of land, the care of trees and
the care of plantations.
Wisconsin
Plans for protection against forest fires
were discussed at the first quarterly meeting
of the Northern Hemlock and Hardwood
Manufacturers’ Association recently.
Timber land owners will meet in Wausau,
Wis., soon to discuss plans for protection
and adopt a system similar to the one used
by the Forest Protective Association of
Timber Owners of Northern Michigan.
A suggestion for a national forest prod-
ucts exposition was approved. In all prob-
ability it will be held in Chicago or some
other large city of the Middle West.
The July meeting will be held in Holton,
Mich., the date of which has not been defin-
itely fixed.
Utah
O. W. Butler, of the district forestry ser-
vice, having in charge the silvi-culture de-
partment, has gone to Boise, Idaho, where
he will join District Forester E. A. Sher-
an and Assistant District Forester Timothy
oyt. h
From Boise the three foresters will pro-
ceed to Starkey, Idaho, where they will meet
with the supervisors and rangers of that dis-
trict.
se
STATE NEWS
The foresters are happy over the heavy
fall of rain and snow of the past two
months, as they say it means the saving of a
great deal of money to the forest service
department in the matter of preparations for,
and the actual fighting of, forest fires. It
cost much money to fight fires last year
many of which were caused by the dry sea-
son of the early part of the year.
Kentucky
J. W. Newman, Commissioner of Agricul-
ture of Kentucky, says of the tract of land
purchased by the State near Louisville: “I
am going-to make of it a forest with a
game preserve inside. This fall I shall plant
twenty-five acres of the ground in commer-
cial timber, used for manufacturing pur-
poses, and each year, during State Fair
week, visitors to the fair will be taken
through the forestry and told the value of
the different trees, just when they were
planted, how long it took them to grow,
and what they are used for principally from
a commercial standpoint. I mean to stock
the forestry with game of every kind, native
to Kentucky. It will be used as a breeding
place for game which will be distributed
throughout the State.”
Vermont
State Forester A. F. Hawes, of Vermont,
in discussing forest fire protection with the
fire wardens recently advised every town to
keep a supply of long handled shovels, pails
and sacks in several places where the war-
dens know where they are since oftentimes a
man comes to fight a fire with no equipment
with which to work. Handpumps attached
to pails where water is convenient and can
be brought by men are the most efficient fire
fighter and it would pay every town accord-
ing to Mr. Hawes to lay in a supply of two
or three such pumps.
A good deal of waste expense is caused
because the wardens delegate the fire fight-
ing to others and do not keep account of
the men’s time. The State Forester urged
prompt reports in cases of fires and more
accurate statements as to cause. The most
difficult report to get in is that of the cause
of fires. The State department also urged
that when wardens did not like to prosecute
a man who might well be prosecuted under
the statute the matter be referred to the
department as a few prosecutions of the sort
would do more than anything else to prevent
careless fires in future.
Colorado
In February of 1909, in response to a
request of the President of the United
States and the U. S. Forester in Chief, the
Governor appointed a Conservation Com-
mission of 36 members which was organized
411
the month following with the Hon. F. C.
Gowdy of Denver as chairman and Mr.
W. G. M. Stone as secretary. Work began
at once. Several meetings were held in con-
aa with interesting programs during its
ife.
At the annual meeting, in 1910, the same
officers were re-elected, and two or three
meetings held during the year. At the sec-
ond annual session, Col. Kenneth L. Fahne-
stock was elected president instead of Mr.
Gowdy, who declined to take the presidency
the third term. Before the newly-elected
president got around to appoint his com-
mittees and organize his forces, he was
taken sick and after an extended illness
passed away, and for fourteen months the
commission has lain absolutely dormant.
Whether it will rise from its sleep to
new life and energy will not appear till
after the State election in November, when
the first vice-president, ex-Governor Adams,
will order a call for a meeting. ‘Till then
it will sleep on disturbed by no sound po-
litical or economic that may threaten the
natural resources of the State.
Some of the members desire its awaken-
ing; others care not a “sou” if it never
wakens, and there are those who think it
would be better if it were to shed its com-
mission chrysalis and rise on the wings of
a free and independent “organization.” Six
months must elapse before any one can
know.
From appearances, conservation in Colo-
rado, among the politicians and individuals
desiring to get hold of the forest reserves
and other resources of the State, is not at
a premium. ‘The people themselves, if at
the helm, would doubtless have it otherwise.
Indiana
Tree experts in the employ of the Board
of Park Commissioners of Indianapolis as-
sert that widespread interest has been
aroused in Indianapolis this spring over the
care, protection and preservation of shade
trees and shrubbery. Through the efforts
of the forestry department of the Park
Board in sounding an alarm, and statistics
gathered from all parts of the city showing
that thousands of valuable shade trees are
dying annually from the blight and ravages
of the San Jose scale and other plant-de-
stroying insects, property owners have united
in a concerted movement to save the trees
by the methods adopted and recommended
by the Park Board.
Pennsylvania
Important reforestation work is being
done by the State Forestry Commission’s
nurseries this spring, and it is expected that
when the shipment of seedlings is com-
pleted, that over 2,000,000 young trees will
have been sent out. The majority of the
412 AMERICAN
trees being shipped are white pine, and the
fact that the State has been able to furnish
so many for its own reserves and to private
parties who agree to take care of them, li-
lustrates the wisdom of the establishment
of the nurseries several years ago.
The State has three nurseries, one in
Bedford, one in Huntingdon and one in
Tioga, with Mont Alto helping along. They
are all on State reserves and have proved
of great importance in the State’s work in
districts where replanting was necessary to
conserve the water supply. Last year close
to 2,000,000 seedlings were shipped.
Michigan
The State Game, Fish and Forestry De-
partment has demonstrated that between 75
and 80 per cent. of the disastrous forest fires
in Michigan in recent years are traceable to
the carelessness of homesteaders and camp-
ers, according to John A. Higgins, the de-
partment’s inspector of railroad locomotives
and rights-of-way. A small percentage of
the fires have been caused by sparks from
locomotives and it is the duty of Mr. Hig-
gins to see that railroads equip their en-
gines with devices to prevent these fires.
Mr. Higgins is on a tour of inspection
of the raliroads of Michigan. He examines
the equipment, the conditions along. the
rights-of-way that might be changed as a
measure of fire prevention and advises rail-
roads how to prevent fires.
Massachusetts
Campaigns for the prevention of waste are
young as yet in this country, and yet they
occasionally make their presence known.
Almost every year Massachusetts has been
the scene of destructive forest fires. One of
the commonest reasons of the great waste
through this cause has been that the fires
gained great headway before they were dis-
covered. To guard against this there has
been established a chain of signal towers,
reaching all the way from the coast to the
New York State line. In these men will be
stationed at all hours of the day and night,
and it is felt that no fire can gain much of
a start before it will be discovered.
New Hampshire
The danger from forest fires is called to
FORESTRY
the attention of the people of the State in a
circular issued from the office of State For-
ester E. C. Hirst, which follows:
It is extremely dangerous to leave slash
and cut bushes along the railroad lines.
Every year the railroads clear their right
of way of inflammable material, but to in-
sure safety a wider strip should be cleaned.
If at this time land owners would co-operate
with the railroad companies in clearing
brush where cuttings have been made along
the tracks, a great many fires would be pre-
vented.
In nearly every town there are some heavy
slashings along the most frequented roads
awaiting the lighted match or cigar from a
passing vehicle. Town selectmen and tim-
berland owners would do well to clear the
brush for a few feet along the roads where
timber cutting has left an inflammable slash.
A little forethought and attention to such
matters would lessen the fire danger mate-
rially and reduce the expense which the
lag and the State bear in fighting forest
res.
Oregon
Giving a warning to all timber owners as
to the burning of slashings, State Forester
Elliott has issued the first circular of the
season as to fire protective work by the
State Board of Forestry. In the circular he
calls attention to the necessity of burning
slashings at favorable times as being a ques-
tion of the greatest importance.
California
The forest rangers under R. H. Charlton,
supervisor of the Angeles forest reserve, in
conjunction with help to be furnished by
J. M. Beard, who will this year have charge
of the Sturtevant Camp in the Big Santa
Anita canyon, will shortly begin construction
of what forest rangers say will be the most
picturesque trail for travelers in the Sierra
Madres.
The trail will branch off the old Sturte-
vant trail at the Hermit’s and will then fol-
low the bottom of the canyon alongside Big
Santa Anita Creek up to Sturtevant’s. It
will lessen the distance between Sierra Ma-
dra and Sturtevant’s camp by three miles
and will be a much easier grade the whole
way, cutting out entirely the rattlesnake trail
beyond Hoegee’s camp.
NEWS AND NOTES
Forest Patrol Men
State Forester E. M. Griffith has appointed
the following federal patrolmen for the
forest reserves in Northern Wisconsin: T. B.
McNutt, Minocqua; Guy Morrill, Gagen;
M. H. Thompson, Rhinelander; H. M. Dun-
ham, Woodruff; Fred Melby, Sayner, and
T. D. Arnold, Rhinelander. The appoint-
ments are made in co-operation with the
United States forest service. The patrol will
work with the State forest rangers in pro-
tecting the timber at the headwaters of the
Wisconsin and Chippewa rivers from forest
fires. The government allows the State for-
estry board $5,000 for the employment of
these men.
The patrol will cover not only the State’s
reserves, but private lands in the midst of
and adjacent to them. When not needed in
protective work of that kind, they will be
engaged in building roads, trails and fire
lines. Most of the patrolmen will be
mounted on horses. Those on railroad lines
will be provided with hand-propelled ve-
locipedes.
Fire Protection
Supervisor Nelson Macduff of the San-
tiam forest reserve in Oregon states that
during the last year many important pieces
of trail work have been finished to protect
against forest fires. Mr. Macduff states that
the government has purchased material for
a telephone line 60 miles in length. This
line will help protect the government timber
on the Santiam reserve in Linn and Marion
counties, and besides be of benefit to the
private timber on the reserve.
Protective Association Active
The Northern Forest Protective Associ-
ation of Michigan which was formed at a
meeting of the timber owners of the upper
peninsula held in Marquette a year ago this
spring, will commence its season’s work
in the course of the next ten days. The
object of the association is to protect the
standing timber of the upper peninsula from
being devastated by fire and to this end
twenty rangers are kept patroling the
wooded sections north of the straits from
early spring until after the beginning of
winter. The work of the association last
year proved a decided success and resulted
in the saving of timber whose value mounted
well up into the thousands.
‘now under way.
Branch Organizations
The Massachusetts Forestry Association,
which for the past 14 years has been ac-
tively engaged in agitating better forestry
laws, has started to organize branch organi-
zations in nearly all the large cities of the
State. Organizations have already been
formed in Worcester and Fitchburg, and the
work of organizing a branch in this city is
The purpose of these
branch organizations is to bring members
of the State organization together for local
work.
Encouraging Tree Growth
The growing of trees in New York State
has been penalized by taxing the crop as
though it were a yearly crop; like wheat or
oats, explains The New York Times. In
order to pay the tax and escape its future
burden, the farmers have been compelled to
cut down their trees and market them. Now
the Legislature has remedied this. The
newly enacted Jones law exempts from as-
sessment and taxation for thirty-five years
parcels of one to 100 acres, which shall be
planted for forestry purposes, with not less
than 800 trees to the acre, while lands under-
planted, with less than 300 trees to the acre,
shall be assessed for thirty-five years at “50
per cent of the assessable valuation,” exclu-
sive of the forest growth. That puts a
premium upon the planting of trees.
Aiding Floods
People who do not believe that cutting of
forests about the head waters of streams
will increase floods should read a recent
bulletin of the government forest service,
dealing with floods in the Castle Valley of
Utah.
Previous to the settlement of this valley
in 1878, there were no floods. Later, when
cattle and sheep were pastured on its hill-
sides, destructive floods became very com-
mon, and would even follow a sharp summer
rain. A committee of stock growers and
farmers investigated the subject, and de-
cided that the close cropping of the forage
by cattle and sheep had let the water run
off quickly into the valleys. Since grazing
was restricted, the floods have largely
ceased.
If such a slight obstruction as the light
grass of the hillsides operates to hold water
back and equalize its flow, how much more
must the rich vegetable mould that gathers
on and in the soil under the leafy protection
of a thick forest?
413
414 AMERICAN
Purchase of Lands
At a meeting recently at the office of the
Secretary of War, the National Forest
Reservation Commission had under consid-
eration the advisability of purchasing lands
in Virginia and West Virginia on the head-
waters of the Potomac River, in North Car-
olina on the headwaters of the Nanthala
River, and in the White Mountains in New
Hampshire. These are areas in which a
large number of tracts have been examined
and appreciated by the Forest Service.
Specific recommendations were made by
the service for the purchase of the tracts
in Virginia, West Virginia and North Caro-
lina, but no final action was taken.
With reference to the White Mountains
final action by the commission cannot be
taken until a report is received from the
Geological Survey. The director of the sur-
vey reported that the field studies are pro-
gressing rapidly, and that he hopes to make
a report within the next couple of weeks.
Sequoias for Florida
Four young scions of the Sequoia Gi-
gantea family, which for 5,000 years has
made its home exclusively in California, are
to be transplanted from the big tree grove
in California Redwood Park, Santa Cruz
County, to Tallahassee, Florida.
The request for the trees, four feet high,
was made by Governor Gilchrist of Florida,
and was granted by Governor Johnson, who
authorized State Forester G. M. Homans to
superintend their removal from the forest.
Two of the trees are to be planted in
the park surrounding the capitol at Talla-
hassee, while the other two will be placed
in the grounds surrounding the executive
mansion.
Forester Opposes Engineer
Questioning the authority of State Engi-
neer Lewis of Oregon to issue a permit to
F. W. Ross for the appropriation of the
waters of the Breitenbush Springs, because
they are not ordinary waters, but contain
medicinal properties, George H. Cecil, for-
ester for the district embracing the National
Forest Reserve of Oregon, has written him
on the subject.
He declares that Ross has applied to the
Federal Government for the use of the lands
where the springs are located as he con-
templates laying some pipelines and building
some bath houses. Under the statutes of the
FORESTRY
United States, he says, it is his opinion that
the only waters over which the State exer-
cises jurisdiction are those used for power,
domestic and irrigation purposes.
Arousing Forest Interest
With 800,000 acres of unimproved farm
land in New York State, which is the best
adapted for the growing of forests, the
State Conservation Commission is endeavor-
ing to arouse interest throughout the State
as to the importance of planting trees for
reforestation purposes. The commission has
arranged a table showing the amounts of
land in which this work can be carried on,
devoting these tracts to the purpose for
which nature intended them.
Forest Reserve Receipts
The Senate Committee on Agriculture has
adopted an amendment to the agriculture
appropriation bill providing that 25 per cent
of receipts from forest reserves shall be
spent on reserves where moneys originate,
for construction of roads. Also an amend-
ment increasing direct appropriation for
road construction in reserves to $225,000.
Another amendment adopted appropriates
$35,000 for fighting alfalfa weevil and
$15,000 for studying sugar beet insect pests.
Seedling Distribution
Prof. J. Fred Baker, head of the Michigan
Agricultural College Forestry Department,
says the distribution of seedling forest trees
this season has exceeded the records of all
former years. Up to date 100,230 seedlings
have been sent out and the distribution will
continue as long as there are any trees left.
The orders are not as large as in former
years, but there are more orders and they
have been coming largely from the southern
and eastern sections of the State for the
development of farm wood lots. The col-
lege is issuing bulletins of instruction on the
care of wood lots.
The junor students in the forestry depart-
ment are being placed for their summer
work. Four have been found places in Cali-
fornia, four in Colorado, fourteen in Mon-
tana and two in Arkansas. The young men
will receive $50 a month. The sophomore
class will spend the summer in camp on the
David E. Ward estate from June 19 to Aug-
ust 10, and will study surveying and timber
cruising.
THE PHILIPPINE FORESTS
The forests of the Philippines, according to official figures, contain 200,000,000 board
feet of lumber, half as much is in the forest reserves of the United States, but on one-eighth
the area.
BOSTON’S TREE PLANTING
The city of Boston has appropriated $25,000 for expenditure in tree planting and main-
enance. alf of the amount is to be expended on trees already planted and the other half
is to be used for setting out additional trees.
EDUCATIONAL
Dean Miller Resigns
The announcement of the resignation of
Professor Frank G. Miller, Dean of the
College of Forestry at the University of
Washington, comes to every forester with
a sincere feeling of regret. Dean Miller
will sever his connections with the Univer-
sity to become Secretary-Treasurer and Lo-
cal Manager of the Columbia-Wenatchee
Fruit Company, an organization that will en-
gage in an international fruit commission
business. The new departure in Professor
Miller’s career will be a distinct loss to the
profession and especially so in the Pacific
Northwest where the foresters and many of
the lumbermen have learned to recognize in
him a powerful force in the local develop-
ment of forestry. As he will continue to
make Seattle his home we may still hope
that he will find time to keep up his in-
terest and continue in a general way to be
a force in the betterment of forestry con-
ditions in the Northwest.
Mr. Miller was born at Lenark, Illinois,
June 2, 1866. His early training was re-
ceived at the Iowa State Normal School.
From 1893-1899 he was Superintendent of
Schools, first at Parkersburg and later at
Dunlap, Iowa. During this period he spent
some of his summers in study at the Uni-
versity of Chicago. In 1900 he received the
degree of Ph.B. from the University of
Towa, in 1901 B.S.A. from the Iowa State
College, and in 1903 M.F. from Yale Uni-
versity.
He immediately entered the United States
Forest Service and was placed in charge
of forest planting investigation in Nebraska.
This work gave him a most excellent oppor-
tunity to become thoroughly familiar with
the especial needs of forestry in that region
and before the close of that year he was
called to the University of Nebraska to or-
ganize a Department of Forestry. His broad
educational foundation and his extensive
experience in teaching especially fitted him
to undertake this work. Under his direction
the school advanced rapidly and when he
left there in 1907 to organize the College
of Forestry at the University of Washington
the Nebraska School was recognized as one
of the established forest schools of the
country.
At the University of Washington, where
the department was to be organized as a
separate college and the local conditions for
instruction in forestry are exceptionally good,
Professor Miller soon controlled his oppor-
tunities, so that the growth and development
of the College have been remarkable. Dur-
ing the five years since its organization the
College of Forestry has grown under Dean
Miller’s direction to an institution with three
distinct groups of study and two short
courses that at present meet all the require-
ments for instruction in forestry in the re-
gion. The School of Forestry at Nebraska,
and the College of Forestry at the Univer-
sity of Washington, will always stand as a
monument to Prof. Miller’s active interest
in forestry in this country.
Since he first took up the work of for-
estry, Prof. Miller has carried on extensive
studies in forest extension and has published
several pamphlets on this subject. During
the past year he has made an extensive study
of Forest Taxation in conjunction with Mr.
Frank B. Kellogg of the Forest Service.
This work will probably be published before
the close of the year.
Professor Roth to Remain at Ann Arbor
It was announced earlier in the winter
that Professor Filibert Roth, head of the
Forest School at the University of Michigan,
was to go to Cornell the coming summer,
to take charge of the forestry work at that
institution. Professor Roth has changed
his plans and will remain in Michigan.
Cornell to Have $100,000 Forestry
Building
Governor Dix of New York has approved
the bill passed by the State Legislature ap-
propriating $100,000 to Cornell University
for a forestry building. Plans for the build-
ing are now being drawn, and it is expected
that ground will be broken this fall, and
that the building will be ready for occu-
pancy at the opening of the University in
September, 1913.
The trustees of Cornell University, at a
meeting held on April 27th, adopted the
degrees to be given to foresters graduating
from Cornell. The course will cover five
years, with the degree Bachelor of Science
at the end of the fourth year and Master
in Forestry at the end of the fifth year.
As Professor Roth is not to come to Cor-
nell, Professor Walter Mulford is to have
charge of the department, and will have
three other professors with him.
The department now has about 300 acres
of land available for forestry purposes with-
in three miles of the University campus.
Part of this is open ground to be used for
experimental and demonstration plantations.
Included in the area are also 9 woodlots,
presenting a variety of silvicultural condi-
tions and problems. White pine, hemlock
and hardwoods are all well represented in
these stands.
415
416 AMERICAN
Colorado School Sells Land
On March 1, 1912, Colorado College sold
3,240 acres of its Manitou Park Forest Re-
serve of 9,560 acres. The land sold was
valuable only for agricultural and grazing.
There was on it also a summer hotel. The
result of this sale is to give the School an
excellent beginning for an endowment fund,
and to relieve the faculty of much adminis-
trative work in connection with the ranch
and hotel. The remaining portion of the
reserve, 6,320 acres, is practically all tim-
bered and Western Yellow Pine and Doug-
las Fir. The School retains the group of
cottages which have been used as_head-
FORESTRY
quarters for field work. The reserve, with
its present area, offers excellent opportuni-
ties for conducting an object lesson in for-
estry. The stand of timber is about 10,000
M. feet B. M., and the annual growth about
300 or 480 M. feet B. M.
This spring the senior class has been
transferred to the lands of the Castilla Es-
tates Development Company in Northern
New Mexico for mapping, estimating and
the preparation of a working plan. This
arrangement not only gives the students op-
portunity to see timberlands different from
those at and near Manitou Park, but also
enables the School to carry out a project
which the company has been anxious to have
executed.
RECEIPT FOR A RANGER
By J. B. CAMMANN
First get a big kettle and a fire that’s
hot,
And when everything’s ready throw in-
to the pot,
A doctor, a miner, of lawyers a few,
At least one sheep herder and cow boy
or two.
Next add a surveyor, and right after
that
A man with some sense, and a good
diplomat.
At least one stone mason, then give it
av stir,
And add to the mess one good car-
penter.
A man that knows trees, and don’t
leave from the list,
A telephone man, and a fair botanist.
The next one that’s added must be
there, that’s a cinch.
It’s the man that will stay when it
comes to a pinch.
Add a man that will work, and not
stand round and roar
Who can do ten thousand things and
then just a few more.
Now boil it up well and skim off the
scum,
And a Ranger you'll
residuum.
find in the
DO WE ENCOURAGE FOREST FIRES?
The destruction caused by forest fires in North Carolina during 1911 was very little less
than that reported for 1910, according to a compilation being made by the North Carolina
Geological and Economic Survey, and soon to be published. Only one-third of the townships
of the State have sent in reports, but enough has been learned from them to show that
no great reducion in the annual damage done by fires has taken place. This damage is
estimated to approximate $450,000, which includes estimated damage to young growth, which
in many cases exceeds the damage done to the standing timber. The number of fires
reported was 637, which ts slightly less than those reported last year and slightly more than
was reported for 1909.
PAMPHLET ON ARBOR DAY
. The Public Library of Jersey City has just published a useful little pamphlet entitled
Arbor Day and some facts about Trees.’ This publication is not only a useful handbook
for school teachers and the public generally, but is also a valuable contribution to the cause
of conservation. The origin and history of Arbor Day and the benefits derived from its
observance are briefly stated, and the value of forests and various interesting facts about
trees are given in a short, concise form.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Many of our readers frequently desire to secure some expert advice regarding various
features of forestry work, and do not know to whom to apply for the information.
The Editor has accordingly decided to establish this column in which he will be glad to
publish such questions as may be sent to him, and give the answers, whenever the questions
relate to any detail of the work which this Association is doing or such information as it
can give.
The Editor requests that communications be written on one side of the paper only and
if possible, be typewritten.
Brunswick, Maine.
Eprror.—Will you kindly send me any in-
formation possible upon possibilities and op-
portunities for college men in forestry? By
college men is meant men with an A.B., or
equivalent, degree who contemplate a gradu-
ate course.
Epwarp W. KEntT.
There are abundant opportunities, and
they are increasing, for the practice of for-
estry by competent, trained foresters. Sal-
aries are not large, but they compare favor-
ably with those in any other profession and
they are tending toward a higher level. The
opportunities are found in the National For-
est Service, which employs a large number
of men and furnishes valuable experience in
various fields; in the forest services of the
different States, many of which are going
into this work and paying fair salaries to
good men; and there is also an increasing
call for foresters in practical lumbering, as
the lumber companies and others that are
working in forest products see the need of
scientific handling of their properties. So
much for the opportunities for work. The
three leading schools that are open to col-
lege graduates are those at Yale, Harvard
and Michigan. For the man who wishes to
rise to the highest point in the profession,
and who has the educational equipment to
begin with, one of these schools will be best.
You can, of course, secure detailed infor-
mation in regard to their courses, terms,
etc., by writing to the schools—Editor.
Columbus, Ohio.
Eprror AMERICAN Forestry.—A gentleman
whom I know asserts that at one time the
Sahara Desert and all other desert areas
were covered with dense forests. Will you
kindly tell me if this is true?
Joun W. WINN.
So far as I am aware, there is no evidence
whatever that the desert lands of the world
have ever been covered with forests during
historical times. It is, of course, possible
that in some previous geological era with
different climatic conditions, forests existed
where deserts are now found. In most of
the desert regions which are found today,
the precipitation or the humidity of the
air is too low to permit of tree growth. In
most of these regions trees could be grown
if water was supplied artificially by irriga-
tion, but under natural conditions the ex-
treme aridity of the country makes their
establishment impossible.
It is possible that the gentleman who
brought the matter to your attention re-
ferred to lands which are known to have
been covered with forests within historical
times, but which have since been denuded
and may be completely barren. This has
happened in a number of regions, especially
in the mountains where the reckless destruc-
tion of the forest has been followed by tor-
rents and erosion which have destroyed the
soil cover and have prevented the reestab-
lishment of tree growth.
S. T. Dana,
Editorial Advisory Board.
New York City.
Eprror AMERICAN Forestry.—Will you
kindly give me full information regarding
the prices of lumber at various periods and
whatever information you may have regard-
ing timber conditions in the United States?
J. F. Gray.
This information takes up too much space
to print here; so, through the kindness of
O. T. Swan, in charge of the Office of Prod-
ucts of the Department of Agriculture, the
detailed information has been mailed.—
Editor.
THE AMBITIOUS TREE.
An unusual publicity project is being conducted jointly by the school authorities of
several of the Pacific Northwestern States and the Western Forestry & Conservation
Association in distributing through the public schools several hundred thousand copies of
a story called “The Ambitious Tree,’ written by E. T. Allen, to interest boys and girls in
forest protection and especially in preventing forest fires. Over 165,000 are being placed
in Washington and Idaho schools alone. The story tells of the life and struggles of a
western forest tree and the part it plays in community development and prosperity.
417
CURRENT LITERATURE
MONTHLY LIST FOR MAY, 1912
(Books and periodicals indexed in the
Library of the United States
Forest Service)
Forestry as a Whole
Hanson, C. O. Forestry for woodmen. 222
p. il, pl. Oxford. At the Clarendon
press, 1911.
Nisbet, John. The elements of British for-
estry; a hand-book for forest appren-
tices and students of forestry. 345 p.
il. Edinburgh and London, W. Black-
wood and Sons, 1911. ;
Philipp, Karl. Forstliche tagesfragen mit
besonderer beriicksichtigung der badis-
chen waldwirtschaft. 171 p. Freiberg
im Breisgau, Herdersche verlagshand-
lung, 1912. f
Proceedings and reports of associations,
commussions, etc.
Great Britain—Departmental committee on
forestry in Scotland. Report, with ap-
pendices and evidence. 95 p. map. Lon-
don, 1912.
New South Wales—Dept. of agriculture—
Forestry dept. Report for the year
ended 30th June, 1911. 33 p. pl. Syd-
ney, 1912.
Forest Botany
Trees, classification and description
Bourdillon, T. F. The forest trees of Tra-
vancore. 456 p. pl. Trivandrum, Gov-
ernment press, 1908.
Lamb, William H. The catalpa septum, a
factor in distinguishing hardy catalpa.
2p. il. Wash. D. C., Society of Amer-
ican foresters, 1912.
Silvics
Forest influences
Zon, Raphael. Forests and water in the
light of scientific investigation. 100 p.
Wash., D. C., Gov't. printing office,
1912.
Ecology
Cajander, A. K. Uber waldtypen. 175 p.
Helsingfors, 1909. (Fennia, 1909-1912,
Ven28y INO: 23)
Studies of species
Schwappach, Adam. Die rotbuche; wirt-
schaftliche und statische untersuchun-
gen der forstlichen abteilung der haupt-
station des forstlichen versuchswesen in
Eberswalde. 231 p. pl. Neudamm, J.
Neumann, 1911.
Silviculture
Planting
Reitzenstein, Friedrich von. Die baumschu-
len von H. H. Pein in Halstenbek, Hal-
stein. 12 op. ile berlinsbs baney, 009:
Insects
418
Forest Protection
Pergande, Theo. The life history of the
alder blight aphis. 23 p. il. Wash.,
D. C., 1912. (U.S: Dept. of agriculture
—Bureau of entomology. ‘Technical
series No. 24.)
Fire
McGillivray, J. H. Michigan forest scouts,
for the protection of frontier life and
property and reforestation; auxiliary
fire wardens exploited by the Game, fish
and forestry department. 55 p. Lan-
sing, Mich., 1912.
Forest Administration
United States—Dcpartment of agriculture
—Forest service. April field program,
1912. 32 p. Wash, D. CG, 1912.
Forest Engineering
Surveying and mapping
United States—Department of agriculture—
Forest service. Instructions for making
forest surveys and maps, revised Dec.
25, 1911. 84 p. il. Wash. D. C, 1912.
Forest Utilization
Noyes, William. Handwork in wood. 231
p. il. Peoria, Ill, The Manual arts
press, 1910.
Schenck, C. A. Logging and lumbering, or
forest utilization; a text book for forest
schools. 189 p. il. Biltmore, N. C.,,
Biltmore forest school, 1912.
Schneider, E. E., and Foxworthy, F. W.
The uses of Philippine woods. 50 p.
Manila, P. I, 1911. (Philippine Islands—
Bureau of forestry. Bulletin 11.)
Lumber industry
Northern pine manufacturers’ association.
White pine and Norway pine. 25 p. il.
Minneapolis, Minn.
Wood using industries
Harris, John T. The wood-using industries
of Alabama. 12 p. New Orleans, La.,
Lumber trade journal, 1912.
Harris, J. F., and others. Wood-using in-
dustries and national forests of Arkan-
sas.. 40-p: Wash D) Cisi2. 2 CUS
Dept. of agriculture—Forest service.
Bulletin 106.)
Auxiliary Subjects
Conservation of natural resources
National conservation congress. Addresses
and proceedings of the 3d National con-
servation congress at Kansas City, Mo.,
Sept.’ 25-27,'1919.) 319)\p.0 Washi!
C., 1912.
Botany
Spalding, Volney M. Present problems in
plant ecology; problems of local distri-
bution in arid regions. 11 p. Wash.,
D. C., Gov’t. printing office, 1910.
os
Ds
i”
4
>
CURRENT LITERATURE
Political economy
Dartmouth college. Addresses and discus-
sions at the conference on scientific man-
agement held Oct. 12-14, 1911. 388 p.
pl. Hanover, N. H., 1912.
Periodical Articles
Miscellaneous periodicals
Agricultural journal of the Union of South
Africa, March, 1912.—How to raise trees
from seed, by G. A. Wilmot, p. 386-7;
Two fungous diseases of coniferous
trees, by J. Fisher, p. 389-91.
Botanical gazette, April, 1912—Relation of
the daily march of transportation to
variations in the water content of fo-
liage leaves, by B. E. Livingston and
W. H. Brown, p. 309-30; Ray tracheids
in Abies, by W. P. Thompson, p. 331-8.
Country life in America, April 15, 1912.—
American forestry; a new movement to
meet a growing need, by H. S. Graves,
p. 33-34.
Country life in America, May 1, 1912.—The
charm of the dogwood tree, by N.
Roosevelt, p. 19-20.
Craftsman, March, 1912.—Conservation; the
great principle of national thrift, by O.
W. Price, p. 585-94.
Gardeners’ chronicle, April 6, 1912.—British
elms, by C. E. Moss, p. 216-17.
Phytopathology, April, 1912—Notes on some
diseases of trees in our national for-
ests, by George Grant Hedgcock, p. 73-
80.
Revue horticole, April 16, 1912—Albizzia
nemu, by S. Mottet, p. 184-6.
Scientific American, April 27, 1912—A sub-
stitute for pencil cedar, p. 386-7.
World’s work, May, 1912—The unknown
wonders of our national parks, p. 68-77.
Trade journals and consular reports
American lumberman, April 13, 1912.—
Beauty and utility; the American chest-
nut, p. 1; Composition flooring of saw-
dust and magnesium chloride, by R. P.
Skinner, p. 36; Western forestry and
conservation association; annual meet-
ing, p. 50 B-C.
American lumberman, April 20, 1912.—
Some construction, timbers of the Philip-
pines; white lauan, by H. N. Whitford,
p. 33; Patent silo business profitable to
retailer, by C. E. Davidson, p. 40-1; Ef-
ficient methods of handling logs at mill,
by G. F. Willis, p. 43; Steam traction
engine for lumber service, p. 56.
American lumberman, April 27, 1912.—Tur-
pentining methods, p. 28; Bagtican
lauan, by H. N. Whitford, p. 31; Pro-
duction and consumption of pulp and pa-
per products in the west, by J. B. Knapp,
p. 43-6.
American lumberman, May 4, 1912.—Almon
lauan, by H. N. Whitford, p. 44.
American lumberman, May 11, 1912.—For-
ests in Europe, p. 29; Lumber prices,
by R. S. Kellogg, p. 47; Development of
cutover ‘lands, by B. Odell, p. 50 A-B;
419
The lumbermen and wood-using indus-
tries, by M. Cline, p. 50 B; In behalf
of the American forestry association,
by P. S. Ridsdale, p. 50 B; Combination
impossible in the lumber industry, by
C. S. Keith, p. 50 D-H.
Barrel and box, April, 1912.—From the tree
to the distillery, by W. L. Wellford, p.
42-3; Drying lumber in dry kilns, p. 53.
Canada lumberman, April 15, 1912—Various
ways of utilizing sawdust, p. 39; Top
lopping as a protective measure, by W.
W. Gleason, p. 42.
Canada lumberman, May 1, 1912.—The eco-
nomical piling of lumber, by J. F. Ho-
bart, p. 39, 42; Cutting and hauling hard-
woods, p. 52; Difficulties met with in
log scaling, by D. L. Wiggins, p. 54.
Engineering news, April 11, 1912.—Forests
and floods on the North Pacific coast,
by H. M. Chittenden.
Engineering record, Feb. 24, 1912.—The use
of treated wood paving blocks, by F.
M. Bond, p. 223-4.
Engineering record, March 30, 1912.—Con-
tinuous wood-stave pipe, p. 342; Refor-
estation from the point of view of the
railroads, p. 357; Grouping timbers for
antiseptic treatment, p. 360.
Hardwood record, April 25, 1912—Osage
orange, p. 28-9; Utilization of wood
waste, p. 36.
Hardwood record, May 10, 1912.—Pecan, p.
25-6; Cedar and utility chests, p. 36 c-d;
Use of steam in drying lumber, p. 36d-
38.
Journal of electricity, power and gas, May 4,
1912.—Novel wooden tower line con-
struction, by O. G. Steele, p. 393-6.
Lumber trade journal, May 1, 1912.—Wood-
using industries of Alabama, by J. T.
Harris and H. Maxwell, p. 19-30; Henry
Hardtner tells of states conservation
needs, by H. Hardtner, p. 34-5.
Lumber world review, April 25, 1912.—The
problem of lumber seasoning, p. 25-6.
Municipal journal and engineer, April 28,
1912.—The greatest enemy of the shade
tree; injury done by curb stone, by C.
Bannwart, p. 619-21.
New York lumber trade journal, May 1,
1912.—Utilization of wood waste, by J.
M. Gibbs, p. 24-6.
Paper mill and wood pulp news, April, 1912.
—Canadian pulp woods, by J. A. De
Cew, p. 19, 26.
Paper trade journal, May 2, 1912.—To util
ize waste in paper making, by B.
Loomis, p. 54.
Railway and engineering review, April 20,
1912.—Grouping of timbers for preser-
vative treatment, p. 355-6.
St. Louis lumberman, April 15, 1912—The
standard cross tie machine; a line of
portable mills that is making good in
many ways and at many points, p. 66.
Southern industrial and lumber review,
April, 1912.—Creosoted wood block
pavements, by J. C. Dionne and others,
p. 43-59.
420 AMERICAN
Southern lumber journal, April 15, 1912.—
Wooden block pavement, p. 38.
Timber trade journal, April 20, 1912—A
remarkable Honduras mahogany log, p.
797; Fields and forests in the Spree val-
ley, p. 800.
Timberman, April, 1912—California conser-
vation commission and timbermen dis-
cuss forestry, p. 22-7; Utilization of
overhead system for lowering logs down
steep grades, p. 49; Aerial transportation
of lumber, p. 52-3; British Columbia in-
cludes fire prevention measure in new
forestry act, p. 54-5.
United States daily consular report, April
16, 1912—Lack of forests in China, by
S. S. Knabenshue, p. 214.
United States daily consular report, April
17, 1912.—Composition floorings of mag-
nesium chloride, by R. P. Skinner, p.
229-31.
United States daily consular report, May 2,
1912.—Cork industry of Spain, by C.
S. Winans, p. 433-6.
Wood craft, May, 1912.—The making of
office and library supplies, p. 35-9; The
high piling of lumber from cars, by J.
F. Hobart, p. 42-4; The interior finish
woodwork of housés and flats, by J.
Bovington, p. 48-51; Opportunities in
the study of wood structure, p. 64-5.
Wooden and willow-ware trade _ review,
April 11, 1912—Basket making in Ja-
maica, p. 17.
Forest journals
Allegemeine forst-und jagd-zeitung, March,
1912.—Die natiirliche verjiingung der
nadelddlzer in Thiringen nebst_ eini-
gen bemerkungen tiber diese form der
bestandes-begrundung, by A. Menzel, p.
73-90; Tiefpflanzen ftir trockeneren bo-
den, by Tiemann, p. 90-4.
Canadian forestry journal, March-April,
1912.—Constitution and by-laws of the
Canadian forestry association, p. 29-
30; Forests of the Oxford house district,
W. T., p. 31-4; Investigations on
forest insects, and forest protection, by
C. G. Hewitt, p. 35-7, 47; Stumpage
prices in British Columbia, by R. D.
Craig, p. 39-41; Tree planting in south-
ern Alberta, by A. Mitchell, p. 42-47;
Canadian pulp woods; the species useful
for paper manufacture and their quali-
ties, by J. A. De Cew, p. 48-50; Value to
a farm of a woodlot, by W. F. Payne, p.
51-53.
FORESTRY
Centralblatt fiir das gesamte forstwesen,
March, 1912.—Ueber die dauer der eisen-
bahnschwellen, by K. Havelik, p. 105-
15; Die langenmessung mit dem draht-
seil, by H. Dock, p. 116-28.
Forest leaves, April, 1912.—Protection of
plantations, by J. W. Seltzer, p. 115;
Proper method of transplanting trees,
by G. H. Wirt, p. 118; A new sprouting
axe and its advantages, by W. G. Conk-
lin, p. 118-19; Forestry of a railroad, by
J. Foley, p. 119-20; The Pennsylvania
forestry reservation commission, p. 120;
New York state forestry, p. 123-4;
Fighting forest fires, by T. D. Collins,
p. 124; Methods of reforesting, p. 125-6.
Hawaiian forester and agriculturist, April,
1912.—Street tree planting, by R. S. Hos-
mer, p. 123-7.
Indian forester, April, 1912—Extraction of
teak timber in the Pyinmana forest di-
vision, upper Burma, p. 151-4; A short
preliminary note on the suitability of the
deadwood of Acacia catechu for katha
making, by P. Singh, p. 154-6; Podo-
phyllum emodi, by P. Singh, p. 156-61.
Quarterly journal of forestry, April, 1912.—
Experiments on trees at Colesborne, by
H. J. Elwes, p. 83-111; The structure of
the timbers of some common genera of
coniferous trees, by W. S. Jones, p. 112-
34; Growing larch for profit, by W.
Schlich, p. 134-9.
Revue des eaux et foréts, March 15, 1912.—
Forét domaniale de Hez-Froidmont, by
L. Pardé, p. 160-75.
Revue des eaux et foréts, April 1, 1912.—
Plantations de pin Weymouth dans les
terrains Marécageux, by C. Hatt, p. 193-
5; Simples observations sur la rusticité
de quelques résineux cultivés en dehors
de leur station naturelle, by A. Jolyet,
p. 196-211.
Schweizerische zeitschrift fiir forstwesen,
March, 1912.—Aphorismen zur biologie
des waldes, by U. Meister, p. 77-87; Die
vernichtung der engerlinge in den forst-
garten, by Decoppet, p. 122-9.
Zeitschrift fiir forst-und jagdwesen, March,
1912.—Die unabhangigkeit des boden-
werts von dem holzbestandswert, sowie
des holzbestandswerts von dem boden-
wert, by Frey, p. 129-36; Insekten—und
pilzschaden an den eichenbestanden der
Provinz Westfalen, by O. Baumbarten,
p. 154-61,
American Forestry
VOL. XVIII
JULY, 1912
No. 7
A DEFINITE STATE FOREST POLICY
New York STATE’S PRoGRESS IN REFORESTING THE ADIRONDACKS
Daa AN
OD. ett ats forestry is depend-
ent, among other things, upon a
ready and accessible market for
both major and minor forest products,
adequate transportation facilities, and
the use of capital drawing a low rate
of interest. Stated inversely, intensive
forest work is not practical in remote
regions, and crude, wasteful lumbering
methods, through no fault of the lum-
bermen, must be followed where den-
sity of population and stability of con-
ditions do not permit more conservative
methods and provision for the future.
The State of New York, by virtue
of age, population, wealth, and trans-
portation facilities, would seem to have
approximated European conditions suf-
ficiently to justify intensive forest
management, both on State and private
lands. As bearing this out, we find
that forestry principles are finding ap-
plication on large forest areas under
ownership by the State, this policy hav-
ing developed for the first time in
America in the State which is fore-
most in many lines of industry and
perhaps best fitted to father such
as policy. - While the ‘existedeemobea
definite State forest policy is an actual
fact, it happens that it cannot be pri-
marily attributed to the theoretical fac-
tors mentioned, nor based on the same
conditions which obtain in Europe? But
the work is no less commendable on
this account. The real cause for the
extensive forestry policy on State tim-
berlands in New York is founded pri-
marily on the preservation of the
Adirondacks watershed and on the de-
sire of wealthy citizens, particularly in
the larger cities, for the maintenance,
at the State’s expense, of the enormous
. STERLING
natural park and playground in the
wild and yet easily accessible region
comprising the Adirondack mountain
uplift.
A brief historical review is necessary
to a clear understanding of the condi-
tions existing and the work going on
today. As far back as 1872, Horatio
Seymour, twice Governor of the State
and once a candidate for President,
perceived the need for State ownership
of the Adirondack watershed. Through
his initiative a State Park Commission
was appointed, which, after investiga-
tion, found that the State then owned
only 40,000 acres in that region. Eleven
years later, in 1883, the recommenda-
tion of the first Park Commission for-
bidding further sales of State lands and
their retention when forfeited for the
non-payment of taxes received consid-
eration. By acting upon these recom-
mendations the State came into posses-
sion of 600,000 acres of delinquent
tax lands. A Forest Commission was
appointed under the Act of 1885 and
was superceded ten years later by a
Commission of Fisheries, Game and
Forests; while in 1903 the Commission
was changed to a single Commissioner,
and in 1910 to a Conservative Com-
mission.
In 1897 new legislation was passed
and an arbitrary area was set aside as
a State preserve, bounded by the so-
called “blue line.” A Forest Preserve
Board was appointed to purchase ad-
ditional forest lands within the pro-
scribed limits, and some $3,500,000 was
spent up to 1907 for the purchase of
forest lands. This policy of consoli-
dating the holdings within the pro-
scribed forest park limits has been fol-
421
422 AMERICAN FORESTRY
lowed with several intermissions up to
the present time, and in 1911 the total
State holdings comprised 1,643,000
acres, of which all except 112,000 acres
in the Catskills, is located on the
Adirondack plateau. The total area
within the park limits comprises about
3,400,000 acres, so that the alienated
lands still comprise about one-half of
the total area.
The acquirement by a wealthy State
of such an enormous area of forested
and potential forest land is a mark of
a distinct progress. The reverse side
of the picture is that enthusiastic but
ill-advised reformers, with all good in-
tention, succeeded in 1893 in securing
the passage of a constitutional clause
preventing the cutting of trees, dead or
alive, on State lands and declaring that
they shall be kept forever, as “wild
lands.” his clause, which has never
been repealed, prevents putting these
State lands to their best use. Forestry
cannot be practiced without cutting
trees, and this is particularly true in the
Adirondacks, where overmature stands
of hardwoods need to be removed in
order to establish a more valuable
growth of coniferous species. If the
State foresters were permitted to han-
Photo by R. E. Gooding.
SECOND YEAR SEED BEDS PATNODE NURSERY, LAKE CLEAR JUNCTION.
(There are in this nursery of approximately two acres over five million seedling trees.)
dle these Adirondack lands according
to forestry principles, they would be
able not only to greatly improve the
forest conditions, but secure an income
for the purchase of more lands or with
which to reimburse the State treasury
for expenditures already made.
During the last ten years this con-
stitutional amendment has been set
aside by the Commission to the extent
of planting up some of the burned-over
areas, while more recently permission ~
has been granted by the Legislature to
remove trees from burned areas in or-
der to reduce the fire danger. Under
the existing conditions, it follows,
therefore, that the work of the State
at present is mainly along the lines of
reforestation and fire protection, and
since this work is being carried on in
a very extensive way and very effi-
ciently, it constitutes a matter of more
than usual interest.
It may be added that the initial con-
ception of planting Adirondack lands
came from Dr. B. E. Fernow, while he
was Dean of the New York State Col-
lege of Forestry, and the first forest
nurseries in the State were started by
him in connection with the College dem-
onstration forest.
A DEFINITE
The first forest planting on State
land was done in 1901 in the Catskills.
No appropriation for such work had
been made, but A. Knechtel and R. C.
Bryant, newly appointed State Fores-
ters, secured a gift of 500 white pine
and 500 Norway spruce transplants
from the nurseries of the New York
State College of Forestry at Axton
in the Adirondacks, and set them out
with help furnished voluntarily by resi-
dents near Phoenicia in the Catskills.
It is interesting to note that these trees
were grown originally in Germany,
shipped to this country as seedlings and
put out in transplant beds in New
York. It also happened that when the
first nurseries were started in connec-
tion with the Cornell demonstration
forest, white pine seeds were not avail-
able in this country, where this tree at
the time was king of lumber woods,
but they had to be obtained in Ger-
many from white pine forests started
from seed obtained in America over a
century before.
From the humble beginning made in
1901 with a thousand trees, the State
reforestation work has grown until this
year over five million trees were
shipped from the State nurseries. In
the fall of 1901 an additional 5,000
SLATE PORES Tl POLICY
Photo by R. E. Gooding.
PORTION OF LAKE CLEAR NURSERY, LAKE CLEAR JUNCTION, N. Y.
trees were planted but extensive opera-
tions did not begin until the following
spring. During April and May, 1902,
nearly 600,000 seedlings and_ trans-
plants were set in permanent planta-
tions in the vicinity of Lake Clear
Junction in the Adirondacks, this being
the largest planting operation under-
taken by State, Federal or private en-
terprise up to that time. The plant
material was procured from the Col-
lege of Forestry nurseries at Axton
and Wabeek, and was made up of
Scotch and white pine, Norway spruce
and European larch. It is significant
that the pines have made the best
growth during the ten years the plan-
tation has been established, being now
a solid forest of trees 10 to 15 feet
high. The spruce succeeded only on
the better lands and proved unsuited
for the more sterile burned-over areas.
This should carry a lesson to the pulp
and paper companies who are desirous
of reforesting with spruce, and show
the necessity of promptly replanting
logged areas before repeated fires have
impoverished the soil.
During the years since the planting
was started the work has gone ahead
with rather fewer breaks than are to
pe expected when legislative appropri-
(‘uontpuos 100d pue ssoy o81e[ 910N)
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426 AMERICAN FORESTRY
Photo by J. W. Stephen.
PORTION OF SALAMANCA NURSERY.
ations have to be depended upon. The
operations have proceeded along the
accepted lines and also included a
large number of experiments in broad-
case sowing, seedspot planting, etc. In
all a total of about 6,000 acres of waste
land in the Adirondacks have been re-
forested, and under the present man-
agement it can be expected to develop
along lines of even greater efficiency
and magnitude. ‘The present Conser-
vation Commission is active along vari-
ous lines; while Clifford R. Pettis, who
as State Forester built; up: the state
nurseries, 1s now Superintendent ot
State Forests and in charge of all work
relating to the State forest lands.
In 1902 a nursery site was selected
at Saranac Inn Station and during the
next two years it was fully developed
and greatly increased in size. Since
that time two additional nurseries have
been developed near Lake Clear, one
at Salamanca, one at Saratoga, and
this year a new one is being started at
Comstock where convict labor will be
used. In these seven nurseries over
ten million trees will be produced an-
nually for planting State land and for
distribution to private land owners.
During the past four years over 1,500
shipments have been made to private
owners for reforesting their own land,
the sales this spring alone approximat-
ing four million trees and the supply
has never been adequate for the de-
mand.
We, therefore, have within a night’s
ride of New York City the largest and
best organized reforestation operation
ever attempted in this country outside
of the Federal government. The task
is the reforestation of millions of acres
of waste land which would never have
any value for agricufture, and the cre-
ation of an asset to replace a liability.
The reward will be in the benefits
which will accrue to the State and the
people in the form of timber and
watershed protection for all time to
come. It is a work which should in-
spire enthusiasm on the part of wood
producer and wood consumer alike,
and should have the support of every-
one who has any spirit of patriotism.
The reforesting of these enormous
waste areas—and New York State has
about 3,000,000 acres of such land or
nearly 10% of its total area—is being
done in the best and only way possi-
ble. ‘The lamentable phase of the situ-
ation is that it should never have been
——
— ee a
Photo by F. J. Rogers.
WHITE PINE TRANSPLANT SAME AGE AS TREE IN
ADJACENT PICTURE, BUT PLANTED IN THE OPEN.
Photo by F. J. Rogers.
WHITE PINE TRANSPLANT TWO YEARS AFTER
PLANTING SHOWING GROWTH OF ELEVEN
INCHES. . THIS TREE WAS PLANTED UNDER
LIGHT SHADE.
428
AMERICAN FORESTRY
; & Set
Photo by R. E. Gooding.
FIRST SEED BEDS PATNODE NURSERY, LAKE CLEAR JUNCTION.
necessary to plant trees on a large per-
centage of this area, because natural
reforestation would have reclothed the
ground if even reasonable care had
been given in lumbering, and if ade-
quate protection from fire had been af-
forded.
There is another forest planting
problem in the Adirondacks which is
entirely aside from the replanting of
areas denuded by lumbering and fire.
The original forests were a mixed
growth of hardwoods and conifers.
The conifers, first the pine and later
the spruce and balsam, have been re-
moved over hundreds of square miles
because they early had a market value.
On these areas the old hardwoods
which were left have closed in and
usurped all of the growing space.
These hardwoods are now coming
into their own and have a value which
justifies their removal. From the stand-
point of good forestry, common sense,
and cold, callous commercialism they
should be cut and replaced promptly
with the more valuable, faster grow-
ing softwoods. This was preached
years ago but it was not taken very
seriously until recent demands made
the logging of hardwoods a profitable
operation under certain conditions.
Men familiar with the hardwood busi-
ness now believe that the hardwoods in
the Adirondacks should be cut and
softwoods substituted. On a financial
basis this policy is justified because the
value of hardwood stumpage per acre
is about equal to the cost of replanting
with conifers. This being true there is
no loss if the lumbermen cut their
hardwoods and replant, the investment
remaining the same if the profit from
the hardwood is reinvested in young
plantations. In the one case the owner
would have an over mature hardwood
forest, depreciating because of age and
decay. On the other hand a fast grow-
ing young forest of valuable species
worth at maturity, even at present
prices, many times the value of the old
hardwood stained.
The only strong opponents of the
cutting of the hardwoods and their re-
placement by young trees of high value
are the wealthy residents down the
State who use the Adirondacks as a
hunting and recreation ground. Their
motives are selfish, narrow and un-
worthy of good citizens, their only ex-
cuse being that they do not fully un-
derstand the situation. The Adiron-
Photo by R. E. Gooding.
PORTION OF SARANAC INN NURSERY.
Photo by C. R. Pettis.
NORWAY SPRUCE SEEDLINGS IMPORTED FROM GERMANY. OUT OF A
SHIPMENT OF 500,000 TREES LESS THAN 20,000 COULD BE USED.
430
dacks would hardly be cut over and re-
planted in a day, the transformation
would be so gradual as to be hardly
noticed, and a great improvement
would be effected in the end. The
change is needed but public sentiment
is a curious thing and 1s not easily per-
suaded.
The work of fire protection in the
forests of New York State is another
story, but it should be said in connec-
tion with the reforestation work that
the men who are in charge of the
State’s natural resources realize that
the extensive planting now being done
will go for naught unless fire 1s abso-
lutely eliminated from the plantations.
The present fire protective system 1s
one of the best in the country, and un-
der normal conditions can be depended
upon to save not only the plantations
but such remnants of the original for-
ests as remain.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
An object lesson, such as is being
given by New York, is needed in many
other States, in fact some of the States
are not far behind. Through the ef-
forts of the American Forestry Asso-
ciation a party of lumbermen and pub-
lic-spirited business men visited the
Adirondacks in early May of this year
and saw for themselves the work which
is going on. If they did not learn a
valuable lesson it was their own fault,
and there is every reason to believe
that they went home in a new frame
of mind and with a much keener ap-
preciation of the relationship of the
timber-land owner to the State, and of
the work which the State in turn is
doing to undo what commercial neces-
sity and carelessness—not riotous
greed—had previously done.*
*Photographs by courtesy of the New York
State Conservation Commission.
RETURNING LAND TO IDAHO
@ permit the State of Idaho to
obtain land in lieu of 90,000
acres of school lands included in
National Forests prior to survey, Pres-
ident Taft has eliminated about 4%
Townships from the St. Joe National
Forest. These lands will be held and
managed as a permanent State forest.
This action by the President carries
out an understanding which was
reached with him by Governor Haw-
ley and other representatives of the
State of Idaho about a year ago. The
State had tried to make indemnity se-
lections for various school sections lost
to it through the creation of National
Forests, but before the acceptance of
the State’s filing the intended indem-
nity selections also were included in
National Forests. To learn what relief
could be obtained Governor Hawley
decided to go to Washington and take
the whole matter to the White House.
Under this agreement the State has
undertaken to retain a designated body
of land permanently for forest pur-
poses, provided the Government would
permit title to be acquired. The area
designated comprises largely though
not entirely the lands for which the
State made its original application.
This 90,000-acre tract will, under the
agreement reached, be protected by
the State against fire and other de-
structive agencies, and administered
similarly to the National Forests. Tim-
ber will be sold only under such stipu-
lations as will insure reproduction of
the forest, and favorable streamflow
conditions will be maintained through
preservation of the necessary forest
cover. The elimination now made by
President Taft permits the carrying out
of the arrangement, so far as concerns
acquisition of title by the State.
A NEW FORESTER.
Irving Southworth, of Johnstown, N. Y., who has recently finished a course in forestry,
and has traveled extensively through the south, west and also in Germany, has secured a
government position on the Blumas reservation, California.
THE DISMAL SWAMP OF VIRGINIA®
By
' Or Dismal Swamp, usually called
he Dismal Swamp of Virginia,
lies partly in Virginia and partly
in North Carolina ; but. it 1s more ac-
cessible from the former, and as most
of those who have explored or visited
it have entered from the Virginia side,
the name of that State is commonly
linked with it. Its topographic, geo-
logic, biologic and economic features
may be found described in numerous
governmental reports; many historical
events are connected with it; it figured
more or less prominently in certain
events of the Civil War, and it has been
made the subject of numerous articles,
stories and traditions published in
works of fiction and in magazine and
newspaper literature.
The area of the swamp is about 1,500
square miles. The surface is almost
level, sloping gradually from the south-
west toward the northeast, with an ele-
vation above mean tide level of from
23-12 feet, and in consequence, the
drainage is so imperfect that, through-
out most of its extent, it remains con-
stantly inundated. Certain portions,
however, become more or less dry in
periods of drought, and quite a large
portion of its former area—some 700
square miles along the eastern border—
has been permanently reclaimed in re-
cent years, by means of drainage,
ditches and canals.
Near the center lies Lake Drum-
mond, an almost circular body of fresh
water, about 234-3 miles in diameter,
with an almost uniform depth of about
6 feet. The surface is now about 22
feet above mean tide level; but previ-
ous to the completion of recent drain-
age operations it was somewhat higher.
The lake may be reached by means
of any of the several artificial channels
which have been cut through the
swamp. Washington and_ Jericho
ditches are only navigable at high
water, by small boats or canoes, which
have to be poled carefully and more or
less laboriously, by reason of the vege-
tation which has grown into the sides,
and the trees which have fallen across
in many places, during recent years. In
ARTHUR HOLLICK
periods of drought these ditches often
become dry and may be used as foot
paths or trails.
The Dismal Swamp Canal, however,
is a permanent, broad artificial channel,
which will probably be made a part of
the great interior waterway which is
planned to extend from New Jersey to
Florida. It is navigable for steamboats
of small size and is sufficiently wide for
steamboats and barges to easily pass
each other: ~The * feeder,” by means of
which it is connected with Lake Drum-
mond, is also a wide channel, navigable
at all times for row boats, motor-boats,
etc., as far as the upper lock, within
about three-fourths of a mile of the
lake. This lock controls the water of
the lake, and a lower one, at Deep
Creek, controls the entrance to the
canal at tide-water.
During the past year I was fortunate
in being able to visit the swamp under
unusually favorable conditions, as one
of a party all of whom were guests of
the Lake Drummond Canal Company,
The company provided transportation
from Norfolk, by steamboat. up the
canal to the mouth of the feeder;
thence by large rowboats, towed by a
motor-launch, up the feeder to the lock
near Lake Drummond, where a camp
site had been prepared on the bank of
the feeder, and tents and two days’
supply of provisions provided. This
site was perfectly dry, in a partly
cleared area on the border of the forest
and was admirably adapted for the pur-
pose. One night was spent there and
the following day Lake Drummond was
navigated in rowboats, to the mouth of
Washington Ditch, where a transfer
was made to smaller boats, which were
poled up the ditch to Suffolk. From
thence the trip back to Norfolk was
made by rail. The swamp was thus
traversed from one side to the other;
two days and a night were spent there,
and unusual opportunities for observa-
tion were enjoyed.
The camp site had been covered with
a dense growth of “cane brake” (Arun-
dinaria macrosperma), but a large area
was cleared for our accommodation.
431
CAMP SITE ON BANK OF “FEEDER,” NEAR LAKE DRUMMOND.
BALD CYPRESS, SHORE OF LAKE DRUMMOND.
SUNSET, LAKE DRUMMOND. WASHINGTON DITCH.
434 AMERICAN
This grass is an exceedingly character-
istic feature of the swamp, forming
dense thickets and growing to a height
of six or eight feet. The adjacent
forest consisted largely of red maple,
persimmon, sour-gum, willow-oak, ash,
and magnolia, with scattered trees of
yellow pine, white cedar and _ bald
cypress. One of the most abundant
and striking features was the “jasse-
min” (Gelsemium sempervirens ), whose
clusters of fragrant, yellow flowers were
to be seen everywhere, entwined in the
undergrowth.
At night the scene in the vicinity of
the camp was rendered wierdly beau-
tiful by the glow of “fox-fire’ on the
stumps of the trees and in the débris
of the forest floor. I had often seen
this phenomenon in other localities, but
never before to the same extent or bril-
liancy. The phenomenon is caused by
certain fungi, especially in the genera
Panus, Clitocybe, and Armillaria, and
also by many bacteria; but its nature is
not thoroughly understood. It is com-
monly spoken of as “phosphorescence” ;
but this is a misnomer as it is not due
to phosphorus but to the process of
oxidation. A better term to use would
be “luminescence.”
Undoubtedly, however, the bald
cypress (Taxodium distichum) is the
most striking feature of the swamp.
These trees never fail to excite the
wonder and admiration of every ob-
server, especially when seen for the
first time. The massive buttressed
base; the peculiar processes known as
“knees,” which rise from the roots;
the tall straight trunks, and the deli-
cate, feathery foliage, mark these trees
PORES TRY
as unique in our modern flora. In
many respects they _ resemble the
redwoods and giant sequoias of the
Pacific coast, and, like them, they rep-
resent the type of a genus which
reached its maximum of development
in past geologic ages and is now on
the highroad to extinction. The bald
cypress will grow in high, dry ground;
but its natural habitat is in swamps.
It thrives and flourishes under condi-
tions which would be fatal to most
other trees, with the roots permanently
immersed and often with the base of
the trunk entirely surrounded by water.
Splendid examples are to be seen on
the shores of Lake Drummond, where
they constitute almost the sole feature
of the outer zone of the lake border
vegetation. Many individual trees, iso-
lated from their fellows, grow well out
in the lake, constituting one of its
most striking features.
The water of the swamp is dark-
colored, but clear, resembling strong
tea, and has an acid reaction and tre-
markable antiseptic properties. It is
palatable and wholesome and keeps
wonderfully well, without becoming
foul. In former years it was much
used on ships, especially on those about
to make long voyages. That from the
white cedar areas, known as “‘juniper-
water,’ was considered the best. Ewen
where the ground is saturated, and the
water stagnant, there is an entire ab-
sence of the odors which are generally
noticeable in salt marshes and in many
fresh water swamps where there is
abundant decaying vegetation.
*Article and pictures by courtesy of the
Journal of the New York Botanical Garden.
AN EXPLANATION
N justice to Mr. Theodore S
Woolsey, Jr., who contributed
an excellent article on the Har-
vard Forest School for the April num-
ber of AmMEertcan Forestry, the editor
desires to explain that owing to lack of
space it was impossible to use the care-
fully and skillfully tabulated statistical
tables by which Mr. Woolsey showed
~
the actual results obtained with various
trees under different conditions, and
made a number of yearly comparisons
which would have been of great inter-
est to the student. The editor regrets
that it is necessary, owing to lack of
space, to eliminate statistical tables from
most of the articles submitted which
contain them.
SUNDAY
AT THE CAMP OF THE UNEMPLOYED, SAN DIEGO, CAL,.,
{.
i
i
i
.
le
MUNICIPAL
FOREST.
SAN DIEGO’S MUNICIPAL FOREST
By Max Watson, Public Forester
OW that the United States is
: Y realizing that period when it
becomes expedient to look for-
ward to its future timber supply
and the fact becomes apparent that
within less than a decade it will be
mecessary to create forests to. fill the
demand which cannot be supplied by
our fast diminishing forests, it 1s
rather interesting to note the man-
ner in which this future want will be
provided. Of all the natural resources
which are primarily a public asset, there
is none on which the public well being
is more dependent than the forests.
Therefore it follows that our future
forests should be established by the
community as a whole rather than by
its individual citizens for the benefit of
the individual and not the community.
Several of the cities of Europe have
furnished us with creditable examples
of what a community may accomplish
through the establishment and mainte-
nance of a Muncipal Forest, but until
recently such an undertaking had not
been atempted by any city of the United
States. That the City of San Diego,
situated in the most southwesternly cor-
ner of the United States, should be the
first to systematically establish a Mu-
nicipal Forest, might seem rather ex-
traordinary at first glance to those
familiar with Southern California, and
the natural flora of that region. The
country is bare of any natural forests
except upon the highest mountains, and
the limited rainfall would seem to be
adverse to an undertaking of this kind.
Nevertheless the fact that this city is
now engaged in such a work indicates
that there must be conditions which
make such an undertaking within the
realms of practicability.
The first and most important reason
is the fact that San Diego stands apart
from other cities in that she is the
possessor of nearly seven thousand
acres of land within her limits. This
land came into the possession of the
435
436 AMERICAN
FORESTRY
VIEW OF A SECTION OF ONE-YEAR-OLD GROVE, SAN DIEGO, CAL., MUNICIPAL
FORESA.
city at the time California became a
State, when all of the old Pueblo of
San Diego was deeded to the city by
the National Government. ‘Thus, San
Diego became the owner of practically
all the land within its limits, but the
greater portion was sold during the
early days until only the seven thousand
acres now in its possession remained.
The land is located ten miles north of
the city proper. For the most part it
is what is known as mesa land, lying
about three hundred feet above the sea.
tas rather rolling, and traversed at
intervals by deep canyons, running to
the sea. The virgin covering of this
section consists of the native grasses
and characteristic chaparral of Southern
California; the largest growth on the
mesa land being the Sumacs (Rhus
Laurina and Rhus Integrifolia). For
the most part the soil is of a sandy
nature varying in depth from two to
twelve feet. The mesa soil is underlain
with a sand hardpan which is not im-
pervious, and can be penetrated by
roots if sufficiently moistened
Being the possessor of such a tract,
the city had the land upon which to
establish a forest, but before such a
thing became possible it was necessary
also that there should be a tree, which
was adapted to the soil, and climatic
conditions, and which was of com-
mercial value. In selecting a tree for
the creation of a forest there are three
main factors upon which the selection
of the species is determined. First:
The timber produced must be adapted
for general use. Second: ‘The species
must be suited to the soil and climate
of the location selected. Third: The
tree must be the one which will come to
maturity in the shortest possible time.
Southern California has in the Eu-
calyptus a tree which fills these re-
quirements completely. The Eucalyptus
is an acceptable substitute for almost
any of our American hardwoods. It is
adapted to the climate of Southern
California even better than to its native
land, and its rapid and thrifty growth
in this locality is unsurpassed by any
tree in the world.
When the charter of the city of San
Diego was revised in 1908, the possi-
bility of the establishment of a success-
ful Municipal Forest upon the Pueblo
SAN DIRGO’S MUNICIPAL FOREST
437
LOOKING ACROSS CITY LANDS TO THE SHORE; NURSERY IN
THE FOREGROUND. SAN DIEGO, CAL., MUNICIPAL FOREST.
[ands was realized by some of the far-
sighted citizens, who secured the in-
sertion of a clause, which exempted
hese lands from sale until 1930, and
provided a tax of two per cent per hun-
dred on the assessed valuation of all
‘ity property for the improvement of
these lands.
No further action was taken until the
fall of 1910, when a Pueblo Forester
ind Assistant were appointed with in-
structions to establish a headquarters
upon the land, and plant forty thou-
sand trees, as the beginning of a munic-
ipal Forest. The necessary buildings
were erected and implements purchased
and a water system installed for do-
mestic purposes for the establishment
of a nursery for propagating the trees
to be planted.
The rainfall in this section is only
ten and one-half inches, and is dis-
tributed entirely through the winter
months. With such a limited water
supply it was necessary to utilize a
system of dry farming for conserving
the moisture during the summer months,
and thereby assisting the trees in de-
veloping to the fullest extent.
The land selected for the planting is
thoroughly plowed immediately after
the first rains to a depth of about ten
inches. The rainfall is conserved dur-
ing the winter by harrowing, and the
ground worked into proper condition
for the planting, which is done in March
ange April, The field islaid’ off in
eight foot squares and the trees planted
at each intersection. The planting is
done with an ordinary garden trowel,
HS
©9
CO
, or ad
“x ”
Pt, OE os
AMERICAN FORESTRY
LOOKING ACROSS ONE YEAR’S GROVE TOWARDS. FARM
BUILDINGS, SAN DIEGO,
and the trees, which are about one foot
in height, set into the ground about
four inches so as to be well into the
moist earth. No water is used in the
planting, and none afterward. After
the trees are planted they are cultivated
until a thorough dust mulch is estab-
lished. This requires about five culti-
vations extending up into June when
no more care is necessary until the
rains of the next winter. In the fol-
lowing spring a mulch is again formed
| ‘ing up the ground between the
one year’s growth many
of the trees are ten feet in height with
liameter at the base of fully two
inches. ‘Trees set upon the same soil
without cultivation have not equalled
this growth in two years’ time.
CAL., MUNICIPAL FOREST.
After the first year’s planting was
completed a nursery was established
with a capacity of several hundred
thousand trees a year for carrying on
the work. The trees grown for the
1912 planting included about seven
species of Eucalyptus and a few species
of Acacias ; numerous ornamental trees
were also propagated for use along the
drives and boulevards. Among these
were a few thousand of the Torrey
Pines (Pinus Torreyana), which were
grown for enlarging the grove of these
trees which is located upon the city
land. With the exception of a few
trees found upon one of the coast
islands these are the only trees of this
species in existence. About two hun-
dred and fifty acres have been planted
a vant eee
SANS Dice © Ss MUNICIPAL PORES TE.
during the spring of 1912, making three
hundred acres now in trees. These
trees will make a growth of about eight
feet per year, and in three years’ time
should be of sufficient dimension to be
available for fence posts. At this time
the trees will be thinned, leaving not
more than two hundred trees per acre
to come to maturity as timber trees.
It was not until the active develop-
ment of this land had been undertaken
that its actual value for various usages
was appreciated. It was seen that,
lying as the greater portion does, with
the mountains on one side and the
Pacific on the other, with the rapid
growth of the city this land would soon
become reservable as sites for subur-
ban homes. Many acres are also well
adapted to intensive farming for the
growing of small fruits and vegetables
and could be subdivided and leased for
this purpose to good advantage. A
good portion of this agricultural land
has been planted to grain for the use
of the farm stock and that of the dif-
ferent departments of the city. For
this reason it was decided to confine
the planting to that portion of the land
not so well suited to general argicul-
tural or building purposes. As far as
possible the planting will be confined
to the canyons and hillsides, and the
less valuable land. In planting on the
steep canyon sides it is impossible to
follow the method described, but as far
as the land will permit the fullest prep-
43)
aration will be given. Practically all
the land so far planted is under culti-
vation.
The development of a Municipal
Forest and Farm afforded a splendid
opportunity for the city to take steps
toward solving some of its most vexing
social problems.
The idea first advanced was for the
institution of a plant for sending the
vagrants and habitual drunkards of the
city to the farm on probation for a term
of a few months; the drunks to first
be given a drug cure to eliminate as
far as possible the desire for drink. A
camp was first established, however,
mainly for relieving the unemployed of
the city, although many have been sent
from the Police Court. The men have
been given employment, each at fifty
cents per day and board. ‘This plan
has proven a complete success in every
particular. Hundreds of men have
been benefited by the clean, wholesome
work afforded, and all the planting this
spring has been done with this labor
with good results. It is doubtful if a
better plan could be devised for the
solution of these problems in any city
than the establishment of a Municipal
Forest and Farm, and the employment
of these men under such a plan. A Mu-
nicipal Forest is a good business in-
vestment, and the useful employment
of a class that has to be supported by
the city directly or indirectly is also a
good investment for the taxpayer.
LUMBERMEN HELP FORESTERS.
W. T. Cox, Minnesota state forester, reports that co-operation received from lumber-
men m the northern part of the state has been such as to do away with forest fire dangers.
He said that town officials and residents have also assisted. The heavy rains of the spring
have done much to keep fires from starting in the woods.
FORE SE PRODUCTS IAI S KG Se
The Forest Product Statistics of New York State for the year 1911, gathered by the
Conservation Commission, show that the lumber and pulpwood output exceeded that of the
preceding year, but that there was a falling off in wood used for alcohol, excelsior and
cooperage.
The output cf the forests in 1910 showed a decrease of 25 per cent from that of 1908;
a decline of about 300,000,000 feet in three years.
The annual removal of about one billion
feet of wood material from the forests and woodlands of the state cannot go on indefinitely
without reforestation on a large scale.
FIRST PURCHASE OF WHITE MOUNTAIN LANDS
UNDER THE WEEKS LAW
Or purchase of 30,365 acres of
land in the White Mountains of
New Hampshire was authorized
on June 19 by the National Forest
Reservation Commission. ‘The land 1s
to be purchased under the Weeks Law
which provides for the acquisition of
lands by the Federal Government on
the headwaters of navigable streams.
A report previously rendered by the
Geological Survey showed that these
lands were of importance in protecting
the flow of the Connecticut and Andro-
scoggin Rivers.
The lands purchased include a tract
of 29,570 acres at $8 an acre, owned by
the Berlin Timberland Company of Ber-
lin, N. H., acreage to be determined by
a horizontal survey to be made by the
United States. ‘The Commission also
authorized the purchase of 795 acres
belonging to Mrs. E. M. Libbey, of
Littleton, N. H. This tract consists of
an undivided interest in certain lots
owned with the Berlin Timberland
Company and forming a part of the
tract purchased from that company.
The land purchased consists for the
most part of valuable timber-producing
lands on the north slopes of the Presi-
dential Range. In addition to their
value for their standing timber and for
timber production they have other 1m-
portant advantages which make them
among the most desirable of any in the
White Mountains for the purposes of
the Weeks Law. The tract has been
carefully protected from fire for a num-
ber of years so that the ground where
the mature timber was removed a num-
ber of years ago is now fully restocked
with a good quality of young growth.
The nearness of all parts of the tract
to the railroad adds materially to its
advantages. Due in part to its near-
ness to railroads and in part to its nat-
ural scenery this tract is undoubt-
edly one of the best known of any in
the White Mountains, containing many
of the most prominent features of the
vine, The Ravine of the Cascades. and
440
White Mountain region. Kings Ra-
the Castellated Ridge are all on this
tract, and it also affords many com-
manding views of the high peaks of the
Presidential Range. During the past
thirty years the Appalachian Mountain
Club has developed a network of trails
on the north slopes of this range, 1
greater portion being on this tract.
Thousands of persons tramp these
trails every year. It was considered
by the Commission that in no other part
of the White Mountains would the edu-
cational effect of a demonstration in
forestry be so great.
The Connecticut River is by far the
most important navigable stream orig-
inating in the White Mountains and
three-fourths of this tract drains into
that stream.
With the lands authorized for pur-
chase at the meeting of the Commission
a week previous authority has now been
given for the acquisition of 72,000 acres
in the White Mountains.
The land first purchased was what
is known as the Bean Purchase, lying
just east of the Carter Range and being
the watershed of the Wild River. This
comprised 33,800 acres at $5 an acre
and was the property of the Hastings
Lumber Company, while 7,500 acres
in Bethlehem and Franconia belonging
to the Berlin Mills .Company was
bought at $4 an acre. The Bean Pur-
chase was swept by fire in 1903 and
9,000 acres damaged, but since then it
has been well protected, and is con-
siderel by the Forest Service officials
to be a valuable acquisition.
Options have been secured on 20,000
acres in Benton and Easton and Chief
Forester Henry S. Graves left on June
20 to make a careful examination of
them. He was joined by expert lum-
berman Eugene S. Bruce, of the Forest
Service, a few days later. More or less
other land has been offered and is de-
sired, but the Forest Service officials
consider that the price asked is too high.
FAVORABLE TO WHITE MOUNTAINS
HAL the forest cover ot. the
White Mountains has a distinct
and measurable effect upon the
navigable streams which head in that
region is the unequivocal and emphatic
statement of the United States Geologi-
cal Survey. The Director of the Sur-
vey has filed his preliminary report on
the White Mountains with the National
Forest Reservation Commission, and,
as earlier announced, the findings are
favorable to the purchase of lands un-
der the Weeks law.
The report of the Geological Survey
is based on the results of exhaustive in-
vestigations and_ specific field tests
which have been carried on during the
last year. While the Survey has been
subjected to frequent criticism and
even bitter attacks, owing to its refusal
to submit a perfunctory report assum-
ing that a known and definite relation
exists between forests and stream flow
in the White Mountain region, the out-
come of its investigations must not only
satisfy the most radical forest enthusi-
ast, but it precludes the possibility of
criticism by those who have opposed
the acquisition by the Government of
any forest lands, on the theory that
forest preservation does not affect
stream flow. The investigations are be-
lieved, indeed, to solve definitely a
problem that has long been a source
of strenuous contention among’ scien-
tists, including the friends of forest con-
servation, and while these investiga-
tions have direct reference to the en-
tire White Mountain area, they estab-
lish a principle which is of far wider
application.
The Weeks Forest Reservation Law
places upon the Geological Survey the
responsibility of establishing, before
purchase, the fact that forest lands
have an effect upon the navigability of
navigabie streams, and the law pro-
vides that the Survey shall make a field
examination of every tract offered to
the Government for sale thereunder.
The Survey has insisted on following
the plain mandate of the law and mak-
ing such axaminations, not at an office
desk but actually on the ground, in a
thoroughgoing, scientific manner.
In the southern Appalachian Moun-
tains tracts aggregating 1,962,800 acres
have been certified to by the Geological
Survey as affecting the navigability of
streams by reason of the excessive
erosion which follows deforestation in
these areas. Owing to the geologic con-
ditions in the White Mountains, no ex-
cessive erosion, according to the Sur-
vey geologists, can be shown to follow
deforestation. Therefore the Survey
carried forward its further investiga-
tion in the White Mountains along the
lines of trying to show that deforesta-
tion and subsequent burning of the for-
est mulch results in a more rapid run-
off and therefore tends to make un-
stable the flow of streams.
The hydrometric showing presented
in the preliminary report covers results
on two small, almost exactly similar
drainage basins of about 5 square miles
each, on the east branch of Pemige-
wasset River, one largely clothed with
virgin timber and the other deforested
and burned. The facts observed are
so striking as to render the position of
the Survey impregnable. Careful meas-
urements of precipitation over the areas
and of the run-off of the respective
streams show that not only was the
snow held better in the forested area,
but that during a period of 17 days in
April, including three extended storms,
the run-off of the stream in the de-
forested area was a comparative flood
—practically double that of the stream
flowing through the forested area, as
shown graphically below.
que 6).48 1116s.
Run-off of Shoal Pond Brook (forested
area) during three storms in April, 1912.
12.87 1n.
Run-off of Burnt Brook (deforested area)
during same storms.
Diagram comparing run-off from forested
and deforested basins.
In the Shoal Pond Brook basin (the
forested area) the Survey established
441
442 AMERICAN FORESTRY
? rain gages and 20 snow gages and the
engineers visited these continually dur-
ing the winter on snowshoes, the snow
being from 4 to 7 feet deep; in the ad-
joining Burnt Brook basin (the de-
forested area) it established 9 rain
gages and 18 snow gages. On both
stre ams hydrometric stations Wire 1€S=
tablished and the stream flow deter-
mined with a high degree of accuracy.
The Survey report shows that the max-
imum flood flow from the forested
basin was only 67 per cent of that from
the deforested basin.
During the period of these storms
3urnt Brook (deforested) contributed
a much greater volume of water to
Pemigewasset River than did Shoal
Pond Brook (forested). “The stream of
the forested basin is observed to be the
steadier of the two and in proportion
to its drainage area it tends—at least
during the spring months—to promote
a steady flow of water in the master
stream of which it is a tributary.”
The conclusions of Director George
Otis Smith, of the Survey, are as fol-
lows:
“The comparison between two ad-
jacent basins during critical periods 1s
presented in this preliminary statement
as a sufficient showing for the purposes
of the National Forest Reservation
Commission. While data covering
longer periods for both these and other
basins in the White Mountains have
been collected and will be available for
the more complete report, the particu-
lar case of the Burnt Brook and Shoal
Pond Brook basins is typical for the
region and establishes the general con-
clusion that a direct relation exists be-
tween forest cover and stream regula-
tion.
“The results of the Burnt Brook-
Shoal Pond Brook studies are held to
show that throughout the White Moun-
tains the removal of forest growth
must be expected to decrease the nat-
ural steadiness of dependent streams
during the spring months at least.
“The foregoing conclusion forms a
strong basis for arguing the desirabil-
ity of painstaking methods of admin-
istration in respect to forest lands in
the White Mountain region. Defores-
tation followed by fires, as in the Burnt
Brook basin, results in conditions un-
favorable to natural spring storage be-
cause conducive to rapid snow melt-
ing and stream run-off. Control of
White Mountain lands that would re-
duce fires to a minimum and promote
normal reforstation must result in a
great improvement over present ten-
dencies, and this improvement in forest
cover can logically be expected to fav-
orably affect stream regulation to the
extent quantitatively indicated in the
comparison of the forested Shoal Pond
Brook with the deforested Burnt
Brook.
“While the intensive hydrometric
work was confined to a few headwater
tributaries of the Connecticut and Mer-
rimac rivers, the basins studied were
selected as typical for the whole White
Mountain area, and the field examina-
tions over this region have shown the
tracts now under consideration for pur-
chase to be similar to the basins here
reported upon. ‘Therefore, the favor-
able showing of this report is of gen-
eral application in the White Moun-
tain area.”
Such an actual demonstration and
quantitative measure of the perform-
ance of different areas, some forested
and others deforested, has never been
attempted in trying to determine the
effect of forest cover on stream flow.
Efforts to arrive at definite conclusions
have always been based on a study of
long-time records of precipitation and
stream discharge; but owing to the
many qualifying factors, such efforts
have simply resulted in divergent opin-
ions and inconclusive controversies.
The results of the present actual meas-
urements in these mimic drainage
basins, so accurate and refined in
method as to approach laboratory ex-
periments, where exact results may be
expected, leave no doubt as to the con-
clusion. Forest cover and the resulting
forest mat in the White Mountain
granite area does, to a considerable and
measurable degree, steady and regulate
stream flow, and therefore must be
stated as an important factor in main-
taining the navigability of streams
whose headwaters lie in such areas.
RAISING ELK AND DEER
by readers of AMERICAN For-
ESTRY in an article on Raising
Deer on Forest Preserves and a num-
ber of inquiries have been received re-
garding cost, method of feeding, etc.
The following extracts from a let-
ter by Howard Eaton, a dealer in wild
animals, of Wolf, Wyoming, to Wm.
M. Ellicott, of Baltimore, who worked
for the passage of the bill by the Mary-
land legislature allowing the raising
of deer for the market, gives many in-
teresting details in reference to elk and
deer raising.
Mr. Eaton says:
“You have done the right thing for
Maryland in this deer and elk breed-
ing matter, and it solves the question
of how to use the cut over and bushy
country which is not suitable for farm-
ing and hardly carries enough feed to
fatten cattle, etc.
“IT have shipped elk all over the U.
S. and delivered a lot to Mrs. T..M.
Carnegie, Cumberland Island, Fla.
These elk did well as far as climate
and altitude went, but were killed by
some poison plant. Near N. O. I sold
a lot and five years later heard that
they had done very well.
“Mosquitos would not injure the elk
or deer, as they have served their time
with skeeters in Montana, Wyoming,
CEC.
“T can’t remember altitude of Lake
Superior, but a large lot of deer and
elk are right along the shore, virtually
at water level.
“Elk will browse and also graze.
I’ve never known elk subject to any
disease, except that in the Yellowstone
Park some years since and many elk
died of mange, much like the old buf-
falo mange, but I’ve not heard of any
mange there since winter of 1902-3.
“Id advise, 8» ft: fence, although
lower ones might answer, but the 8 ft.
fences (Page woven wire is O. K.),
would hold the elk and by stretching
a wire 1 ft. above it would hold deer
as well. The 8 ft. fence would hold
antelope, elk, moose and buffalo.
(Dis: interest has been manifested
“In Maryland, I’d consider shelter
unnecessary, although you would or
should have feed corrals or pastures,
where game could be fed some in win-
ter, making it tamer and allowing a
count and view of the animals.
“Let the buffalo run all the year with
the cows.
“Elk will kill dogs or run them out
of pasture, especially when the elk
calves are around. I saw a bunch of
them corner a big Canada lynx and he
was one of the worst scared animals I
ever saw,—only saved his life by
climbing a tree.
“You would not need goats with the
elk.
“No special training is required to
handle elk,—just good wild hog sense.
If feeding hay at any time remember
that elk and deer prefer weedy hay to
clear timothy or alfalfa.
“Tn a small enclosure during rutting
season, the bulls are dangerous—same
as male deer at that season, but in a
large park the elk will keep away from
a man.
“A man on a horse would be
mune from bulls, unless during
rut, he would corner an old fellow.
“The meat of the bulls is best out
here up to about October Ist, although
at times a bull will rut in September,
by 15th to 20th.
“Cows are good at any time when in
flesh—same as our domestic cattle.
Bulls are good meat when they regain
flesh after their horns are shed (usual-
ly in March this happens).
“T’ve never hesitated to go among
the elk freely, afoot or in saddle, at
any time except rutting season, but
while it might be and is as a rule, safe
to feed them salt from the hand, yet
it is unwise to trust any mature wild
animal—he seems to get locoed at
times. Ill write Mr. Knorr and urge
that the Agricultural Department co-
operate with the Maryland Agricultural
Station and try game raising, but you
know that the Government is mighty
slow at times. I have urged many times
that; the came be placed=-on cut over
im-
the
443
444 AMERICAN
lands of low value in Maryland, Vir-
ginia, West Virginia, and Pennsyl-
vania.
“It is a great chance to make money
easily. I have a friend in Iowa who
kills his deer and tags them with a
special permit, ships to Chicago, and
nets about $30 for does and $35 for
bucks. These animals cost him very
little more than to raise a couple of
FORESTRY
sheep—his income from deer in an 80-
acre’ pasture sis “$1000 stom oll 0s per
year for venison and $300 to $500 per
year from sale of live animals.
“Excéept- to feed in winter and to
dress the meat, there is no work in
raising and selling these deer.
“T’ve had nearly 40 years’ experience
in raising and selling wild animals and
am fairly well posted.
A DEMONSTRATION FOREST
HE Board of Regents of the
( . University of Washington, at
their meeting April 24, on the
recommendation of President Kane
unanimously authorized the College of
Forestry to co-operate with the United
States Forest Service in the establish-
ment and operation of a demonstration
forest.
The College of Forestry has long felt
the need of such a forest. While the
general conditions about Seattle are
perhaps better adapted for carrying out
student exercises and demonstrations
by the instructor than they are at any
other school in the country, yet there
are many problems that cannot be
worked out successfully except on an
area fully controlled by the College.
Although this forest will be subject to
the control of the United States Forest
Service and a tract owned by the Uni-
versity would in some respects be more
desirable this forest will open the way
for the solution of many problems.
The object of the demonstration for-
est is two-fold. First. It will be used
as an experiment station. The field of
work in this line that is open in the
Pacific Northwest is practically un-
limited and the various problems to be
solved have hardly been touched upon.
Abroad forest experiment stations are
common and they have contributed
largely to the development and ad-
vancement of forestry. With the de-
crease in the available timber supply
and the increasing interest that lum-
bermen and timberland owners are
showing in reforestation, the general
public is demanding information on the
best methods of handling forest lands
for increased and continued produc-
tion: It is" one of the objects’ to use
the forest to carry on experiments that
will lead to a solution of these prob-
lems.
The second object of the demonstra-
tion forest is to make it serve as a
field laboratory where the students in
forestry may acquire at first hand a
practical knowledge of all phases of
forestry and lumbering. This is of
especial importance to the students who
elect the course in logging engineering.
This course combines a knowledge of
forestry and logging in such a manner
that it will enable the student, after a
period of apprenticeship, to take charge
of logging operations.
The site for the forest will probably
be selected during the coming summer.
An entire water-shed readily accessible
to the University will be chosen. When
the work is put under way the students
will be required to make a complete
working plan, including a _ detailed
cruise, topographic and forest type
maps, valuation of timber, plan of
logging, improvements, and __ tables
showing growth and yield. All cutting
will be done in accordance with the
working plan in such manner that the
operations are financially successful
and at the same time that future yields
will be increased and the forest gen-
erally improved. The details of all
proposed plans will be subject to ap-
proval by the National Forest Service.
All timber sales will be made in ac-
cordance with Forest Service regula-
tions and the revenues therefrom will
be entirely under government control.
lh es a le cea le al an ala
THE FORESTRY CONFERENCE IN THE WHITE
MOUNTAINS
HE program for the Fifth An-
© nual Forestry Conference in
the White Mountains, July 17-
19, presents a number of interesting
features. It is held under the auspices
of the Society for the Protection of
New Hampshire Forests, in co-opera-
tion with the New Hampshire Forestry
Commission, and includes meetings of
the Directors of the American Fores-
try Association, the North-Fastern
Foresters, and the New Hampshire
Timberland Owners Association. An
outline of the program shows the ex-
cursions and visits to forest enter-
prises, and the subjects for discussion:
Ialy:- 7, 10sa, ar = Meeting atthe
Deer Park Hotel, North Woodstock.
A visit will be made to-the famous
Lost River, which has recently been
acquired by the Society for the pro-
tection of New Hampshire Forests,
with 148 acres of timberland adjoin-
ing.
8 p.m. A meeting at the Deer Park
Hotel, North Woodstock. Ex-Gover-
nor Rollins will preside. Addresses
are expected from Governor Bass, of
New Hampshire, President of the
American Forestry Association, and
Governor Plaisted, of Maine. Mr. W.
R. Brown, Chairman of the State For-
estry Commission, will outline the for-
est work in New Hampshire, followed
by brief remarks by the State Foresters
and other official representatives from
the several New England States.
July 18. At Bretton Woods. 2 p.m.
The Mt. Pleasant House. A meeting
for the discussion of measures to pre-
vent forest fires. Mr. W. R. Brown
will preside. Brief papers wil be pre-
sented from a number of persons who
have actually had experience in fight-
ing fires. Mr. J. G. Peters will speak
upon the co-operation of the federal
government.
8 pea. The Mt. Pleasant louse:
General conference upon conditions in
the White Mountains. It is expected
that members of the National Forest
Reservation Commission will be pres-
ent, together with representatives from
the Forest Service and the Geological
Survey. New Hampshire’s purchase
of the Crawford Notch. Experts have
been invited to discuss the influence of
the forest upon the flow of streams.
aly, 1959" asim St heoMt Pleasant
House. Eleventh annual meeting of
the Society for the Protection of New
Hampshire Forests.
10 a. m. General conference upon
forest taxation. Leaders in this dis-
cussion will be, Dr. B. E. Fernow, of
Toronto, Professor Fred R. Fairchild
of Yale, and Professor Charles J. Bul-
lock, of Harvard, and the Foresters
from the several States.
2:30 p.m. The Crawford House. A
porch talk on the Crawford Notch pur-
chase, followed by a walking trip into
the primeval spruce timber on Mt.
Webster.
Members of the conference will
visit the State Forest Nursery at Bos-
cawen, N. H. Headquarters for the
conference will be at the Mt. Pleasant
House, Bretton Woods, which makes a
special rate of $3.00 per day. The
same rate to members of the confer-
ence is made by the Deer Park Hotel,
and the Crawford House. The Mt.
Washington Hotel also offers special
rates.
CHINA’S MOST VALUABLE WOOD.
The nammu tree (Persea nam-mu Oliver) of the laurel family of plants yields the most
valuable wood of China.
lies between the 25th and 26th degrees north latitude.
It grows in the moist climate of western Szechuan, China, which
This is in about the latitude of New
Orleans and attempts are now being made to grow this valuable tree in this country.
445
STATE FOREST PROBLEMS IN MARYLAND
By F. W. BEsLEy,
OT many years ago the Federal
i ) Government was practically the
only agency for organized for-
estry work in this country. Since then,
however, not less than twenty-seven
States have taken up the practice of
forestry in a more or less systematic
way and are at the present time ex-
pending over a million dollars annually
in the effort.
When we recall the many years of
hard fighting by a few men whose
names are familiar to all of you, that
was required to establish a forest policy
for the Government upon the millions
of acres that the Government owned,
it is not surprising that the States have
been unseemingly slow in adopting a
forest policy which involved lands
owned by private individuals who have
little or no interest in this general
problem of forest conservation. Here-
in lies one of the chief difficulties and
accounts in a large measure for the
slow development of forestry in the
states. Few states have large holdings
of forest land upon which they are
iree: to. practice forestry without. re-
striction. Practically all of the land is
held by private individuals who can
only be appealed to by showing them
that the practice of conservative fores-
try will pay and in face of the fire risk,
the low value of stumpage, the hap-
hazard system of taxation, and lack
of reliable data as to what may be
financially expected, this is difficult to
figure out to the satisfaction of the
landowner. At the same time the land-
owner will continue to hold his land
in timber growth, and is generally will-
ing to adoy »t means for greater protec-
tion and measures to improve growth
conditions when such improvement
does not involve much of an outlay.
This opens up a wide field of useful-
which the state can, and does,
supply and which means real progress
even though it be far from the ideal
we hope to attain eventually.
Organized forest work began in
Maryland in 1906 through the activities
446
ness
State Forester
of a few people, who succeeded in se-
curing the necessary legislation to es-
tablish it, and did not come because
there was a demand for it on the part
of the people at large. It started in an
inconspicuous way, with a small ap-
propriation, too small in fact to attract
the notice of the politicians. Like many
other states the promoters of the for-
est movement in Maryland had the co-
operation of the United States Forest
Service which offered a model law,
that, with a number of modifications
to suit the circumstances, was adopted.
One of the good features of the law
was the provision reltaing to a non-
partisan State Board of Forestry, con-
sisting of the Governor, the Comp-
troller, the president of the Johns Hop-
kins University, the president of the
State Agricultural College and two ap-
pointees of the Governor, one of whom
shall be a citizen of the State interested
in the advancement of forestry and the
other a practical lumberman, engaged
in the manufacture of lumber within
the state. Notwithstanding the fact
that Maryland has the reputation of
great political activity within her state
boards, the Board of Forestry has been
entirely free from it, and ever since
the work was organized there has been
absolutely no political interference and
it is not believed that with an ex-officio
board of this character, such a thing is
probable. The forest law has been
amended in two or three particulars,
but in the main it stands to-day as
representing nearly everything that is
needed from the standpoint of legisla-
tion, and its successful working has
prompted other states to adopt many
of its provisions. Forestry in Mary-
land has a promising field and while
progress has been slow, a substantial
foundation has been laid which will
enable the state to proceed in the de-
velopment of a forest policy along con-
structive lines. The first appropriation
was $7,000 for the two years 1907-
1908; $8,000 for the two following
years; $9,000 for the next two years
STATE FOREST
PROBLEMS
IN MARYLAND 447
GOOD SPECIMENS OF
and for the years 1913 and 1914 the
sum of $84,500 becomes available. It
should be added that $58,500 of the
last biennial appropriation is for the
purchase of lands, leaving $26,000 for
maintenance and publications.
State work is necessarily of an ex-
tensive character, rather than inten-
sive. The position of Maryland is per-
haps unique in the great variety of
natural conditions that exist within her
borders. From the extreme southeast-
ern to the extreme northwestern cor-
ners of the State is practically 265 miles
in a straight line and between these two
extremities are found as great a vari-
ety of soil conditions, tree species, and
forest types, as can probably be found
in any state. This gives a diversity of
conditions that is not usually found
elsewhere. In the extreme southeast-
ern part of the State are pure stands
of red gum, cypress and loblolly pine,
such as are common to the south; while
in the extreme western part, in the
mountain region, the white pine, tama-
rack, hemlock, spruce, yellow birch,
sugar maple and other trees of the
northern type are found. Between
these extremes is a variety of hard-
FOREST GROWN WHITE
OAKS, KENT COUNTY.
woods that would be difficult to dupli-
cate in any other equal area in the
United States. Likewise this field pre-
sents nearly every form and degree of
forestry from the worst kind of mis-
management to the most intensive
form. In the central part of the State
where the best agricultural soils are
found, the woodlands are confined,
a rule to relatively small woodlots, re-
ceiving in most cases fairly intense for-
est management under the selection
system. In the southeastern part of
the State, where pure stands of lob-
lolly pine are found, the form of man-
agement approaches the clear cutting
system. Southern Maryland 1s a sec-
tion in which large areas, that were
formerly cultivated, prior to the Civil
War, are now grown up in pines and
hardwoods. In the mountain forests
of the western section, destructive
methods of lumbering and severe for-
est fires afford excellent examples of
what to avoid in the practice of fores-
try. There are two million acres of
woodland in the
State, which repre-
sents 359%. of the total land area; so
that according to the ideal arrange-
ment in an agricultural state, the per
A HEAVY SECOND GROWTH STAND OF
SEEN
cent of woodland is still in excess of
local needs. It is estimated that 20%
of the total land area is better adapted
to a forest growth than for cultivation
or pasture, and it is not likely that the
woodland will ever be reduced below
this percentage. Probably 95% of the
woodlands are in small holdings, rang-
ing from 5 to 1,000 acres, so that it is
difficult to get organized co-operation
in fire protection, because of the large
number of owners involved.
Naturally under the diversity of con-
ditions that have been indicated, the
forest problems of even a small State
like Maryland are many and varied.
What is true of Maryland is also appli-
cable in most of the eastern states.
The main forest problems in Mary-
land may be classed under: Investi-
gation of forest conditions; Educa-
tional work; Co-operation with land-
owners; The control of forest fires;
Acquisition and care of State Forests.
INVESTIGATION.
Before any State can adopt an in-
telligent forest policy there is the need
of reliab le information concerning its
IN THE LOWER EASTERN SHORE
AMERICAN FORESTRY
LOBLOLLY ,PINE;-SUCH AS IS FREQUBNIEN
PENINSULA OF MARYLAND
forest resources. This has been se-
cured by the different states in various
ways and in a more or less approxi-
mate manner. ‘The first work done in
Maryland was the beginning of a for-
est survey, by counties, in which all
the woodlands were plotted on base
maps, drawn on a scale of 1 mile to
the inch. All woodlots of 5 acres or
more were located as accurately as pos-
sible and classified as to character and
condition, as nearly as could be done
by a superficial examination in driving
over the public, and many of the pri-
vate, roads. ‘This work has been con-
tinued from 1906, until the present
time, when the survey of the State
has been completed, with the exception
of one county. In addition to the for-
est map of each county, a large amount
of information was obtained as to for-
est fires, suitable methods of forest
management, timber production and
uses, ‘market conditions, transportation
facilities, the forest fire sentiment in
the communities, etc. This first-hand
information has enabled the Forester
to become intimately acquainted with
all sections of the State and the vari-
ous conditions that are presented; the
STATE FOREST PROBLEMS IN MARYLAND
YOUNG STAND OF
MIXED HARDWOODS IN
449
NEED OF AN IMPROVEMENT
CUTTING
results of these studies being published
in the form of county reports, a num-
ber of which will appear during the
coming winter as an appropriation of
$6,000 has just been made available for
this purpose.
Further investigations are _ being
made as to the rate of growth of the
important timber trees and other stud-
ies in anticipation of future needs.
The idea is to have in the possession
of the State such complete information
as will enable the forest officials to
meet the various questions that are con-
stantly coming up in an intelligent man-
ner, and without delay. Maryland has
placed more emphasis upon this fea-
ture perhaps than other States, but to
us it seems fundamental and I believe
will be fully justified.
lf forestry is to succeed fully, vit
must be presented in a popular man-
ner, so that its principles shall become
household words, so.to speak. To ac-
complish this necessitates the use of
every available means by which it may
be introduced to all classes of people.
It is primarily a campaign of educa-
tion that must be conducted for many
years to come. It is particularly im-
portant in the beginning. The educa-
tional feature of the work takes various
forms as for example, lectures before
various organizations, miscellaneous
gatherings, in fact any places or occa-
sions where an audience is provided.
This will naturally take a wide range
possibly from a woman’s sewing circle
to a legislative assembly. ‘The most ef-
fective work is done with Farmers In-
stitutes, Farmers Clubs and Granges,
because in such meetings there is the
direct contact with the progressive
woodlot owner. Forestry exhibits at
the county fair and other exhibitions
is an effective method of reaching
many people. Publications bearing on
various forestry subjects and caleu-
lated to meet specific needs are also an
effective means of education. The
Maryland law provides for a course of
lectures on forestry at the State Agri-
cultural College which as stipplemen-
tary education along agricultural lines
is productive of good results. "The
plan of keeping the newspapers sup-
plied with material that they will pub-
lish is another educational feature and
not to be slighted. In all of the edu-
cational work, the important thing is to
reach the individual landowner who
has it in his own hands to promote or
hinder the real progress of forestry and
to do this is one of the most difficult
all the means enumerated have been
used to the limit, people will be found
who have never heard that there was
a State Forest Organization.
The plan of examining woodlands
upon application and giving advice to
the owners has been carried on in
Maryland, as in other States. Since
the adoption of this plan about 28,000
acres of woodland have been examined
and advice given as to its management.
These areas are widely scattered over
the State and each serves in a way as
an object lesson of practical forestry
applied in a manner to meet the needs
of the individual case. This work has
been supplemented by the establish-
ment of five demonstration forests in
as many different counties for the pur-
pose of carrying out in a more definite
way certain plans of forest manage-
ment. ‘These demonstration forests be-
long to private landowners who have
agreed to manage them under the di-
rection of the State Forester. In this
way the State can offer demonstrations
of applied forestry without having to
acquire the land and so far the plan has
worked very satisfactorily.
One of the easiest ways to interest
the average landowner in forestry is to
POOR
A PASTURED WOODLOT SHOWING SOIL
GROWTH, DUE TO
problems of State forest work. After
AMERICAN FORESTRY
COVER AND ABSENCE OF YOUNG
OV ER-GRAZING.
get him started along the lines of tree
planting. Trees grown in a State For-
est nursery and sold to him at cost 1s
an inducement. The demand for such
stock is usually much greater than the
supply. In this way a man may be
perfectly willing to plant trees on good
agricultural land, when under the most
fav orable conditions no profit can be
reasonably expected, while he may
have a hundred acres of burned over
mismanaged woodland, which if pro-
tected properly and managed would in-
crease the yield to three or four times
what he now receives. As a purely
business proposition much of the pri-
vate planting that is done is open to
serious question, but inasmuch as the
landowner insists upon doing it and it
really advances the interest in forestry
the State is not without justification in
encouraging the enterprise. At any
rate forest planting in the east, or else-
where, under certain conditions is a
good thing and if we as foresters en-
courage the would-be planter to re-
strict his planting to locations where
fire protection can be assured and to
soils not suitable for more renumera-
tive crops, and to trees of rapid growth
and early maturity, no permanent harm
will be done to the individual or to the
reputation of the forester.
WM
A RO
The control of forest fires is the most
important problem in Maryland, as 1s
apparently the case in all of the other
States. It is reasonably certain that if
forest fires in the mountains could be
controlled within reasonable limits, the
timber production of that section would
be at least doubled. Without such fire
control conservative forest manage-
ment is out of the question.
There are some sections in the State
where forest fires are infrequent, such
as the southern portion. In other
places, such as the central part where
the forest lands are generally isolated
woodlots, fires are frequent but never
so destructive because they are usually
confined to relatively small areas. The
annual loss from forest fires is about
$100,000, the bulk of which is in the
three western mountain counties. ‘The
forest laws are adequate to deal with
the forest fire situation and now that
we have secured increased appropria-
tions for the purpose, it is believed that
a fairly effective system may be es-
tablished. The system now in operation
is that of local forest wardens, forest
patrolmen and lookout watchmen. All
of these men are commissioned as for-
est wardens by the Governor, upon
recommendation of the State Forester.
The law limits the number of wardens
STATE FOREST PROBLEMS
IN MARYLAND
ADWAY THROUGH A MARYLAND FOREST.
in each county to one for each 15,000
acres of woodland or majority fraction
thereof. The wardens are under the
control of the State Forester and are
paid for services rendered at the rate
of 25c. per hour, the county and State
sharing equally in the expense. ‘The
WwW ardens have the authority to employ
assistance, arrest without warrant, the
power to summon help in case of emer-
gency, and in fact, they are given full
authority to deal with forest fires and
the enforcement of all forest laws. The
forest patrolmen are employed under
the co-operative arrangement provided
in the Weeks Law, the State putting
up $1,200, which amount has been du-
plicated by the Federal Government to
pay the expenses of the patrol work.
This amount will be more than doubled
for the next year.
STATE FOREST RESERVATIONS.
As a general policy the acquisition by
the State of large forest areas is open
to question. To my mind there are
but three legitimate objects to be con-
sidered in stich purchases.
1. Mountain lands, which have a
high value for water conservation in
state streams, in addition to timber pro-
duction and upon which the present or
452 AMERICAN
prospective owners cannot afford to
practice conservative forest manage-
ment because of economic conditions.
2. Small areas distributed over the
state to serve as demonstrations of
practical forest management.
3. Lands of special value for State
parks, or watershed protection.
Maryland owns less than 2,000 acres
of State Forests located in the moun-
tain section and which may be classed
under number 1 above. These came to
us by gift at the time the first forest
law was enacted. The five demonstra-
tion forests under State supervision,
but privately owned, served as the sec-
ond class of State Forests; while the
third will be represented in the Pataps-
co Park, near Baltimore, for the pur-
AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION
FORESTRY
chase of which $50,000 has. recently
been appropriated by the State.
These are only a few of the more im-
portant problems with which the State
has to deal. Many others are awaiting
solution, such as the taxation of wood-
lands, the problem of forest tree in-
sects, and diseases, the encouragement
of wood-using industries that will
utilize low grade material and make
forest management more profitable, the
protection of shade and roadside trees,
and new ones constantly asserting
themselves as new conditions are pre-
sented.
*Photographs by courtesy of the Maryland
State Board of Forestry.
DIRECTORS
MEETING
GE midsummer meeting of the
directors of the American For-
estry Association will be held in
the White Mountains, in connection
with a trip on July 17, 18 and 19, ar-
ranged by a joint invitation extended to
them and their guests by Governor
Bass, of New Hampshire, the presi-
dent of the American Forestry Asso-
ciation; the New Hampshire Forestry
Commission and the Society for the
Protection of New Hampshire Forests.
The following itinerary has been ar-
ranged for all those starting from New
York, but it is desired that if it is more
convenient for others to join the party
at some point en route that they may
feel free’ to: dowse. Wir stucieur ac
ceptances to the invitations are re-
ceived a special Pullman car will be
attached to the regular 8 p. m. train
for Concord, N. H., at the Grand Cen-
tral Station, New York, on Tuesday
evening, July 16, which will be side-
tracked at Concord on Wednesday
morning.
The party will breakfast Wednes-
day, July 17, at the Eagle Hotel and
Governor Bass will then receive and
welcome the party at the State Capitol.
Automobiles will be furnished through
the courtesy of a number of those in
attendance and an automobile truck to
carry all baggage. A run will then be
made of about seventy-five miles to
Deer Park Hotel at North Woodstock
stopping on the way to see the State
Nursery at Boscowan and to lunch at
Plymouth. At Deer Park Hotel the
party will join members of the So-
ciety for the Protection of New Hamp-
shire Forests in a short visit to the
most beautiful Lost River Reserve
nearby, lately purchased by the Society,
returning to the Hotel for dinner and
the night. The morning of Thursday,
July 18, the party will proceed by au-
tomobile through the profile notch to
the Mt. Washington Hotel, Bretton
Woods, for lunch and remain there in
attendance upon the fifth annual fores-
try conference which is to be held at
Bretton Woods on the 18th and 19th
under the auspices of the Society for
the Protection of New Hampshire
Forests in’ co-operation with the State
Forestry Commission and the Asso-
ciation of North Eastern Foresters,
Short excursions from this point can
easily be taken to see the New State
Reservation of Crawford Notch and
the proposed Federal Reserves to be
purchased under the Weeks Act. The
special Pullman will be brought from
Concord to Bretton Woods for those
returning to New York and leave at
about 8:30 a. m., July 20, and arrive in
New York at about 9 p. m.
THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF FORESTRY
AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY
N jJaly 28, 1911, the act esiabich-
ee the New York Simie Collese
of Foresixy ai Syracese Unwer
sity became a lew through the sigmaimre
of Governor Dix. The objecis and par
poses of the College 2s siaied m its or
pamic law are-
1 The condor: upon land acgumred
for such purposes of such expermenis
m Foresity and Reforesiafion 25 ithe
Board of Trustees deem most advan
tageous ip — miteresis of the State and
mmocsment oF the Science of For
2 The planimg. saicme. and
lag oak feces tae ne
of such species and quauiiiies as ihe
Board of Trustees deems besi, with =
View 0: obiammng and muaparamg knowl
eige concemmme the scieniiac manage-
ment and mse 07 foresis, thes regulatios
and admumisiraiion, and the production,
harvesimg and reproduction of wood
cops and ihe cammme of a revenn=s
thereizom.
The College is Grrecily under the ae
izol of a — of Trasizes, parily
desiguazied by ihe ea of Oneeieas
parily appo =r by the e Governor and
parily clecied by the we Sy
cuse Universtiy.
New York was one of the first Sinies
ip realize the necesstiy of irammg young
men 23 foresters. Im 1898 the Sizte
Leswbiore established a Stste College
of Poresiry 2i Comell University and
gave to the College 2 tract of 30,000
acres m ihe Adirondacks eee
a demonsiraiion foresi
mnforimumaic combmaiion of
Siamees amsms m ihe management of
5 demonsitaiion foresi ai Axion, the
College was closed m 1902 aiier fou:
very successiul years under Dr B_ 5
Femow, 20w Dean of the Facoliy of
Forestry at Toronto Usnwersiy In
Wiew of the itemendous micresi m every
phase of foresiry m the Siate evidenced
by a comsiant demand from all classes
of people for more miommation as to
the reforesiaiion of wasie lands and the
best methods of caring for what we sill
have, the Siaite Colleve of Foresiry was
recsiablished and located ai Syracuse
Uniwerstty becamse of the easy accessi-
inty from all paris of the Sizie, near
mess ip the Admondacks, and because
of splendid facies Offered sindenis
m foresiry for work m other colleges
of the wmiversity m ensmecring and the
matmral sciences.
Those who framed the orgamc lw
oF the College saw clearly that such an
msitimiion should serve the Sizie m
more than msiructonal work m for
esity only and — the College io
Cally on iwo and equally m-
portant ines of ie The carrymg on
of such research and mvesiigaiive work
m forestry 25 will aad @ the solution
Oi the many pardon winch confront
the people and the State of New York
m the projection, care and extension of
that mcreasmeiy waluable assei of the
Siate—the foresis of the Adirondarks
and the Caisldils, and m the practical
Teioresiaiion o: ithe mullions of acres
of waste lands m ithe Siaie wich are
aGgapied 20 a forest crop only. Second,
the givme of msirucion m ioresity,
moi only for sindenis who may be ai-
tenting the professional courses m ihe
College or the practical ranger conrse,
bat for anyone else m ithe Sizte who
wishes ip know more as 10 the care of
thew irees, ihe planimes of wasie lands
30 that such lands may become a proit
and moi a loss; the caiimes of tumber so
that another crop may be obtamed ; the
ireaiment of timber so as io prevent
decay, and general facts as io omr trees
and foresis and the ammmals and planis
which may help or mjure them
A FOREST EXPERIWVENT STATION
To be able t carry on effectivday
such research and mvesiigative work as
will be of sumediate help m the Siaie,
the Legislature siated m its act that
240,000 of the mit appropriation for
the College of Foresiry should be used
pater
454. AMERICAN
for the purchase of land. Early in
April a tract of 90 acres, made up of
two small farms and their buildings,
and lying just beyond the south boun-
dary of the city on one of the main
trolley lines, was purchased and is
known as “The Forest Experiment
Station of the New York State College
of Forestry.” The land was selected
because of accessibility from the city
and the University; because of great
diversity of soil conditions and because
of a living stream of water which can
be made easily available over the entire
tract. Some 30 acres is covered with
woodlot made up largely of maple, oak,
hickory and other hardwoods, but con-
taining an unusual amount of volunteer
seedling growth of pine, hemlock and
arbervite. During the present spring
over 450,000 seedlings of conifers will
be put into transplant beds for use in
experimental work in reforestation of
waste lands. A hundred seed beds will
be planted with seed of a large number
of species, but mostly of conifers.
Several lines of experimental work are
being organized, some of which will be
carried on in co-operation with the
State Conservation Commission, the
Department of Forestry of the State
College of Agriculture at Cornell and
with other forest interests of the State.
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING IN FORESTRY
A four-year technical course leading
to a degree of Bachelor of Science in
Forestry will be given. Upon comple-
tion of a fifth year in the College and
a period of satisfactory practice, the
graduates of this College will be granted
the degree of Master of Forestry. For
graduates of Syracuse University or
other institutions of similar rank, whose
undergraduate work has not had special
reference to technical forestry, two
years of work in the College will be
required for the Master’s degree.
THE RANGER SCHOOL
The increasing demand for men
trained in the woods and understanding
the elementary principles of Forestry
has led the college to establish a ranger
FORESTRY
school to be known as the “New York
State Ranger School.” An _ intensely
practical course of two years will be
given, which it is believed will prepare
men in a splendid way for work as
forest rangers, forest guards, forest
estate managers, nursery foremen and
tree planting experts. Two thousand
acres lying along Cranberry Lake in the
Adirondacks has been offered to the
College for its Ranger School and it is
planned to give nearly all the work of
the School in the woods. During a
portion of each year, instructors will
be at the School to give work in Mathe-
matics and Engineering, Botany, Soils
and Geology, Zoology and Entomology
and related lines. Practical woodsmen
and lumbermen will be brought in for
special instruction. It will be the con-
stant aim of the College to turn out
men from the Ranger School who will
understand the forests and their care
and what they mean to the State, and
who will be as practical in the woods
as training of such length can make
them.
WHERE THE COLLEGE WILL WORK.
For the present, the State College of
Forestry is located in the new Natural
Science Building of the University,
Lyman Hall. Laboratories are being
equipped for work in Dendrology and
Wood Technology. The Forest Ex-
periment Station will be used for in-
structional work in Seeding and Piant-
ing and Nursery Practice. Some $8,000
of the present year’s State appropriation
for the College will be spent during the
coming summer for a range of green-
houses and potting and seed storage
rooms for winter work in Nursery
Practice and for experimental work in
Silviculture, Forest Pathology and En-
tomology. A Forestry library for the
College has been begun and an effort
will be made to make this library un-
usually complete and accessible, that it
may become especially valuable to those
wishing to do research work along any
phase of Forestry. A very large room
has been assigned the College for a
Forestry Museum. Collections will be
made to show economic relations and
NEW YORK SDAtiE, COLLEGE OF FORESTRY
LYMAN HALL OF SCIENCE,
FORESTRY AT SYRACUSE
IN THIS’ NEW BUILDING.
THE HOME
UNIVERSITY.
developments and for their instructional
value.
The College, through numerous trol-
ley and steam lines running in every
direction from Syracuse, has easy ac-
cess to a wide territory in which there
are unusual examples of different for-
est floras, forest conditions, and logging
and lumbering operations. In its near-
ness to the Adirondack forest, where
the Conservation Commission is doing
such splendid work in reforestation, of
extensive areas of waste lands where
reforestation is greatly needed, and
large logging and manufacturing opera-
tions, there is no more strategic center
anywhere in respect to the solving of
forestry problems, than that of the
New York State College of Forestry.
STAFF OF THE
THE TEACHING COLLEGE
That the preliminary work of organi-
zation might be begun at once and that
OF
HS
a
Or
Photo by Hugh P. Baker.
THE NEW YORK
THE COLLEGE
STATE COLLEGE OF
HAS AMPLE QUARTERS
arrangements might be made for in-
structional work during 1911-12, the
Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Wil-
liam L,. Bray, Chief of the Department
of Botany in the University, as Acting
Dean of the College. Dr. Bray has not
only had an unusually strong training
in Botany, but for several years carried
on investigational work in Western
Texas in co-operation with the United
States Forest Service, which resulted
in the publication of valuable reports
on forest conditions in our Southwest.
In “February, 1912-306 “Hugh F.
Baker was elected to the position of
Dean of the College of Forestry, and
he entered upon the work on the first
of April. Dr. Baker has a Bachelor’s
Degree from the Michigan Agricultural
College, a degree of Master of Forestry
from the Yale Forest School and in
1910, after a residence of one and one-
half years in Germany, received the
degree of Doctor of Economics from
456 AMERICAN FORESTRY
STATE COLLEGE OF FORESTRY.
Photo by Hugh P. Baker.
THE VALLEY FARM OF THE FOREST EXPERIMENT STATION OF THE NEW YORK
OVER 150,000 SEEDLINGS WILL BE PUT INTO
TRANSPLANT BEDS ON THIS AREA AND 100 SEED BEDS PLANTED WITH SEED
FOR BOTH CONIFERS AND HARDWOODS.
the University of Munich. He entered
the then Division of Forestry in 1901,
and for ten years was continuously con-
nected with scientific and practical work
in the Government Service. In 1904
he took charge of Forestry at the lowa
State College, developing the work
there, and in 1907 took charge of the
Department of Forestry at the Pennsyl-
vania State College.
In the fall of 1911, to meet immediate
need for instructional work in Forestry,
Mr. E. E. McCarthy, a graduate of the
Forest School at Ann Arbor, came to
the College as Assistant Professor of
Forestry, and during the past year has
been giving courses in Dendrology,
Mensuration and silviculture. He re-
mains at the College under the newer
organization and will have charge of
the work in Dendrology and Wood
Techno logy.
Mr. John W. Stephen, who was
graduated from the Forest School of
the University of Michigan and who
spent two years in charge of State
Forest Lands in Northern Michigan,
came to the State Conservation Com-
mission in 1908, as a Forester and de-
veloped the extensive State Nursery at
Salamanca. He took up work with the
College on April 15th, as Assistant Pro-
fessor of Silviculture, and will have
direct charge of the Forest Nursery
being developed at the Forest Experi-
ment Station, and will develop during
the coming spring a demonstration
planting on the State Fair Grounds.
He will have charge also of such ex-
tension work as the College does in
reforestation of waste lands in the State.
Professor Frank F. Moon,-who has
been in charge of the work in Forestry
at the Massachusetts Agricultural Col-
lege tor the past two years, and who
will spend the coming summer in Ger-
many, comes to the College in Septem-
ber as Professor of Forest Engineering.
He will have charge of the work in
Forest Mensuration and Engineering,
CHESTNUT TREES GOING
CUTTING DOWN
and will carry on work in Forest Map-
ping in co-operation with the State
Conservation Commission.
Professor Nelson C. Brown, who is
now connected with the Department of
Horticulture and Forestry at the Iowa
State College, and who was formerly
Deputy Forest Supervisor of the Deer-
ledge National Forest in Montana,
comes to the College on the first of July
as Assistant Professor of Lumbering.
CHESTNUT
TREES AT SOUND BEACH.
Professor Brown, who is a graduate of
Yale College and the Yale Forest
School, has had very unusual practical
training in Forestry, and will have en-
tire charge of the courses in Lumber-
ing, Forest Utilization and related lines.
During the coming summer he will make
a study of logging and manufacturing
operations in “Northern New York, to
gather material for his work in the
College and for publication.
THE CHESTNUT TREES GOING
VERY student and lover of hu-
eI man nature has mourned on ac-
count of the sickness and death
of the chestnut trees, says The Guide
to Nature. ‘The chestnut trees are our
special friends of the forest and around
them are particularly pleasant mem-
ories of the time, when in our youth,
we gathered their fruit. In their flow-
ering and fruiting they are of great
interest in later biological studies. A
more graceful shade tree never existed.
They have been tried and found true
from our childhood to our old age.
They have been valuable in our poetry,
our pathos and our commerce. But
even the most skilled scientists have
not been able to cope with the ravages
of the terrible fungus disease which
attacks the trees after the fungi hide
themselves under the bark. The sooner
such trees are cut down the better, for
with no host tree on which to feed and
propagate, perhaps the chestnut disease
will die out, and we may hope that our
grandchildren will gather nuts and tell
their grandchildren ‘of their nutting ex-
cursions, and of the squirrels with
which they shared their spoils.
In South Beach, Conn., not far from
our Arcadia, is a grove as primitive as
when Keofferman, or Mianus, or Cos
Cob, led his warriors to battle. To
this grove, commonly known as _ the
Miller woods, have come the lovers, the
saunterers, the picnic parties, the bota-
nists and the ornithologists, and to it
have come, as to an _ entomological
a I Ae, aS eS
a
*
ar
TMILL.
SAW
O) LEE
—
GS
LOC
UT LOGS
NG UP THE CHESTN
TMILI, CUTTI
SAW
(AM
CHESTNUT TREES GOING
DRAWING THE LUMBER OUT OF THE WOODS.
Mecca, the expert collecting entomolo-
gists from the American Museum of
SOON THE CHESTNUT BLOOM WILL BE
RARER THAN THE RAREST ORCHIDS.
Natural History of New York City.
The grove is rich in everything that is
good from an inspirational and educa-
tional aspect, and everyone who has
known these beautiful woods will re-
gret the loss of the stately chestnut
trees that only a few years ago were
so thrifty.
But the owner is doing the right
thing. He is removing them as speedily
and as skillfully as possible. This is
being done under the management of
Contractor Hawks, with his sub con-
tractor Bailey, of the portable sawmill.
While the saw mill has been in action
hundreds of visitors have been at-
tracted to the place because here log-
ging has been carried on in as pictur-
esque and as skilled a manner as it is
in the primitive forests of northern
New England. One can hardly realize
in looking at the accompanying illus-
trations that these scenes are only a
short distance from modern residences,
a railroad and a trolley car track.
Photographs by courtesy of The Guide toa
Nature.
LO .FIGHT FORESE FIRES.
Twenty-five miles of telephone lines have been constructed this spring by the Coeur
d’Alene Timber Protective Association, and an additional 25 miles will be constructed before
the fire danger season is at its height.
LUMBERING AND FORESTRY
WorkK OF THE INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY AND CHAMPLAIN REALTY
CoMPANY IN FORESTRY IN CONNECTION WITH THEIR LUMBERING OPERA-
TIONS IN NEw HAMPSHIRE AND VERMONT *
By GEORGE
HE acreage of timberlands owned
( by the International Paper Com-
pany and its subsidiary Company,
the Champlain Realty Company, in New
Hampshire and Vermont States is 147,-
085 acres of which 79,723 acres are in
Vermont and acres in New
Hampshire.
The average consumption of spruce
wood in the mills of the International
Paper Company in this division, under
normal conditions, 1s 45,000 cords per
year. During the thirteen years which
the International Paper Company has
been cutting, or since its formation,
there has been cut on the lands in this
division approximately 312,000 cords,
or an average of about 24,000 cords per
year, or less than two-tenths of a cord
67,362
A. CHEDEL, Superintendent
per acre per year—this is probably
about equal to the natural growth. The
balance of the supply, or 21,000 cords,
per year has been purchased mostly
outside of these two States. Following
out their policy of conserving their own
supply the cuttings by the Company for
the past’two years have been only 32
339 cords and the purchases 54,783
cords, a total of 87,122 cords.
Before the Company was formed
little or no attention had been given to
the conservation of timberlands in the
lumbering operations in that vicinity.
A great increase in the stumpage value
of lumber, however, caused the Com-
pany to look forward with greater care
to their future supply for the different
mills in this division. With the in-
GROWTH OF SMALL SPRUCE
AFTER LARGE
TREES HAVE BEEN CUT FOR PULP
WOOD.
460
LUMBER
OPERATIONS INTERRUPTED BY
Sa VAs Gime
i
N
kK
|
N
‘
FIRE AND GOOD TIMBER
DESTROYED.
TRACT OF
PULP WOOD CUT ON
creased value of lumber of course the
value of pulpwood also increased. Of
their holdings in Vermont and New
Hampshire the greater portion were
lands which had been only partially
logged and in many cases there had
been no cuttings, in fact nine-tenths of
their holdings when the International
Paper Company was formed was a
virgin growth. At that time in operat-
ing these lands no great care was taken
to preserve the smaller growth and
much timber was cut and left to waste
that would now be used for pulpwood.
As an example of the difference in
methods in the early days of the Com-
pany’s operations and those in use at
the present time I may quote the word-
ing of contracts. Formerly when a lot
of spruce was to be cut the wording
of the contract would be that “the party
of the first part agrees to go onto said
lot and cut all the spruce timber and
deliver it on :the river bank.” “Now
the contract for this same operation
would read—"The party of the first part
agrees to cut and deliver on the river
bank all the spruce, down to twelve
inches in diameter, two feet from the
ground, except in solid growth on the
sides of the mountain where the timber
is to be cut clean. Said party of the
THE INTERNATIONAL
AMERICAN FORESTRY
PAPER COMPANY.
first part agrees that the work shall be
done in a workmanlike manner, that
he will cut only such trees as are
marked for cutting or such as he may
be directed to cut by an agent of said
party of the second part (the Company ) ;
that all trees shall be sawed down close
to the ground, that no spruce shall be
used for corduroy roads or bridges or
for skids or levers and that he will use
all reasonable means to prevent the
injury or destruction of small spruce
trees and that. all spruce -timiber cut,
down to five inches at the top end, shall
be removed from the land and delivered
on the river bank.”
Fight years ago the Company prac-
tically stopped cutting in Vermont, con-
fining their logging operations in this
vicinity almost entirely to New Hamp-
shire. Since that time until the present
year there has been no operating in
Vermont, except a few small operations
in four foot wood, on lands purchased
in recent years. Their logging opera-
tions in New Hampshire were confined
to the towns of Easton, Landaff, Ben-
ton, Woodstock, Lincoln, Orford and
Lyme.
Logging operations have been con-
fined for five years to the towns of
Woodstock, Benton, Landaff, Lincoln
LUMBERING AND FORESTRY
and Easton, N. H., the supply taken
from those lands being driven down the
Connecticut river to the mills in Bel-
lows Falls. The entire cutting of tim-
ber for the past five years on these lands
has been on very steep mountain slopes
where the spruce was almost entirely
of solid growth. On these slopes where
it has been possible small patches of
timber have been left with the idea of
reproducing on the slopes from the seed
from the small clumps of trees whic!
have been left. We find this to be very
practical as on cuttings of ten years
ago, where there have been no fires,
under similar conditions there is now
a vigorous growth of young spruce
coming in with the hardwood ‘and bird
cherry, which usually follow where the
timber has nearly all been cut off.
In these towns there were 21,346
acres which have all been logged over
except about 2,500 acres, located around
and near the top of Mount Moosilauke,
which have been left, partly because it
was expensive to log and partly as it
463
was thought best to leave it at this time
with the idea that if it could be pro-
tected from fire it would aid in the
reproduction of timber on the lower
slope of the mountain by reseeding,
where the timber has been cut very clean
down to the hardwood growth.
On these lands where there has been
a mixed growth of spruce and hard-
wood the spruce has been left to about
an eicht. inch. dianteter,, for future
growth. The timber in this section was
cut much smaller than the Company in-
tends to cut on their lands hereafter
as it was likely that it would not be
profitable to log these lands again in the
next sixty years.
In transferring their lumbering op-
erations from New Hampshire to Ver-
mont this season they are now cutting
to a twele inch diameter limit, two feet
from the ground, in mixed growth.
This is not a hard and fixed rule, how-
ever, much being left to the discretion
of the Forester who has charge of mark-
ing the timber before it is cut. By
FIGHTING FIRE FROM BACK FIRE LINE.
464.
having the timber marked by men who
are well versed in forestry, the Company
hope to preserve the young growth to
better advantage than by leaving the
selection of trees which are to be cut
to the men who are doing the work.
On the slopes where there is a solid
growth of spruce the timber is cut clean,
the trees themselves being trimmed and
utilized down to four and five inches
at the top end. When land is cut in
this way if there is no source of natural
reseeding by standing timber which will
distribute the seed nor any small growth
coming in, it will be planted in one or
two years after logging operations are
over with nursery stock grown at the
Company’s own nurseries.
The Company had never before had
any marking done for the workmen in
cutting timber, but this system is being
practiced this year on all the logging
operations of the International Paper
Company. We expect that this will re-
sult in a great saving of the young
growth and also in cutting the timber
closer to the ground and into the tops
as the same men who do the marking
go over the cuttings from time to time
and in addition to this they have a fore-
AMERICAN FORESTRY
man who goes over the cuttings and
who also looks after these details and in
this way the Company expects practi-
cally to eliminate any waste. This sys-
tem of cutting is applied entirely to
timberlands on which there is a mixed
growth of spruce and hardwood and on
which there has been very little or no
logging. On lands which have once
been cleared and have come into spruce,
which is called second growth or field
spruce, the only system which is practi-
cal is to cut the timber into four foot
wood, then let the timber grow until it
is large enough for pulpwood and cut
again clean. There are often on these
tracts of land where four foot wood is
cut, of the field variety of spruce, a
sufficient number of seed trees, which
are called bull spruce, and which we
never cut, as they are rough and knotty
and unfit for pulpwood. ‘These trees
will again seed the land into spruce,
under favorable conditions, but whea
this is not possible it must be replanted
to again get back into growing spruce.
The purchases of timberland in re-
cent years by the Champlain Realty
Company have nearly all been of the
second growth or field spruce timber, as
YOUNG GROWTH ON A HILLSIDE.
LUMBERING AND FORESTRY
owing to the high price of timberlands
at the present time the Company finds
that to buy lands on which there has
never been any timber cut is unprofit-
able as there can be no increase of
growth on lands on which there has
never been any cutting. Lands which
have been once cleared and used for
agricultural purposes and have been
abandoned and allowed to grow again
into timber are found to be more profit-
able to hold for growth as the growth
on such lands is often very rapid and
sufficient, at a reasonable purchase price,
to cover the interest on the purchase
price and moderate taxes.
It is the Company’s intention, in this
division, to at least plant a tree for
every one cut on their lands and as
many more as they may be able to plant
465
conveniently and profitably. I know of
no Company in the lumber business in
Vermont or New Hampshire which at
this time is doing as much to conserve
and reproduce their lumber supply as
the International Paper Company. ‘To
my knowledge none of the other lumber
companies in these two States are con-
ducting a nursery or doing any con-
siderable planting on waste or cut-over
lands. If all the lumber operations in
Vermont and New Hampshire were to
be conducted as conservatively as the
operations of the International Paper
Company the next quarter of a century
would see a large increase in the amount
of growing timber in both States.
*Paper presented at a meeting of the Ver-
mont Forestry Association.
A WOMAN TREE CHOPPER.
D. Woodbury Bachelder of Manchester, N. H., engaged in the lumber business at Dama-
riscotta, Me., has in his employ a most remarkable woman as regards strength and endurance.
She is Mary Gregory, wife of Frank Gregory.
She first entered the employ of Mr. Bachelder to provide meals for the fourteen men
in the camp. This she was able to do and have half a day left in which to engage in the
work of the men, and asked permission of Mr. Bachelder to take her place with the choppers.
Mr. Bachelder gave his consent and was astonished to see her perform. She wielded an
axe as expertly as any man mm the crew and made a record one day of chopping, splitting and
piling three cords of wood, a task that most men, hardened to the service of the woods,
are incapable of equalling. Mr. Bachelder says:
“She is the strongest woman I ever saw. No sooner does she fell a tree than she is on
top of it, limbing it out, and in every line of work she is the equal of the men in camp.
She handles a crosscut saw with all the skill of a man and not a laborer in the camp can
surpass her in the amount of work accomplished.”
HISTORIC WASHINGTON TREE.
A historic old tree, believed to be 500 years old, famous also because it was used during
the Civil War as a signal station, and by Confederate sharpshooters, when Gen. Early, in
1864, made his attack upon the national capital, has been recently cut down.
The tree was in perfect condition until struck by lightning recently. It stood about three
miles north of the Capitol. Some Confederate soldiers killed during the twe days’ fighting,
July 11 and 12, 1864, near the capital, were buried under it.
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CQTANWTAS
THE PROBLEM OF OUR LOGGED OFF LANDS
By J. J. Donovan
HE nation-wide interest in con-
servation of our resources has
caused special attention to be
given the great areas of stump land
lying idle in every lumber producing
State.
Lumbermen have been condemned
unheard or unheeded as destroyers of
a great resource and putting nothing
in its place, by well-meaning men and
women who have only superficially ex-
amined the situation or view it from
the standpoint of the muckraker and
sensationalist.
The land owner, after the trees are
cut, has had to face archaic tax condi-
tions, poor soil or heavy drainage or
stump removing expense so that un-
less he had large capital and was will-
ing to wait long for returns it was im-
possible to utilize the land. Choice
spots near the cities and along the riv-
ers have been cleared up, usually by
industrious men of foreign birth who
were not hunting a short cut to wealth.
but many of whom now have fine
farms and comfortable homes as a re-
sult of their struggles with the stumps.
This method of reclamation has been
slow and unnecessarily wasteful of
labor and time.
Dynamite, donkey engines, gasoline
and electric blowers, car pitting and,
for all stumps save those of the Pa-
cific Coast, horse machines greatly re-
duce cost when intelligently used.
When all excuses are made, the fact
remains that there are many millions
of acres of this cut over land lying
absolutely useless in the United States
today in spite of the land hunger that
fills the waiting lines for weeks prior
to any offering of land by the govern-
ment and sends one hundred thousand
American citizens each year to the Ca-
nadian Northwest. What is the mat-
ter? Some answer, “high taxes”;
others, “poor soil’; others, “expensive
labor, lack of markets, need of drain-
age,” and so the story goes. There is
some truth in all these claims but there
is room for millions of people on these
lands and certainty of good returns if
there is intelligent co-operation and
direction.
I am fairly familiar with conditions
in the northern half of the United
States, and realize fully that the lum-
bermen are not wholly blameless but
the legal and economic conditions are
such in most cases that they have had
little choice. The same men who de-
mand that for every tree cut one be
planted, object to changes in systems
of taxation which make it possible to
reforest with any chance of profit.
Therefore much land reverts for non-
payment of taxes to counties which
continue the do-nothing policy of the
original owner. When the States are
owners and have sold the timber, they
generally make no use of the logged-
off land until some settler finds a
choice piece of agricultural land which
is then sold.
Whether the owner is the State or a
private company or individual, we need
a revision of our laws and awakening
of interest so that land will be used:
First. Agriculturally wherever soil is
suitable that our citizens seeking homes
may remain under our own flag.
Second. For grazing if conditions
do not warrant removing stumps and
bringing under the plow.
Third. For reforesting such tracts
as are not available for better uses.
How shall this be accomplished?
For bringing stump jiand under the
plow some advocate assistance from
the State analogous to that given in re-
claiming desert lands by irrigation, or
by improvement districts similar to
those under which swamp-lands have
been reclaimed. Minnesota has a law
of this character. In Washington
many good men advocate State aid on
one of the above plans. I doubt the
wisdom of this policy and believe pri-
vate enterprise can solve the problem
467
468 AMERICAN
in every case where the real value of
the land warrants the expense. Large
holdings can be improved at less ex-
pense per acre than small ones and for
this reason, if the logging companies
themselves do not clear up the land,
holding companies devoted to clearing
and selling are necessary and such a
plan is just being made effective in
southwestern Washington. ‘The Com-
pany which I represent, the Lake
Whatcom Logging Company of Bell-
ingham, Washington, has placed fifty-
two individual settlers or families on
logged off lands during the past five
years and not one has thrown up his
contract. Most have paid up in full,
are prosperous and contented. Our
theory is to sell in small tracts to actual
settlers at reasonable prices on easy
terms and to help with lumber and
clearing where moderate payment is
made. We do not offer land until we
have opened roads and secured fair
mail and school facilities.
Wherever the soil is good and com-
panies secure a good class of settlers,
this plan will solve the problem. The
second class lands suitable for grazing
or too remote from centers of popu-
lation to warrant expense of remov-
ing stumps can be made of value by
burning over in the spring or fall and
following up with a moderate sowing
of timothy and clover as soon as the
ashes cool. Anyone interested in this
phase of development should obtain
the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s
Farm Bulletin 462, “The Utilization
of Logged-off Land for Pastures in
Western Oregon and Western Wash-
ington,” by Byron Hunter and Harry
Thompson, who have investigated the
question at length and have deduced
many valuable conclusions. The bul-
letins of the L. O. L. Association of
the State of Washington contain much
information of value. Its President is
Mr. J. W. Brown, Alaska Building,
FORESTRY
Seattle, Wash., from whom these bul-
letins may be obtained. This organiza-
tion, formed in 1908, secured co-
operation of the State of Washington
and of the agricultural department of
the United States, and much reliable
information has been compiled as to
clearing costs and methods.
Reforesting cut-over lands scientifi-
cally has made little progress on the
Pacific Coast even inside the United
States Reserves, the area treated being
a very small percentage of the whole.
The States and private individuals have
done practically nothing as yet because
there was neither economic reasons nor
public sentiment requiring it. This
condition is changing and most of the
States now have forestry departments
whose importance is being realized and
supported by the legislatures.
Existing tax laws make impossible
reforesting by private owners except
in isolated cases. Land suitable for
such purposes should be acquired by
the State at a maximum price of say
five dollars per acre and modern prac-
tical forestry methods applied which
will transform a waste into a source of
lumber supply and revenue to the State
fifty years hence. Each State should
classify its cut-over lands under one
of the three heads given and sell the
two first named classes. The balance
should be reforested. When these sug-
gestions are applied to the idle tangle
of brush and stumps covering many
millions of acres in the North and
West, conditions will no longer re-
proach the lumbermen nor the people
of the State affected. ‘There are homes
for millions under far more favorable
conditions than govern life on the cold
northern plains but co-operation and
intelligence are needed to make these
lands available.
* Address at convention of National Lumber
Manufacturers Association.
CITY FORESTER NAMED.
Park Supt. Charles G. Carpenter has been appointed city forester of
by the park board, in conformity with a law of the legislature of 1911.
serve without salary, it being necessary to appoint a forester prior to June 20.
Milwaukee, Wis.,
Mr. Carpenter will
Only $1,200
is available for salary of the forester, and the board decided that the city forest activities
for this year would be limited.
PINCHOT TO THE BOY SCOUTS
Scout Forester of the Boy
Scouts of America, has prepared
for the Boy Scouts a statement show-
ing how they may learn the age of a
tree; how they may estimate the size
of the tree ten, twenty or thirty years
ago, and especially how to gain prac-
tical and valuable information in their
trips through the woods.
In this statement Pinchot appeals to
the Boy Scouts to co-operate with the
foresters, saying that it is a duty which
the boys owe to their country. “It is
as important,” he writes, “that you
should study these things as that the
foresters should do so. The foresters,
being trained men, will know how to
make the best practical use of what
they learn. But it is upon all of us that
the responsibility will fall of carrying
out what the foresters recommend; and
anything you can do to get an idea of
what forestry means in practice, is go-
ing to help you to co-operate with the
foresters. That will help the woods,
and help your country.
“Tf you can get into the woods where
cutting is going on, even if it is only
of small stuff for firewood, I suggest
that you do this: Count the rings of
growth on the stump of a tree, first
making sure what kind of tree it is.
Count the rings from the center out-
wards. Each ring means a year in the
life of the tree, and the whole number
of rings means the age of the tree.
Then measure the thickness of the tree
across the stump. If the tree has not
yet been worked up into logs or into
firewood, you can easily measure its
height by running a tape line, or a
piece of string, from the butt of the
first log to the top of the crown, add-
ing the height of the stump. If you
make several of these ‘stem analyses”
on trees of different sizes and then
compare the results, you will find out
many interesting things about how that
Gi scont PINCHOT, Chief
kind of tree grows; for example, that
it may grow fastest in height when it
is young, fastest in diameter when it
is older, and that later on in life diame-
ter growth falls off and height growth
is very, very slow.
“But even a stem analysis of one
tree teaches you a great deal. It tells
you, not only how old was the tree
when it reached the size at which it
was cut, but also how old the tree was
at all sizes since it was a little seed-
ling, for every tree has its own life
history written on its ring of growth.
Suppose you have measured an oak
and found it to be fourteen inches thick
and seventy years old. All you need to
do to find out how thick that oak was
when it was, say, thirty years old, is to
measure out from the center the dis-
tance covered by the first thirty rings,
multiply that distance by two and add
an inch for the bark. That tells you
very closely how big the tree was forty
years ago, long before you were born.
“While you are making the stem
analysis, don’t fail to study the woods
in which the cutting is going on. How
do they look? Will they grow trees
again like those that have been cut or
has the forest been destroyed by cut-
ting? Is the brush piled so that it can
be burned up, or are the big tops lopped
so that they will rot quickly, or is all
this trash strewn over the ground,
where it would burn fiercely, and kill
what trees are left standing? Have
too many trees been cut, so that in-
stead of a forest there are only a few
scattered, scrubby trees left, or are
there enough to shed seed to plant the
land to forest again? Have the trees
been felled skillfully? Are the stumps
cut close to the ground soe as to waste
no timber, or have they been cut high
up in lazy-man’s fashion? Have the
logs all been taken out, or just the
best ones, leaving a lot of wood lying
3)
on the ground:
469
TAXATION OF
FOREST PROPERTY IN NEW
HAMPSHIRE
By J. H. Fostrer
Professor of Forestry, New Hampshire State College
wise for assessors to place high
valuations upon forest property,
since such action encourages a rapid
cutting of timber; few people, how-
ever, realize how grossly unjust the
system of general property tax on
growing forests may become if the as-
sessed valuations are high.
The general tax law calls for the as-
sessment of property at the actual sale
value. In the past this law has seldom
been enforced and its evil possibilities
have been thus far avoided. The fact
that assessors have generally been leni-
ent in their appraisal of forest property
has made the evil in the law seem less
great and has deferred the issue up to
the present time. This does not mean
that the working out of the tax law has
been satisfactory. It has been most
unsystematic, unequal and unbusiness-
like. Assessments on timber tracts
have been ridiculously unequal as re-
gards lots in the same town or in dif-
ferent towns. Many valuable wood-
lots attached to farms have escaped
taxation altogether. Assessors are
often unfamiliar with the values of
forest property and have not taken the
trouble to examine them. ‘Too often
they assess from hearsay or place a
value only when the property has
changed hands and then frequently
only once before the timber has been
cut off. Sometimes they are prejudiced
in their appraisals and non-residents
are more often the victims. The writer
investigated the condition of forest tax-
ation in New Hampshire in 1908 for
the State Forestry Commission and
the Federal Forest Service, the results
of which were published in the report
of the Forestry Commission for 1907-
08. In this investigation over 150
470
CD) vise people know that it is un-
timber tracts and woodlots were ex-
amined and studied individually. Many
examples of the most surprising in-
equality were detected but since assess-
ments have been generally low, no great
harm resulted.
The New Hampshire Legislature of
1911 created a permanent tax com-
mission, consisting of three members, to
have general supervision of all matters
tare to taxation within the State.
his commission within the past few
months has in the performance of its
duties directed that all property shall
be assessed according to law; that is,
at its full sale value. By so doing it
has brought about a crisis in the mat-
ter of forest taxation, as subsequent
events are bound to show.
Why is it? Not necessarily because
it would be unwise to tax our forests
at their full value and thereby lead to
their early removal; not because we
prize our standing forests and desire
to see them remain; not because we
need them to protect our slopes and
watersheds, and consequently our
streams, although these considerations
are most important; not by any means
because forests should not pay their
just proportion of taxes; but entirely
and fundamentally because the system
of property valuation is wrong in
principle and when applied to forests
not yet mature would be iniquitous in
practice. The consequences of the in-
justice are brought to a focus only
when the assessments approach the
actual sale values.
Why is the system wrong in prin-
ciple? It is wrong because it is on
the principle that the man who does
not or cannot use up his income, but
keeps it reinvested with his principal,
is punished by an excessive tax. As
TAXATION OF FOREST PROPERTY ININEW HAMPSHIRE.) 4a
applied to forests, it is especially wrong
because the income from the forest is
available only at long intervals and in-
stead of being removed each year to
be spent and enjoyed or reinvested else-
where, is stored up on the trunks of
the trees and taxed not once but each
succeeding year, over and over again,
for forty or fifty years longer, until
the timber is mature and ready to be
cut. There is a fundamental differ-
ence between levying an annual tax on
property producing an annual income
and levying an annual tax on property
producing an income only at long in-
tervals. The difference is a matter of
compound interest.
It may be illustrated in the case of
two lots of land of equal value with-
out any growth. One is planted to
forest trees and the other to field crops
in such a manner that each lot will
produce an annual revenue of $10.
The field crop is harvested annually
and the $10 received each year for
sixty years. The forest crop is har-
vested but once, at the end of sixty
years where the accumulated income
of $600 is received. But during all
these sixty years the income of $10
withdrawn each year from the field
crops has been accumulating at com-
pound interest until at the end of the
sixty years at 5 per cent the total value
is not $600 as is the case with the
forest crops, but actually $3,535.80 or
nearly six times as much. If these two
lots are assumed to be physically the
same and are so taxed then no man
would invest his money in forest prop-
erty.
It is only fair to state at the out-
set that the burden of unjust taxation
has never fallen upon timber prop-
erty which is now mature. In the past
taxes have not often led to premature
cutting. The serious problem today
rests with the young and partly ma-
ture timber and upon the land whose
owner wishes to re-forest. It is the
most serious obstacle to planting on a
large scale by private owners. Timber
now mature and ripe for the axe is kept
longer on the tax list if the assess-
ments are low, but since the taxes in
the past have been moderate no real
injustice is done the owner if the valu-
ation is raised. The mature timber
represents a definite value which may
be realized at any time. From the
point of view of expediency, however,
it is still unwise to increase the valu-
ation abruptly. Except in the case of
timber mature or nearly so the situ-
ation is entirely different. Valuations
are now much higher than they used
to be. There is little inducement to
the private owner to establish forests
or preserve his young growth when
there is every promise that the taxes
and accumulating interest during all
the years to come, when the forest is
yielding no tangible return, will ulti-
mately consume a very large part of
his profit. Who can say that some
day after perhaps a third or a half of
his future returns have been eaten up
in taxes, his still immature forest may
not be destroyed by fire? It is not a
pleasant prospect for an owner who
has spent so much in taxes to thus have
his principal wiped out of existence
without having had any returns from
it whatsoever. There is little induce-
ment to the private owner to plant for-
ests or preserve young growth when
he does not know from year to year
whether the property will be assessed
the same or whether the assessment
will be increased 50 per cent or 200
per cent or more. Yet this is the situ-
ation that confronts the forest owner.
Old fields reforested now with pine
and assessed at $10 per acre, if al-
lowed to grow for 50 years with a tax
rate of 2 per cent and money valued
at 5 per cent, will at the end of this
period have accrued taxes amounting
to at least $85 per acre. With a net
return of $300 an acre, from the sale of
the timber, this means over 28 per cent
of the final profits absorbed by taxes.
A valuation of $10 an acre is not ex-
cessive under ordinary circumstances
and the rate of 2 per cent is lower
than the present average in New
Hampshire. With a higher valuation
and a smaller net return the money
spent in taxes might easily reach 50
per cent or 75 per cent. In some cases
it might mean confiscation.
472 AMERICAN
These figures do not indicate that
growing timber is an uneconomic en-
terprise. They do indicate that through
the influence of taxes assessed annu-
ally upon property which does not of-
fer an annual return, the final returns
may be largely consumed if the as-
sessments are high. This conclusion
is recognized by every economist and
beyond reasonable dispute.
It is only because the general prop-
erty tax on forests has not been more
effectively administered that the results
up to the present time have not been
more serious. It is only because the
practice of forestry has not yet become
seriously undertaken that our tax sys-
tem has not been subjected to more
hostile criticism. So far we have been
busy with exploiting old forests instead
of building up new ones. But the pres-
ent conditions cannot continue. The
practice of forestry by private owners
must be undertaken and it is safe to
say that the practice of forestry can-
not be generally introduced under our
present system of taxation.
What measures can be advanced for
the relief of growing timberlands from
the burden of unjust annual taxes?
Surely not a relief which means ex-
emption or favoritism. The most earn-
est advocate of reform in the present
system does not wish for this. Exemp-
tion, rebate, and bounty laws to en-
courage reforestation have been passed
by a dozen States. ‘There is an ex-
emption law on the statute books of
New Hampshire today but it is value-
less and ineffective. None of these
schemes touch the real problem of tax-
ation. A reform in the method of
taxing forest lands must be fair to all
and exemptions on this basis are un-
justified. It seems probable that any
system which would be fair and just
to all property could not be applied to
forests which have long enjoyed leni-
ency in assessment and have now
grown to maturity. In other words the
problem is one of vital importance to
young forests and those which may be
established in the future.
There are only three methods of
taxation possible which will establish
equality among different land owners.
FORESTRY
One is to legalize the assessment of a
percentage of the actual sale value of
property. If this percentage is fair,
the results conform to those which
would exist under a more theoretically
correct principle. The second is a tax
on the expectation value of the forest.
This value is equivalent to the returns
which will be obtained in the future
when the timber is cut discounted to
the present time. If the net income
from the timber on a given lot 60 years
hence could be determined now as $150
and with money compounded at 5 per
cent, the expectation value would be
$8.47. This amount only could in jus-
tice be taxed annually for the next
sixty years. The objections to this
method are vital, and would make it
impossible of operation in this country
at the present time. Timber values are
constantly changing and it would be im-
possible to anticipate the value at any
period in the future.
The third method would provide for
levying taxes with a real approach to
equity. It consists in a tax on the yield
or income from the forest whenever
an income is received. Such a tax may
be applied to any forest, however man-
aged, on the basis of actual returns.
It simply means to take a certain per-
centage of the returns and this should
of course be relatively large. In the
case of our present iniquitous system,
it has been shown possible to deprive
the owner through a long period of
years of as much as 50 or even 75 per
cent of his final return. An income tax
of 20 or 25 per cent therefore would
be just and humane. Referring to the
example just given to illustrate the ex-
pectation value method, 20 per cent of
the income of $150 or $30 if taken as
taxes, would be precisely the same as
an annual tax of one per cent on the
expectation value of $8.47. While the
expectation value method is used in
parts of Europe, it is not feasible in
this country. A tax on yield makes it
unnecessary to estimate future values.
It does not depend on a fluctuating rate
of money value. It is in no sense
based on supposition or guess work
but upon actual returns received. If
CHESTNUT BLIGHT WARNING
an owner’s timber is destroyed by fire,
he would not lose the accumulated
taxes as under the present system.
There would be many problems of
administration to work out and there
are practical difficulties which would be
almost insurmountable if a deferred
yield tax system were to apply at once
to all standing timber. This is out of
the question. Such a system must be
introduced gradually and apply only to
young forests or those just established.
At first it should perhaps be applied
only at the option of the owner.
The system would call for a separate
classification of land which is at pres-
ent impossible under the constitution of
New Hampshire. A constitutional con-
vention is to be held in Concord this
475
year and the duty of the delegates is
obvious. The Constitution should be
amended so that the Legislature may
take up this problem of forest taxation
and through suitable legislation give re-
lief to those who would practice fores-
try by starting new forests and putting
under better management those which
are now under way.
The State of Massachusetts has al-
ready taken up the problem by passing
a resolution through its legislature in
1911 and again in 1912, according to
law and preliminary to amending the
State Constitution so as to permit a
separate classification of forest lands
if the legislature so chooses. The pro-
posed amendment will now be sub-
mitted to the voters of the State.
CHESTNUT BLIGHT WARNING
owners has been issued by the
i: following warning to timber
Chestnut
Pennsylvania figee
Blight Commission :
“With the advent of Spring, the de-
velopment and spread of the chestnut
bark disease is especially noticeable,
and unless owners learn how to recog-
nize the pest, and promptly remove all
cases of the blight, it is safe to pre-
dict that our native chestnut trees will
be doomed to extermination. In the
counties east of the Susquehanna river,
in Pennsylvania, the conditions are re-
garded as exceedingly unfavorable and
almost hopeless, but west of the river
the outlook for saving the chestnut is
far more encouraging.
“If the people of that part of the
State co-operate with the Blight Com-
mission, by felling the infected trees
and destroying the diseased bark and
brush, its further spread may be con-
trolled. All trees showing infections,
no matter how slight, should be re-
moved at once and every particle of the
diseased bark must be destroyed. This
is the most practical and effective
method of treating infected trees at
the present time, and especially in
sporadic cases. So far, no spray or
application has been discovered that
will remove or cure the disease, al-
though there _is no lack of remedies
suggested by experimenters.”
VALE BUYS FOREST.
Director Toumey, of the Yale Forest School, today announced that a pine forest, as an
adjunct to the teaching of silviculture and forest operations, has been secured in the best
white pine region of southern New Hampshire.
OPEN CHICAGO OFFICE.
Munsen-Whitaker Co., foresters of New York City, announce the opening of a Chicago
office in charge of H. S. Sackett, formerly Chief of the office of Wood Utilization of the
United \States Forest Service at 512 Commercial National Bank Building, Chicago.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Many of our readers frequently desire to secure some expert advice regarding various
features of forestry work, and do not know to whom to apply for the information.
The Editor has accordingly decided to establish this column in which he will be glad to
publish such questions as may be sent to him, and give the answers, whenever the questions
relate to any detail of the work which this Association is doing or such information as It
can give.
The Editor requests that communications be written on one side of the paper only and
if possible, be typewritten,
Editor, AM¥RICAN Forestry:
Can you tell me if there is a public school
in New Jersey where one can study forestry?
If not, is there any college where one may
work his way through the forestry course?
I have a common scliool education but desire
to take up forestry and am without the funds
necessary to take the regular college course,
being dependent upon what I can earn. [|
have been told that there is a forest school
where one can take the course by promising
to stay and work for the state for a speci-
fied time. Can you tell me if this is so and
where the school is located? I will very
much appreciate whatever information you
can send me.
CHARLES HocKENBURY,
Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
It is always difficult to get a technical edu-
cation without some resources, and on the
strength of what you wrii2 I can not strongly
encourage you to pursue your intention. On
the other hand there are schools at which a
man can at least partly support himself while
pursuing his studies. All things considered I
suggest that you write to the Dean of the
Forest School at Pennsylvania State College,
State College, Pa., and to the Director of
the Forest School at Cornell University,
Ithaca, N. Y. From them you will learn
what arrangements can be made. There are
no forestry schools of any kind in this State,
and the one to which you refer as offering
instruction in consideration of a contract to
work for the State is located in Pennsyl-
vania, and as I understand is open to citi-
zens of that State only. In whatever you
do let me urge you to bear in mind that no
man can hope to be a successiul forester
who is not fully prepared, first as to a lib-
eral general education and next as to the
full course of technical studies. Judging by
your letter the full four years’ course at
Pennsylvania State College, or at Cornell
should qualify you to fill a forester’s posi-
tion. There have been men who entered
forestry by the side door so to speak, but
the time for doing that is past. One who
is not fully prepared will have as little
chance of winning out as the lawyer or doc-
tor who takes his degree from one of the
diploma mills. I shall be glad to give you
any other information that you want, or to
474
talk with you if you care to come to Tren-
ton for that purpose,
ALFRED GASKILL,
New Jersey State Forester.
Editor AMERICAN FORESTRY:
I was much interested in your article in
this month’s American Forestry, on the
propagation of deer and elk. In one para-
graph of this article you state that a prop-
erty of 160 acres can be fenced for about
$200 for elk and slightly more for deer.
Will you kindly let me know what kind of
fence you would suggest for this purpose and
from whom to buy.
ArtHUR H. HAcKER,
Staten Island, N. Y.
I refer you to a letter from Howard
Eaton, of Wolf, Wyoming, in this same num-
ber for much information on the subject.—
Editor.
Editor AMERICAN FORESTRY :
Will you kindly advise me what kind of
trees I should plant in my garden?
E. W. Durant, Jr.,
Charleston, S.C:
Mr. George B, Sudworth, dendrologist of
the Forest Service, answers this question for
American Forestry as follows: I take pleas-
ure in suggesting that the following trees
should give satisfaction if planted on your
property in South Carolina. I could advise
you better if I knew the exact location of
the proposed plantation and particularly the
nature of the soil there. However, I am
sure that the trees suggested will prove satis-
factory and be well adapted for your pur-
poses. The oaks and other broadleafed
species suggested for use are designed to
serve as shade trees. I have added three
coniferous trees which I imagine you can
well use as a matter of variety somewhere
with the other trees:
Deodar Cedar (Cedrus deodara).
Italian Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens).
Cryptomeria (Cryptomeria japonica).
Water Oak (Quercus nigra=Q. aquatica
of nurserymen).
Laurel Oak (Quercus laurifolia).
Willow Oak (Quercus phellos).
Magnolia (Evergreen), (Magnolia grandi-
flora).
Southern Winged Elm (Ulmus alata).
STATE NEWS
Maine
Members of the Kennebec Valley Protec-
tive Association, and their guests, represent-
ing timberland interests valued at fifty
million dollars, enjoyed a banquet at Augusta,
Me., o1: May 10, covers being laid for fifty.
Hon. Forrest Goodwin, of Skowhegan, was
the toastmaster, Governor Frederick W.
Plaisted complimented the association on the
good work it is doing, and hoped that similar
associations would be formed throughout the
State. J. Gervin Peters of the Forest Serv-
ice spoke on the private co-operat:ve fire
protection under section two of the Weeks
Act and expressed the hope that an ade-
quate fire protection fund of two cents an
acre may in the future be secured. Attorney
Genera! Pattangall urged tke active co-
operation of all timberland owners in con-
serving the forests; Hon. J. P. Bass spoke
of the forest conservation and forest pro-
tection legislation in the State and President
W. R. Brown, of the New Hampshire Tim-
berland Association, describing the methods
and the work of his own association and
suggested a federation of the Eastern as-
sociations, as well as those of the West, for
more efficient protection. Governor Bass, of
New Hampshire, in a letter regretting his
inability to be present alluded to the fact
that Maine was the first State to operate a
system of mountain lookout stations for the
protection of forests against fires. Joseph
Williamson, of Augusta, spoke on a system
of insurance of timberlands which he believed
would raise the price of the lands and make
them better investments.
Colorado
W. G. M. Stone, President of the Colorado
State Forestry Association, writes that:
“Colorado has been one of the leading
State hatcheries of opposition to the Forest
Service. The principal spawn produced have
been State’s rights, retard-tion of mining,
landlordism, curtailing settlement of the State
by driving home-seekers to Canada by hun-
dreds (?) of thousands, etc.
“These hatcheries have fallen into the hands
of politicians and men eager to seize upon
the natural resources of the Western States;
hence the Lafferty Bill (H. R. 2980) in the
House, and the Burnham amendment to the
House Agricultural Appropriation Bill (H.
R. 18900) now in the Senate.
“The aim of these measures is to get the
Public Domain away from the Government
into the hands of the several States em-
bracing the public lands and thence into the
hands of private and corporate owners at
the earliest possible moment.
“As applied to Colorado much misrepre-
sentation and sophistry have been employed
by the emissaries of the movement by liken-
ing the Western States to the Eastern, when
in fact they cannot be compared. Their
physical conditions are as different as day
and night.
“If the matter of turning the Forest Re-
serves over to the States were submitted to
the people of Colorado, the measure would
be voted down many to one. It is reaily a
question of water supply arid irrigation, and
Colorado is in no condition, at this time, to
take the public domain and care for the
forests as the Forest Service is now doing.
If the Forest Reserves should go into politics
at this time they would simply go to the
Bow-wows.
New Jersey
The Forest Park Reservation Commission
of New Jersey has issued a circular letter to
the township committees of the State calling
their attention to the danger of forest fires
arising from uncared-for roadsides on which
brushwood is allowed to dry. The commis-
sion points out that “aside from its value in
curtailing the number of fires started, a prop-
erly or even reasonably well-cared-for road-
side affords in many instances the only se-
cure line of attack in fighting an advancing
fire.’ The State laws governing this matter
are also quoted in the circular for the bene-
fit of the committees.
Missouri
In co-operation with the United States
Forestry Service the Forestry Department of
the Missouri Agricultural College has started
an experiment to determine the species of
basket willow best suited to the climate of
Missouri. The State has a large area of
land lying along its rivers which is subject to
annual overflow and is, therefore, not suited
for ordinary crops, but which would be ad-
ines iy adapted to growing the basket wil-
Ow.
An acre of suitable land will produce from
1,000 pounds to 1,300 pounds of willow whips
each year. They have an average value of
five to seven cents a pound. The demand
for willow rods of high grare, for the manu-
facture of baskets and willow furniture is
constantly increasing. At present the United
States imports over 1,000,006 pounds an-
nually. It is believed that there is a large
future for the industry in Missouri.
After determining the proper species for
the State, the Agricultural College will en-
deavor to foster the industry bv the distribu-
tion of cuttings,
475
476
Tennessee
In parts of the South, notably in Tennes-
see, farmers are dismantling rail fences
thirty to forty years old to supply, at good
prices, the lead pencil manufacturers of the
East with red cedar wood. Over vast dis-
tricts the only vestiges remaining of the red
cedar forests that once supplied the pencil,
the box, and, to a large extent, the furniture
industry, are to be found in this form, or in
the interior finish of ancient wooden homes.
Minnesota
“Good roads have an important bearing on
forest fire protection,” says State Forester
Cox of Minnesota. “They not only give the
State force a way to get in the forests but
make it easier to get help in fighting the fires.
The proposed International Falls—Twin
City road will divide the northern part of the
State into two forest regions, and can be
used as a fire break to protect either one of
the sections in case the other one is fired.
The forest law of 1911 makes it necessary
for all slashings and other débris to be dis-
posed of. This is being done in all construc-
tion work and the Elwell roads which will go
through this section will give the forest serv-
ice effective fire lines.”
It is the hope of the forest service that
several great trunk roads be built in the
Northern part of the State with laterals run-
ning to them. Several roads are suggested
by Mr, Cox as being of great value to the
forest service.
New York
The work of reforestation is being carried
on at a good rate by Manager Switzer, of the
Salisbury Steel and Iron Company of Dolge-
ville. Mr. Switzer this year planted 10,000
trees of the white pine, Norway spruce and
similar varieties, obtaining his seedlings from
the State. This makes a total of 40,000 trees
that have been planted by Mr. Switzer within
the past few years. They are all located in
the watershed from which this village de-
rives its municipal water and will naturally
help very much to ensure a continuous sup-
ply of that water. Ultimately over 50 acres
of land will be reforested by Mr. Switzer in
this manner. The kinds of trees selected are
specially adapted both as to climate and soil
conditions to the territory in question. All
that have been planted show a good growth
and are thriving.
Kentucky
The Civic League of Lexington is up in
arms because of the fact that many shade
trees in that city are being destroyed in the
process of street and sidewalk construction.
The league has appealed to the city authori-
ties to prevent, as far as possible, the re-
moval of the trees in street construction.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
In some instances, it is claimed by the
league, entire blocks have been denuded of
rows of handsome maples and oaks. Prop-
erty owners, as a consequence, are uniting
their protests with the appeal of the Civic
League. They are right in protesting, for
the trees should be spared wherever it is pos-
sible to do so.
Massachusetts
Stringent precautionary action against the
white pine blister rust have been taken by the
State Board of Agriculture when in an offi-
cial order signed by H. T. Fernald, State
Nursery Inspector, the importation of pines
of all kinds having the leaves in groups of
five, from any part of Europe into Massa-
chusetts after June 1, is prohibited.
This action was taken because of the
prevalence upon white pine trees, and their
four varieties, of a very dangerous disease
known as the white pine blister rust. This
disease has practically ruined the growth of
the white pine in Germany and France. Once
established here, it would kill all young pines
of the five-leafed group, and ruin the larger
pines of the State forests.
Three places in Massachusetts are known
to be infected with the white pine blister
rust disease, but until the inspection bv the
nursery inspectors is completed late in this
month, the exact amount of damage will not
be definitely known.
This year there have been approximately
only 10 shipments of young trees made into
Massachusetts. Of these two were discov-
ered by Deputy Nursery Inspector W. 6.
Regan to be infected and were promptly con-
demned.
Vermont
The Vermont State Forester is making ex-
tensive plans for the spring’s work of re-
forestation on the various lands belonging
to the State.
The series of experimental plantations on
the Downer State Forest in Sharon will be
continued by the planting of about 20,000
trees of the following varieties: White,
Scotch and Austrian pines, Norway, and
white spruce. The trees previously planted
on this tract have done remarkably well and
are now of great value in connection with
the annual summer school held by the State
Forester in co-operation with the college of
agriculture of the University of Vermont,
_ A great deal of planting is to be done dur-
ine the season by corporations and private
owners. The demands upon the State Nur-
sery have been unprecedented, over one hun-
dred orders having been received ranging in
amount from 1,000 to 60,000 trees. This
largest order is made by the Rutland Light
and Power Co., for the protection of the
watershed in Chittenden and Rutland.
NEWS AND NOTES
Oregon
Announcement has been made by the State
Board of Forestry that there will be 65 men
appointed in Oregon under the $10,000 ap-
propriation received from the Government
through the Weeks law, these men to work
in Oregon in patrolling the headwaters of
the navigable streams of the State.
The State Board of Forestry also made
announcement of completion of its manual
and handbook for fire wardens in which the
general policy of the Board for this year is
largely announced.
In the appointment of the men under the
Weeks law there will be about 57 of the men
stationed west of the Cascade Mountains
and the other eight will be placed east of
the mountains. It was the intent of the law
to protect the headwaters of navigable
streams and the main navigable streams are
west of the Cascades. The men west of the
mountains will be apportioned from one to
seven in various counties, according to the
size of the counties, the quantity of the
timber involved and the nature of the streams
arising in the respective counties.
Michigan
At a recent meeting of the Michigan State
Board of Agricultural Comfort, A. Tyler, of
Coldwater, Branch County, was appointed to
aid in the establishment and development of
a system of forestry extension work in con-
junction with agricultural extension work
now being conducted by Michigan Agricul-
tural College and Experiment Station.
The object of this work will be to create a
State-wide sentiment favorable to this im-
portant and exceedingly valuable branch of
Michigan agriculture. An effort will be
AUT
made to induce farmers and others inter-
ested to properly care for the farm woodlot
which now is probably the most grossly
neglected of our farm possessions. Much
emphasis will also be placed on economical
methods of improvement employing at first
those within easy reach of the ordinary
farmer.
Montana
Provision for the increase of the patrol
force and other details looking to the more
perfect protection of standing timber in the
district of the Northern Montana Forestry
Association were subjects of discussion at
the annual meeting in this city Saturday.
Through the annexation of more than 100,-
000 acres of the Big Blackfoot Lumber com-
pany and the Northern Pacific railway’s hold-
ings and an equal amount of individual
tracts it was deemed advisable to increase
the directorate from seven to ten members.
Wisconsin
Members of the State Forestry Board, who
returned today from a four days’ trip in
Northern Wisconsin, reported that within
the last four months practically 14,000 acres
have been added to the forestry reserve at
prices ranging from $2.50 to $4.50 an acre.
Besides this, the State has under considera-
tion the purchase of a 12,000-acre tract in
the vicinity of Little Car Lake, near Toma-
hawk, from an old lumber company. It is
believed this transaction will be consummated
in a few days as a result of the board’s visit.
It is one of the prize pieces of land which
State Forester E. N. Griffith has had his
eyes on for the last three years.
NEWS AND NOTES
British Columbia Forest Act
The British. Columbia Government has
passed the Forest Act for the creation of
a forest protection fund, to which owners,
lessees and licensees of timber lands are re-
quired to pay 1 cent per acre on their hold-
ings. To the total sum thus secured the
Provincial Government must contribute an
equal amount from the public revenue. The
entire sum will then be placed to the sole
credit of the fund for the purpose of pre-
venting forest fires. Every one agrees that
the measure is a good one. The Lands De-
partment has commenced the issuing of no-
tices calling upon the owners, licensees and
lessees. of holdings to contribute their cent
per acre. All new licenses or renewals will
be withheld until the contributions to the
fund are made, so as to ensure the inaugura-
tion of the fire fighting apparata at the
earliest possible moment.
County Reforestation
As a result of the Act passed by the On-
tario Government a year ago, empowering
municipalities to engage in forestry work,
the county of Hastings has taken steps to
acquire waste lands for the purpose of re-
forestation.
478
Several counties in Eastern Ontario are
now undertaking the reforestation schemes.
These waste lands were being rapidly ac-
guired by private parties for personal profit,
but of late councils have awakened to the
fact that these lands might just as well be
reforested under municipal supervision and
the profits to accrue be retained for the bene-
fit of the whole people.
Turning Wornout Land Into a Forest
How an Ohio farmer is solving the prob-
lem of what to do with wornout land is told
about in the June Outing by B. Sando. The
farmer, he explains, owns an old homestead
of sixty acres which he is desirous of keep-
ing in the family. He does not live on the
place, however, for the reason that farming
on it has of late years been a decidedly losing
proposition. He has, therefore, decided to
plant the entire tract in trees. Already 35,-
000 Norway spruce have been set out, three
and one-half feet apart each way on an area
of about eleven acres.
These trees will be cut, as they become
large enough, for Christmas trees. Chest-
nut seedlings will be planted in the spaces
left by the removal of the spruce, and it is
expected that these will come into bearing by
the time the last spruce is cut.
In addition to the spruce, hardy catalpa,
black locust, elm, box elder and sycamore
have been planted. It is planned to put the
entire sixty acres in forest within five or six
years.
The owner is wise in planting several
kinds of trees instead of confining himself
to one species. His forest will be producing
six or seven kinds of lumber, chestnuts and
Christmas trees, all at the same time.
Sunken Forest Uncovered
A prehistoric forest has been brought to
light by the recent storm weather and heavy
seas at Freshwater West, on the south Pem-
brokeshire coast, England. The action of
the waves has resulted in the washing away
of great quantities of sand, and there is now
exposed to view a sunken forest of about a
quarter of an acre in extent.
Where there was a stretch of unbroken
yellow sand there is now a mass of black
rocks and huge black gnarled trees, with
their roots embedded in the rocks and earth.
The trunks of these trees in many cases are
in splendid preservation. In some cases the
wood has simply changed color, while in
others it is of the nature of coal. Most of
the trunks are encrusted with standstone,
and it is probably due to this that thev are so
well preserved.
AMERICAN FORESTRY.
It is evident that at some far distant period
the land at this place was covered with a
dense forest, and that there was either a
subsidence or that the water undermined the
cliffs, and that there was a huge landslide,
which led to a large crack being engulfed in
the sea. This was again covered with a layer
of sand only to be laid bare once more.
Tool Caches In The Forests
According to Forest Supervisor E. N.
Kavanagh, fire protection plans for the Big
Horn forest this year include the location of
a large number of tool caches in different
parts of the forest for use in suppressing
fires. Provision for camp equipment and
food supplies for the fire fighters has also
been made and from all indications the fire
fighting organization will this season be in
better shape than ever before to handle pos-
sible fires.
“We are making a strenuous effort to get
our fire fighting organization in better
shape,” said Supervisor Kavanagh, “and plan
to handle the fire situation on the forest in a
manner similar to that followed by city fire
departments, with the exception that we must
naturally depend to a large extent upon the
settlers of the surrounding country for as-
sistance in case of serious fires. Lines of
communication for obtaining information re-
garding fires and diffusing the information
thus acquired to all interested in their sup-
pression have already been established, so
that it will be virtually im-ossible for any
fire to gain more than a few hours’ start
on us.
“The first necessity in fightine a fire is
getting assistance to combat it, and the sec-
ond, to furnish the fire fighters with neces-
sary tools. In case of a bad fire, provision
for food supplies and camp equipment must
also be made.
The Largest Live Oak
A woman in South Carolina boasts that
her State has the largest liv oak in the
world. She says: “On the lawn of Middle-
ton Place, near Charleston, there stands the
sovereign of South Carolina live oaks. The
age of this tree, as of many others near it,
is beyond the knowledge of man. The waist
of the trunk measures 36 feet 6 inches. Its
spread from tip to tip is 126 feet. This is, as
far as I can learn—and I have investigated
quite a bit—the largest oak tree in the world.
“Another Middleton Place specimen is
probably the most beautiful in existence and
second in point of size, having a trunk 27
feet in circumference. Another notable live
oak is to be found on one of the terraces,
near the parterre. Its waist measurement is
only 23 feet 4 inches, but it has a spread
from ti-> to tip of 170 feet.
NEWS AND NOTES
“T heard of an oak tree at Meggetts, S. C.,
that was, and still is, the talk of the coun-
tryside. Conductors on the trains tell
strangers of its great size. I sent to Meg-
getts and had measurements of the tree
made. The trunk was only 25 feet in cir-
cumference and the spread 125 feet.
Hanging Forest Fire Starters
Up in Alaska there is a bitter feeling
against those who cause forest fires. This
is not strange, but the Alaskans are carrying
things to the very extreme and a vigilance
committee has been formed whose duty it
shall be to hang every offender. The Yukon
Valley is described in press dispatches in
the latter part of May as being a roaring fur-
nace, and this means that great property
damage is being done. Now, what stirs these
dwellers of the North into such action is
the recognition of the fact that in the
greater number of cases these fires are
started by the carelessness of some individual.
They do not consider that it is right that
one man, because he did not use the discretion
that mature years ought to bring, should in-
flict on others such damage as a forest blaze
of any magnitude always entails.
Fighting The Beetle
The government is again taking up the
fight against the small beetles that have been
ravaging the forests of eastern Oregon. This
year, however, the official in charge of the
work expects to have a much easier task
than last season, when more than $15,000 was
expended near this city in the war on the
little insects.
Last year in the work large numbers of
trees were cut down and burned and this
year the men will cruisé the area worked
last year, making observations of the suc-
cess of the work. ‘They say the work last
year was quite thorough and expect to find
it was quite successful, leaving this section
of the Whitman national forest practically
free from the bugs, with but few isolated
trees left standing for treatment.
Pennsylvania Railroad Tree Planting
The growing scarcity of timber suitable
for manufacture into railroad ties, which
has been responsible for a rapid increase
in the cost of ties in recent years, has
led the Pennsylvania to adopt a conservation
scheme which includes the production of
trees for its own use.
More than four and a half million trees
have been planted by the Pennsylvania in
the past ten years. Last year alone 515,703
trees were transferred from the company’s
nursery at Morrisville, Penn., to permanent
places on railroad property. In 1909 1,000,000
young trees were set out.
479
At the nursery the Pennsylvania has in
operation 36 acres which are kept up to
practically maximum production. In 1911
483,148 forest trees were shipped from the
nursery for company use, while an additional
46,558 ornamental trees and shrubs were
used by the various divisions. The present
stock on hand at the nursery is 2,296,833, of
which 2,072,166 are forest trees, and 224,667
ornamental plants.
Forest Experiments
Plant Economologist A, W. Sampson, of
the government forest service, will have
charge of the establishment of a govern-
ment grazing experiment station at Manti,
Utah.
Assistant District Forester O. M. Butler,
of the silviculture department, and Assistant
District Forester Homer E. Fenn, of the
grazing department, will accompany Mr.
Sampson to the Manti district. The foresters
will experiment in tree reproductions, sheep
grazing on streams, and establish a forest
plant nursery to raise seed for grasses that
are best adapted for that locality.
Fast Growing Hucalyptus
i.) M... Pratt, president) of |. the, Pratt
Eucalyptus Investment Co., of Los Angeles,
Cal., sends a clipping which describes a
Eucalyptus tree three years old, grown with-
out irrigation in one of his plantations,
closely surrounded by other trees of the
same age. It measured 8% inches in di-
ameter, breast high; 12% inches in diameter
at the butt, and 55 feet in height at three
years of age. A half acre plot in which
this tree is located was measured when just
three years old. The trees showed an aver-
age diameter of 5% inches, and an average
height of 55 feet. These trees are doubtless
the largest trees for their age ever produced
in a California plantation, if not in the
world. It is almost unbelievable that trees
growing so rapidly produce a timber as hard
and tough as hickory, which takes 90 years
to attain a 12-inch diameter.
Raising Big Tree Seedlings
The Forest Service is raising several acres
of big tree seedlings on the Tahoe National
Forest in California, at a more northerly
point than any natural big tree grove. While
the giant sequoias are found in the forests
of the Sierras at various points throughout
a total range of some 258 miles, in the north-
ern two-thirds of this range there is prac-
tically no natural reproduction. It has con-
sequently been a question whether the
species would not practically disappear from
ae region when the present mature trees
ie,
The most northern existing grove of big
trees is on the Tahoe Forest, but about 34
480
miles southeast of the site selected for plant-
ing. This site is on a moist flat not far
from Nevada City, and is about 2,700 feet
above sea level. The first seeding was done
in the fall of .1910, with very successful re-
sults, and last fall an additional area was
seeded.
The method used in planting the seed
was that known to foresters as “the seed
spot method.” Spots about six feet apart
each way were prepared by pulverizing the
AMERICAN FORESTRY
earth with a garden hoe. Seeds were then
dropped on these spots and lightly pressed
in the soil with the foot. The flourishing
condition of the young seedlings gives good
reason to expect a future growth of big trees
at this point. With protection of forests
from fire there seems to be no reason why
the big trees should disappear; even though
scientists regard them as survivals from a
past age, botanically speaking.
BOOK REVIEWS
Forestry in New England: By Ralph C. Haw-
ley and Austin Hawes. New York;
John Wiley & Sons. 1912. Pp. XV +
479. Illustrated.
Teachers, students and practitioners of
forestry will welcome this book which deals
in so comprehensive and authoritative a
manner with the specific forest problems of
New England. The authors are practical
foresters who have devoted years of study
to forest conditions and management in the
East. In the light of their own experience
they have gathered together and made readily
available the results of investigations which
have been made from time to time, the rec-
ords of which have previously existed in a
heterogeneous mass of bulletins, articles, and
reports. In preparing this book the authors
had in mind two distinct purposes: First, to
present a treatise or manual of practical
value to all classes of land owners in the
East; and second, to produce a textbook
treating of forestry in New England. The
latter is greatly needed at this time, especially
in the various agricultural colleges where
courses in forestry are given and where it is
essential that thorough instruction in the
forest problems of the northeastern United
States be furnished. There is a still wider
field for a book dealing with a specific por-
tion of the country, so arranged as to serve
as a ready guide for owners of woodland
in that section. It has evidently been the
aim of the authors to present the matter in
the simplest and least technical form pos-
sible without sacrificing accuracy, to the
end that readers not familiar with forestry
may have no difficulty in following the dis-
cussion throughout.
As a textbook for post-graduate schools
giving the highest grade of instruction in
forestry this book will have a greater value
for its detailed discussion of New England
forests than for the portion dealing with
general forestry. But for numerous under-
graduate schools giving a slightly lower
grade of instruction all portions of this book
will prove useful. To the owner of wood-
lands in the region it will afford not only
general information. in regard to forestry
and its application in New England, but also
practical assistance in the detailed treatment
of his local forest problem. SH fake
EDUCATIONAL
The Biltmore Forest School
The early spring found the Biltmore
Forest School returned from its winter
quarters in the German forests and en-
camped near Biltmore, N. C., at the snug
logging camp of the Champion Lumber
ompany, owners of 135,000 acres of the
finest timberland existing in the Southern
Appalachians. No better setting for the
course in “Logging and Lumbering” in
which the school is now engaged can be
imagined than that met at “Sunburst.”
Here the mountains rise to elevations of
6,550 feet. The slopes are steep, and the
stumpage is unequally distributed over the
entire area. Thus it happens that the log-
ging problems confronting the Champion
Lumber Co., whose hospitality the Biltmore
Foresters enjoyed at Sunburst, are very
diversified and intensely interesting.
Near the camp of the Biltmore Forest
School, some 16 miles down the meanders of
beautiful Pigeon River framed in flowering
mountain laurel (Calmia latifolia), rises the
smoke from the giant fibre works owned by
the friends of the Biltmore Forest School,
the Champion Fibre Co. Theirs is the
hugest fibre plant, by far, to-day existing in
the South. 500 long cords of spruce, hem-
lock, pine, basswood, and notably chestnut
are here converted, every day, into fibre by
the sulphite and by the soda process of man-
ufacture.
The lecture work during the stay of the
Biltmore Forest School in the camps of the
Champion Lumber Co. occupied the entire
forenoons. Logging and lumbering was the
main topic of Director C. A. Schenck’s
course. Dr. House lectured on plant physi-
ology and morphology; Dr. G. L. Sioussat
CURRENT LITERATURE
on Economics; Mr. H. B. Hudson on Law
for Lumberman; Mr. Franklin Sherman on
Entomology and Mr. C. S. Brimley on Gen-
eral Zoology. The entomological and zoo-
logical lectures were going hand in hana
with the field work.
From its Southern spring camps, the Bilt-
more Forest School is about to move to its
Summer camps at Cadillac, Mich. En route
to Michigan, the School visits the giant
paper plant of the Champion Coated Paper
Co., with which the Champion Lumber Co.
and the Champion Fibre Co. are affiliated)
at Hamilton, Ohio. The three steps in the
manufacture of paper are thus studied,
from the stump of the tree to the con-
sumer. Thus it happens that the students
become acquainted, in the course of their
travels, with the various steps of the con-
ae of the trees into the necessaries of
ife.
In August, the Biltmore Forest School
moves for its fall camps at Marshfield, Ore-
gon. In October, the School sails for its
winter quarters in the German forests.
Mr. Spring Goes to Cornell.
The trustees of Cornell University have
appointed Mr. Samuel N. Spring, of New
Haven, Connecticut, professor of forestry at
Cornell University, and he will begin his
work at Ithaca. at the opening of the next
college year. Mr. Spring will teach the
courses in forest planting and the forest
nursery, forest protection, forest policy, and
a general introductory course.
Mr. Spring graduated from Yale College
with the degree of B. A. in 1898. For the
481
next three years he was engaged in a whole-
sale dry goods business in Chicago, after
which he returned to the Yale Forest School,
graduating from that institution in 1903,
with the degree of Master of Forestry. The
next two years were spent at the University
of Maine, where he was professor of fores-.
try in charge of the department. He spent
the summers of 1902, 1903 and 1904 in work
in New England for the U. S. Forest
Service.
From June, 1905, until January, 1909, Mr.
Spring was constantly in the employ of the
S. Forest Service, holding successively
the positions of forest assistant, assistant
forest inspector, chief of the section of co-
operation in the Office of Extension, and
chief of the Office of Extension. He was
engaged in private forestry work from Janu-
ary, 1909, until the fall of that year. Since
the fall of 1909, he has been State forester
of Connecticut, forester to the Connecticut
Experiment Station at New Haven and spe-
cial lecturer in the Yale Forest School and
at the Connecticut Agricultural College—all
of these positions have been held continu-
ously since the fall of 1909.
Mr. Spring is a director of the American
Forestry Association.
His publications include two articles on
“Forest Fires” and “White Pine,” in the re-
ports of the Maine Forestry Commission for
1904-’06; Bulletin 63, U. S. Forest Service,
“Natural Replacement of White Pine in New
England”; Circular 41, U. S. Forest Service,
“Forest Planting on Coal Lands in Western
Pennsylvania”; “Forest Fire Manual,” pub-
lished by the State of Connecticut; “Report
of the State Forester of Connecticut for
1910.”
CURRENT LITERATURE
MONTHLY LIST FOR JUNE, 1912.
(Books and periodicals indexed in the
Library of the United States Forest
Service. )
Forestry as a Whole
Proceedings and Reports of Associations,
Commissions, etc.
Annuaire des saux et foréts pour, 1912, vol.
51. 379 p. Paris, L: Laveur, 1912.
British Columbia—Game and forest warden.
Report, 7th, 1911. 19 p. Vancouver,
BG) 1912.
India—Baluchistan—Forest dept. Progress
report of forest administration for 1910-
11. 34 p. Calcutta, India, 1911.
India—Madras presidency—Forest depart-
ment. Annual administration report,
1910-1911. 192 p. Madras, 1912,
India—United Provinces—Forest dept. An-
nual progress report of forest administra-
tion in the western and eastern circles
for the forest year 1910-1911. 119 p.
Allahabad, India, 1911.
Indiana—State board of forestry. Eleventh
annual report, 1911. 372 p. il. Indianap-
olis, 1912.
Mexico—Fomento, Secretaria de-Bosques,
Departamento de Cartilla forestal, no.
1-3. pl. Mexico, 1909-11.
St. Petersburg—Lyesnoi institut. Izvyestiya
(Contributions), vol, 22. 329 p. pl., tables.
St. Petersburg, 1912.
Switzerland—Eidg. departement des innern—
Inspektion ftir forstwesen, jagd und
fischerei. Etat der schweizerischen
forstbeamten, mit wissenschaftlicher bil-
dung, Jan. 1912. 2ip. Bern, 1912.
Switzerland—Ejidg. departement des innern—
Inspektion ftir forstwesen, jagd und
fischerei. Rapport, 1911. 20 p. Bern,
1912.
University of Nebraska—Forest club. The
Forest club annual, vol. 4, 1912. 160 p.
pl. Lincoln, Nebr., 1912.
482 AMERICAN
Forest History
Winkenwerder, Hugo. Forests and Ameri-
can history. 30 p. Berkeley, Cal., Uni-
versity of California, 1912.
Forest Education
Arbor Day.
Idaho—Dept. of public instruction. Arbor
day manual, 1912. 24 p. Grangeville,
Idaho, 1912.
Forest Legislation
New Jersey—Forest park reservation com-
mission. Laws of New Jersey relating
to forestry. 1912. 35 p. Trenton, N. J.,
1912.
New York—Conservation commission. ‘The
conservation law in relation to fish and
game as amended by the legislature of
1912. 284 p. Albany, N. Y., 1912.
New York—Legislature. An act to amend
the conservation law generally, and in
relation to lands, forests and _ public
parks. 40 p. Albany, N. Y., 1912.
Forest Botany
Trees, classification and description
Hall, Harvey Monroe, and Hall, Carlotta
Case. A Yosemite flora; a descriptive
account of the ferns and flowering plants,
including the trees, of the Yosemite na-
tional park. 282 p. il, pl. San Fran-
cisco, Paul Elder & Co., 1912.
Mexico—Fomento, Secretaria de-Bosques,
Departamento de Catalogo forestal de
la Republica Mexicana. 29 p. Mexico,
1912.
Woods; classification and structure
Krueger, Theo. Notes on bark structure.
15 p. Lincoln, Nebr., University of Ne-
braska, 1912.
Mell, Clayton, D. and Brush, Warren D.
Quebracho wood and its substitutes. 12
Dodi pln) Washo: iC Maer e i aS =
Dept. of agriculture—Forest service.
Circular 202.)
Silvics
Studies of species
Phillips, Frank J. and Mulford, Walter.
Utah juniper in Central Arizona. 19 p.
pie) Washy Di C.. soda (Uae
Dept. of agriculture—Forest service.
Circular 197.)
Forest soils
Ramann, Emil. Bodenkunde. 3d ed. 619
p. il. Berlin, J. Springer, 1912.
Silviculture
Planting
New Hampshire—Forestry commission. Re-
foresting waste and cut-over land. 4 Dp.
Concord, N. H., 1912. (Circular 2.)
Forest Protection
Diseases
Smith, Ralph E., and Smith, Elizabeth H.
California plant diseases. 155 Dail:
Sactamernito,). Cals ort i (Calieorma”
Agricultural experiment station. Bulle-
tin 218),
FORESTRY
Fire :
Allen, E. T. The ambitious tree; a story:
for western children. 8 p. Portland,
Ore., Western forestry and conservation
association.
New Jersey—Forest park reservation com-
mission. Forest fire manual, 1912. 38
pa Trenton, Ny) ni oae:
Oregon—Forestry, State board of. Fire war-
den’s hand book; Oregon forest fire laws,
1912. 45 p. Salem, Ore., 1912.
Forest Management
Frothingham, Earl H. Second growth hard-
woods in Connecticut. 70 p. Wash.,
D. C., 1912. (U. S—Dept. of agricul-
ture—Forest service. Bulletin 96.)
Range management
Thornber, J. J. Native cacti as emergency
forage plants. 52 p. p!. Tucson, Ariz.,
1911. (Arizona—Agricultural experi-
ment station. Bulletin 67.)
Forest Utilization
Wood using industries
Gould, Clark W. and Maxwell, Hu. The
wood-using industries of Tennessee. 14
p. Nashville, Tenn., Southern lumber-
man, 1912.
Maxwell, Hu. Wood-using industries of
Michigan. 101 p. tables. Lansing, Mich.,
Public domain commission, 1912.
Forest by-products
Gorkom, K. W. van. Cinchona in Java from
1872. to 1907. 72 p. Calcutta, Supt. of
gov't. printing, 1912. (Agricultural
ledger, 1911, no. 4.)
Wood technology
Wilson, Thomas R. C. Strength of cross-
arms. 15 \p.’ Wash. D!'@,; 1912) Gas!
—Dept. of agriculture—Forest service.
Circular 204.)
Wood preservation
Bateman, E. Quantity and quality of creo-
sote found in two treated piles after long
SERVICE (8 pro pads DC eit onos
(U. S—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. Circular 199.)
Peters, E. W. The preservation of mine
timbers)! 27 p.ale hp) (Washo sn
1912. (U. S—Dept. of agriculture—
Forest service. Bulletin 107.)
Auxiliary Subjects
Agriculture
Giles, H. F. The logged-off lands of western
Washington. 71 p. il, map. Olympia,
Wash., Bureau of Statistics and immi-
gration, 1911.
Water power
Brown, Rome G. Limitations of federal
control of water powers. 64 p. Wash.
D. C., 1912. (U. S—62d Congress—2d
session. Senate document 721.) ~
United States—National waterways commis-
sion. Final report, 579 p. il. diagr.
Wash., D:-C:, 1912.
CURRENT LITERATURE
Floods
Pittsburgh, Pa.—Flood commission. Report
of the Flood commission of Pittsburgh,
Pa., containing the results of the sur-
veys, investigations and studies made by
the commission for the purpose of de-
termining the causes of, damage by and
methods of relief from floods in the
Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio riv-
ers at Pittsburgh, Pa. 253, 452 p. opl.,
maps, diagrs. Pittsburgh, Pa., 1912.
National parks and monuments
United States—Dept. of the interior. Re-
port on Platt and Wind Cave national
parks, Sullys Hill park, Casa Grande
ruin, Muir woods, Petrified forest, and
other national monuments, including list
of bird reserves. 46 p. il., maps. Wash.,
D; C,' 1912.
Periodical Articles
Miscellaneous periodicals
American city, Feb. 1912——Municipal control
of shade trees, by W. Solotaroff, p. 488-
90.
American city, March, 1912.—Best species
of trees for city streets, p. 565-9.
American homes, March, 1912.—Hints on
house flooring and interior finish, supple-
ment 4.
American homes, April, 1912—Proper care
of shade trees in cities and towns, sup-
plement 25.
Annals of botany, April, 1912—The Podo-
carpeae, by Walter Stiles, p. 442-514.
On the development of the female
strobilus in Podocarpus, by L. S. Gibbs,
p. 515-71.
Country life, April 1, 1912.—England’s New
forest, by R. W. Snedden, p. 59-60.
Country life in America, June 1, 1912.—A
log cabin in Vermont, by A. J. Grout, p.
- 59-60; Building a log cabin, by Joseph
B. Ames, p. 62, 82.
Craftsman, May 1912.—Sugi finish; a Japa-
nese decorative treatment of woods, p.
220-4.
Craftsman, June 1912.—Bringing country
beauty to the city streets, by Arthur
Hay, p. 271-80.
Garden magazine, June 1912.—Long-lived
evergreens for gardens, by W. Miller,
p. 310-13.
Gardeners’ chronicle, April 27, 1912—Exotic
forest trees, by G. W., p. 277.
Gardeners’ chronicle, May 11, 1912.—Exotic
forest trees, by Herbert Maxwell, p.
323.
Guide to nature, April 1912—The chestnut
trees must go, p. 395-7.
Lippincott’s monthly magazine, June 1912.—
Timber bonds, by Edward S, Meade, p.
892-5.
Mycologia, May 1912.—Preliminary notes on
three rots of juniper, by George Grant
Hedgcock and W. H. Long, p. 109-14;
Notes on some western Uredineae which
483
attack forest trees, by George Grant
Hedgcock, p. 141-7; Notes upon tree dis-
eases in the eastern states, by P. Spauld-
ing, p. 148-51.
Outlook, April 27, 1912—-New forests for
old, by O. W. Price, p. 947-55.
Penn, state farmer, May 1912.—Application
of the Weeks law in the White Mts., by
S. L. Wolfe, p. 146-51; Chestnut bark
disease, by H. R. Fulton, p. 151-5; The
attitude of the railroads towards forest
fires, by E. A. Sterling, p. 162-7; Recent
developments of the course in forestry
at Penn state, by W. D. Clark, p. 168-70;
A chronological statement of the progress
of forestry in Pennsylvania, by George
H. Wirt, p. 171-4; Utilization of waste
land for the production of trees, by J.
B. Berry, p. 174-80.
Phytopathology, April 1912—The chestnut
bark fungus, Diaporthe parasitica, by C.
L. Shear, p. 88-9.
Popular science monthly, June 1912——The
national parks from the scientific and
educational side, by Laurence Schmeceke-
bier, p. 531-47.
School science and mathematics, April 1912.—
Forestry in geography, by E, R. Jackson,
p. 271-7.
Science, May 10, 1912.—The fungus of the
chestnue-tree blight, by W. G. Farlow, p.
717-22.
Torreya, June 1912.—Induced hermaphrodism
in Acer negundo, by C. G. Fraser, p.
121-4.
Yearbook of the United States Dept. of agri-
culture, 1911.—Tree planting by farmers,
by C. R, Tillotson, p. 257-68; The busi-
ness aspect of national forest timber
sales, by T. D. Woodbury, p. 363-70;
Plant introduction for the plant breeder,
by D. Fairchild, p. 411-22.
Trade journals and consular reports
American lumberman, May 18, 1912.—Some
construction timbers of the Philippines;
red lauan, by H. N. Whitford, p. 34;
Fir as a timber for cross arms, by A. S.
Crosby, p. 45.
American lumberman, May 25, 1912.—A for-
estry specialist, H. S. Sackett, p. 1, 43;
Paper making from yellow pine refuse,
p. 35.
Canada lumberman, May 15, 1912.—The In-
dian a good forest ranger, p. 46-7.
Canada lumberman, June 1, 1912—St. John
river log driving operations, by G. Skiff
Grimmer, p. 28-30.
Engineering magazine, Apri] 1912.—Forest
fires and the railways, by E. A, Sterling,
p. 111-14:
Engineering news, April 18, 1912—Wood
block paving with cement filler, by A. J.
Schafmayer, p. 738-9.
Hardwood record, May 25, 1912.—H. S.
Sackett, p, 26-7; Lumber prices, by R. S.
Kellogg, p. 27-9; New wood-staining
process, by R. Grimshaw, p. 31; The fig-
ured wood game, p. 356.
484
Hardwood record, June 10, 1912.—Tier-like
structure of some woods, by S. J. Rec-
ord, p. 38-9. ;
Lumber trade journal, June 1, 1912—Kiln
drying long leaf pine, p. 41.
Lumber trade journal, June 15, 1912—The
wood using industries of Texas, by Hu
Maxwell and Chas. F, Hatch, p. 27-44.
Lumber world review, May 25, 1912.—A def-
inite state forest policy; New York state
progress in reforesting the Adirondacks,
by E. A. Sterling, p. 22-3.
Mississippi Valley lumberman, May 31, 1912.
—From tree to consumer; brief outline
of lumber manufacturing processes and
what it costs to put lumber on the mar-
_ ket, p. 40.
Mississippi Valley lumberman, June 7, 1912.
—Wood waste and its utilization, by G.
B. Frankforter, p. 40-1.
Paper mill, May 11, 1912.—Forestry practice;
what the International paper company
is doing; its policy and work in Ver-
mont, by B, A. Chandler, p. 16, 20.
Pulp and paper magazine, May 1912.—Pulp
wood regulations in British Columbia,
p. 147-8; Experiments on ground wood
at government laboratory, Wausau, Wis.,
p. 149-52; Qualities of Canadian pulp
woods, by J. A. DeCew, p. 153-6.
St. Louis lumberman, May 15, 1912—How
clothes pins are made, p. 29; The inlay-
ers of Hanoi, p. 30; Loblolly, the king
of southern pines, by J. A. Clark, p. 55;
Men or trees; the problem of our logged
off lands, by J. J. Donovan, p. 77; Ad-
verse conditions affecting the lumber in-
dustry, by S. J. Carpenter, p. 51-2; Wood-
using industries of Arkansas, p. 88.
St. Louis lumberman, June 1, 1912.—The test-
ing of wood paving blocks, by F. Klee-
berg, p. 54.
Southern lumberman, May 25, 1912——Wood-
using industries of Tennessee, by C. W.
Gould, p. 39-52.
Timberman, May 1912.—Handling lumber by
monorail system in modern Pacific Coast
Mills, p. 24-5; Practical demonstration
of the value of the overhead logging sys-
tem, p. 29; Adequate equipment is es-
sential to land clearing on commercial
scale, by H. G. Rich, p. 33; Difficulties
to be surmounted in applying electricity
to log haulage, p. 50-2.
Timber trade journal, May 25, 1912.—The
woods of Gaboon and their commercial
uses, p. 984.
Timber trade journal, June 1, 1912—Cypress
and some of its uses, p. 1042.
United States daily consular report, May 16,
1912.—Paper-yarn fabrics, by A. E, In-
gram, p. 631; Hemp fiber for paper-
making, by George E. Anderson, p.
632-3.
United States daily consular report, May 18,
1912.—Foreign lumber production and
importation; Greece, by A. B. Cooke, p.
657-8; Foreign lumber production and
importation; Siam, by C. C. Hansen, p.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
658; Foreign lumber production and im-
portation; Germany, by H. D. Spahr, p.
658-9 ; South African lumber imports, by
E. A. Wakefield, p. 661; Australian tim-
ber industry, p. 663; Forest conservation
in Scotland, by H. D. Van Sant, p. 664.
United States daily consular report, June 3,
1912.—Pine lands of Nicaragua, by A.
J. Clare, p. 906-7.
West Coast lumberman, May 1912—Spark
{| arresters, p. 533-4.
Wood craft, June 1912.—Design and con-
struction of wood mantels and fireplaces,
by John Bovingdon, p. 69-73; The effect
of water content on wood, by S. J. Rec-
ord, p. 82-4; The cork industry, by C. S.
Winans, p. 84-5.
Wood-worker, May 1912.—The making of
quartered oak stock, by Chas. J. Brey, p.
26-7; West African mahogany, p. 30;
Saw mills in India, p. 55.
Forest journals
Centralblatt fiir das gesamte forstwesen,
April 1912.—Ueber den einfluss_ ver-
schiedener belichtung und extremer
temperaturen auf den verlauf der kei-
mung forstlichen saatgutes, by Gottfried
Pittauer, p. 157-72; Die waldbrande von
Porcupine and Cochrane, Kanada, by G.
Pittauer, p. 193-5; Ueber Griechenlands
walder, by Otto R. Maresch, p. 195-6.
Forest Leaves, June 1912.—Records and pro-
tection of plantations in foreign coun-
tries, by George A. Retan, p. 132-4; For-
est reserves a state investment, by John
L. Storback, p. 134-5.
Forstwissenschaft liches centralblatt, April
1912.—Nonnenstudien, by E. Knoche, p.
177-94; Gedenken tiber die umtriebsfrage,
by Wagner, p. 194-207; Eine neue saat-
methode in gebirg, by Hauenstein, p.
207-17.
Indian forest records, March 1912.—Note
on the antiseptic treatment of timber in
India, with special reference to railway
sleepers, by R. S. Pearson, p., 1-107.
Revue des saux des foréts, April 15, 1912.—
Observations sur le climat, le sol et les
essence forestieres de la zone Médi-
térranéenne des Alpes-Maritimes, by A.
Salvador, p. 225.
Revue des saux et foréts, May 1, 1912.—
Quelques observations sur les dégats
causés aux végétaux forestiers par la
sécheresse de l’été 1911, by L. Parde, p.
257-60,
Revue des eaux et foréts, May 15, 1912.—
A propos de reboisement, by L. Pardé
and J. Demorlaine, p. 289-92.
Zeitschrift fiir forst-und jagdwesen, April
1912.—Die prifung des kiefernsamens,
by Haack, p. 193-222.
Zeitschrift fiir forst-und jagdwesen, May
1912—Neuere forschungen auf dem
gebiete der bodenkunde, by Albert, p.
240-9; Die neueste Russische forst-
Statistik, p. 313-16; Einfluss des kalkes
auf das wachstum der pflanzen, by
Frank Schwarz, p. 316-30.
American Forestry
VOL. XVIII
AUGUST, 1912
No. 8
FORESTRY IN FORMOSA
By R. KANEHIRA
O the southwest of the mainland
of Japan, with the Loochoo
group as stepping stones leading
in an almost unbroken line, lies an
island which Portuguese mariners who
sailed down its west coast, in the six-
teenth century, gave the name of “Hha
Formosa” (beautiful Isle); which is
the name in European literature.
On the east coast the waves of the
boundless Pacific are constantly wash-
ing the base of the lofty cliffs, some
of them 6,000 feet high. On the south,
the island is linked to the Philippines
through the Bashee Channel, while on
the west it is separated from the main-
land of China by the Formosan Channel.
This island together with the Pescador
and other smaller islands adjoining it,
lying between 25° 30’ and 21° 40’ north
latitude, and 119° and 1222 102k, f
was ceded to Japan by China in 1895,
as a result of the war.
The island extends from north to
south in. the shape of a leaf 264 miles
long and 80 miles wide. A chain of
mountains with Sylvia in the north and
Morrison in the south, with their re-
spective heights 11,470 and 13,880 feet,
and many more high peaks between all
covered with everlasing verdure, runs
north to south through almost the en-
tire length of the island. Under these
geographical circumstances, the prin-
cipal forests are found in the Central
Chain of mountains, the savage district,
while forest in the district which are
under the Government administration
were cut down or exploitered or were
brought to ruin on account of camphor
manufacturing during the Chinese ré-
gime, so that none of these forests
retain their characteristic sylvan fea-
tures.
When the area of forest is figured
up according to the topography and
the distribution of forests, it may be
found that the total extent covers al-
most 7,107,000 acres, 1. e. 67% of the
total area of the entire island. Of these
about 4,300,000 acres are in the savage
district.
Topography of the island may be
divided into two parts, mountain and
plain districts. The former is the
central range of mountain almost en-
tirely of paleozoic formation, which
runs from the north to the south, the
latter lie mostly on the west sides of
the mountain, practically a plain of al-
luvial formation furrowed by shallow
creeks and rivers with some small hills
and sandy dunes on the seashore.
Though the island is located between
the tropical and subtropical zones, the
climate presents great variety according
to latitude. Thus we see tropical plants
in the plain, while we have alpine plants
on the peaks. As regard forests, the
plain districts are mostly cultivated
land, raising rice, sugar, tea, etc., and
we do not find much forest there except
a scattering of fuel trees such as Acacia,
Nephelium, Ficus, and palms bamboos,
etc. The mountain district is extremely
variable and may be conveniently di-
vided into three zones, the lower part
of the mountains, the zone of evergreen
broad-leaved trees; Coniferous forest;
and the grassland on the summit. ‘The
evergreen broad-leaved tree region is
almost entirely a mixed stand of many
kinds of Querci and lauraceous plants.
The conifer region commences at an
elevation of about 6,500 feet. The
most predominating trees in this region
are Chamaecyparis, Tsuga, pinus, and
other needle-leaved tree. Chamaecy-
paris, commonly called cedar in Amer-
ica, is the most valuable and important
485
SOME OF THE SAVAGE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE INTERIOR OF FORMOSA AND WHOSE
HOSTILITY TO THE JAPANESE MAKES FOREST WORK IN THE INTERIOR DIFFICULT
AND DANGEROUS.
THE JAPANESE EXPERIMENTAL STATION OF FORESTRY RECENTLY ERECTED BY THE
GOVERNMENT IN FORMOSA.
FORESTRY
IN FORMOSA
487
A TYPE -OF ONE OF THE MANY CAMPHOR MANUFACTURING
KILNS WHICH ARE FOUND IN THE FORESTS OF FORMOSA.
tree in the island and is wonderfully
large, sometimes attaining a diameter of
even 20 feet or more, and producing the
finest timber material. “Yaiwan-Sugi”
(Taiwania cryptomerioides) not only
peculiar in botanical interest as an en-
demic genus, displays a fine feature of
the forest.. Elere also those rare: trees
such as Ketereelia Davidiana, Cunning-
hamia Konishti, and Pseudo-tsuga
Japonica are found.
The grass land of the summits com-
mences at about 12,000 feet and as is
usually the case plays no important part
in forestry.
Now to sum up the different kinds of
commercial trees, they are:
Conifers—Chamaecyparis (2 kinds),
abundant; Taiwania cryptomerioides
(endemic), fairly abundant; T’suga for-
mosana, fairly abundant; Podocarpus
(several kinds), fairly abundant; Libo-
cedrus macrolepis, fairly abundant;
Pinus (several kinds), abundant.
Evergreen broad-leaved tree—Cam-
phor tree, abundant; Machilus (several
kinds), abundant; Quercus (several
kinds), abundant; Pasania, abundant ;
Alnus, abundant; Acacia (2 kinds),
abundant; Nephelium, abundant.
Beside these, there may be included
Ketereelia Cunninghamia, and many
kinds of hard woods.
The bamboo is an important item in
the island as it 1s used for building ma-
terial, fence, wall frames, carrying
A VIEW OF. A DENSE - EVERGREEN BROAD LEAVED FOREST IN FORMOSA.
A SECTION OF ONE OF THE MAGNIFICENT BROAD LEAVED FORESTS WHICH ARE FOUND
IN FORMOSA.
RORE SIT RN
INT FORMOSA
489
“GOD
THE
IDO dale
THE AUT IO6 ALN)
DIAMETER OF
THE
ES
sticks and furniture making. They are
found over the whole island except in
the mountain districts.
Since seventeen years ago when For-
mosa was ceded to Japan, what has the
Government done to the forests of For-
mosa? The great difficulty in exploring
the forests of the island is that most of
the commercial forests are found in the
savage districts, where the inhabitants
have a very cruel habit of head-hunting,
as is also found in some islands of the
South Sea. The savage people extend
over nearly 2,900 square miles; cover-
ing perhaps 60 per cent of the island
and there is great necessity felt for
defence against them. We are resort-
ing to various measures of bringing
FOREST OF
TREE IS
ARISAN, FORMOSA.
ABOUT TWENTY-TWO
pressure upon them and of gradually in-
ducing them to submission.
So the more this region is tranquil-
lized, the more the timber industry will
spring up.
At present, there does not exist any
special work on the forestry of this
island excepting those under described.
One of the most important items of
Formosan forestry is the camphor in-
dustry. The trees are found usually in
mixed forest together with other ever-
green broad-leaved trees, and most of
them are now in the savage districts.
The camphor product here is prac-
tically the monopoly of the world, and
now forms one of the principal exports
of the island. It has been in the Gov-
A490
AMERICAN FORESTRY
JAPANESE FOREST DEPARTMEN
AND COOLIES IN THE
MOSA.
ernment monopoly since 1899. In the
Chinese régime, the crude and wasteful
method of manutacture adopted by the
Chinese camphor producer has been re-
placed by the advanced Japanese proc-
ess, while in order to keep up a suffi-
cient supply of material, efforts are be-
ing made towards propagation of the
tree, by establishing nurseries in vari-
ous parts of the island, the camphor
forest thus being maintained with splen-
did results.
The Arisan forest timber industry is
a rather peculiar phenomena that up to
this time Formosa is importing a great
deal of timber from the mother coun-
try, notwithstanding the fact that she
has a considerable amount of commer-
(I OFFICIALS IN
BAMBOO STAND NEAR ARISAN, FOR-
UNIFORM
cial forests. It is due to the fact that
the island is topographically very steep
and most of the forest being found in
the savage district, it is consequently
very difficult of access.
One of the most important timber
fellings which is going to be made by
the Government is the Arisan forest.
This forest is particularly well known
to the public. It is very dense virgin
forest, perhaps unique in the size of
the trunks and richness of its growth.
The area of the forest is only about
27,000 acres, but it contains 106 million
cubic feet of conifers and 112 million
cubic feet of hardwoods.
We are now going to explore the for-
est, by establishing a railway to the
IN FORMOSA
491
ADAP a- OMe
elevation of 7,000 feet and using mod-
ern methods for cutting and transport-
ing the timber. We do not hesitate to
declare that this forest produces such
trees that both in shape and quality
they will hardly find a rival.
Besides these we have lumbering on a
small scale in many other places, in
case of fuel trees for the sugar fac-
tories and some other kinds of hard-
woods for cabinet work, of which the
most important trees are: Libocedrus,
Diospyros, Biochofia, Pistacia, ete.
One thing which I ought not to omit to
mention here is the pulp making from
bamboos. We have a great deal of
bamboo stand in the central part of the
island, and recently a large pulp mill
THE HEAD HUNTERS FREQUENTING
TAINS OF FORMOSA AND AGAINST WHOM THE JAPANESE
FORESTERS HAVE TO CONTEND.
THE MOUN-
has been established for that purpose.
This will, I think, be the very first bam-
boo pulp mill in the world.
While the economic importance of
the natural forest is being increased by
their exploitation, it is important at the
same time that secondary forest should
take their place. The necessity, there-
fore, of the utilization for this purpose
of mountain districts which were left
to run wild in the administrative sec-
tion of the preservation of the camphor
forests, of planting trees in the most
needed places as a preventive measure
against flying sand, and in order also
to maintain the purity of the mountain
heads, caused the Government to take
over large areas of land for the pur-
492 AMERICAN
ee es
\:
}
g
HE
A PORTION OF THE VIRGIN
poses of planting and reafforestation.
There is now camphor forest of about
9,000 acres planted by Government and
15,000 acres by the people and beside
this we have planted 10,000 acres in the
reserve forest.
As the forest of the island is quite
peculiar to that of the mother country
both in species of trees and character,
in order to investigate these factors we
established here the Experimental Sta-
tion of Forestry in 1911. The principal
vork which is now being done is the
examination of the physical properties
of ormosan trees and experiments on
raising seedlings both of Formosan
FOREST OF ARISAN,
FORESTRY
FORMOSA.
trees and of foreign economic plants
are also being made.
There are quite a number of species
of economic tropical plants, which it
seems possible to successfully acclima-
tize, such as fibre, spice, oil, rubber, etc.
The Chinese are very ignorant of all
idea regarding tree planting. Very few
trees are seen in their villages and
towns, either shade-bearing or garden
trees. We, therefore; raise many
seedlings here and distribute them
sometimes for sale, sometimes free of
charge, and sometimes we _ raise
seedlings of these for afforestation.
THE FORESTRY OF FRANCE
By WarrEN H. Miuzer, M. A.
ag N a recent paper I gave a brief re-
view of the forest practice of
Germany as exemplified by a com-
prehensive inspection undertaken last
year, in which the principal sylvic
areas of Germany were revisited after
an absence of twenty years. Owing to
the combined influence of species, soil
and climate, clear cutting and replanting
with seedlings may be said to be by far
the predominating method of forest man-
agement of modern Germany, though
at the present moment there is con-
siderable agitation in favor of a return
to the methods of natural regeneration
originally devised by the Germans and
extensively developed in France. How-
ever, as far as actual practice goes, the
clear cutting and planting system is
virtually the only method used for
conifers. Out of over two hundred
coniferous forests I saw but three that
were by natural regeneration, and in
these the trees were crooked and the
thinnings commercially valueless except
for cord wood. In the deciduous for-
ests of the upper Rhine and West-
phalia, natural regeneration was of
course used, owing to the fact that the
root diffusion of these species makes
their planting expense higher than with
any form of seeding.
li sane of the tendency of some of
our best-known authorities to belittle
the achievements of the French for-
esters, I feel sure that a later and
more comprehensive judgment will
bring a universal acknowledgment that
the world owes much to France’s con-
tributions to the practice of silviculture
and that America in particular will find
a great deal that is adaptable to our
forest management. ‘Two years ago I
undertook an extensive course in
French forest practice under the guid-
ance of Prof. R. Hickel, of Versailles
(whose latest book Semis et Plantules
well deserves a translation into Eng-
lish), visited a number of French For-
ests, both standard and coppice, and be-
came thoroughly conversant with what
may be termed the French forest spe-
cialties.
France has made her most striking
successes on a large scale with the
following — silvicultural operations :—
Standard forest with natural regen-
eration by seeding cuts; standard cop-
pice with balivage regeneration; refor-
esting mountain slopes; reforesting
waste heather lands; arresting sand
dune invasions. All these have been
successfully done on a tremendous scale
by the foresters of France and the
technique thus developed must be con-
sidered as her contribution to the
world’s practice of forestry. In this
article my aim will be to merely sketch
these operations in order to give the
reader a general idea of them in the
brief space available.
STANDARD FOREST
A glance at the forest map of France
herewith will show the immense pre-
ponderance of deciduous species, the
oaks (five species), beech, hornbeam,
ash, elm; and then, in the mountains
of the Vosges, Jura, Provencal Alps
and Pyrennees, fir and beech, spruce,
and Austrian pine. Sylvester pine oc-
cupies the newly reforested Landes, the
garrigues and all sandy basins too poor
to grow hard woods, while maritime
pine and Alep pine take up the south
and west coasts. All the basin of the
Seine is robur and peduncle oak, both
coppice and high forest (Belléme,
Berce, Sarce, Compiegne, Villepreu-las-
Clayes, Champenoux, etc.) ; the North
country is hornbeam and Brittany is
beech. It is but logical, then, that the
futaie regulaire or standard forest, with
regular regeneration, should have been
developed on a great scale and even ex-
tended to the conifers, which are in-
variably planted in Germany.
493
4.94
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Photo by Warren H. Miller.
THE FORESTERS TASK IN THE TERRES NOIRES.
The principles of natural regeneration
are, first, the admission of sunlight to
the forest floor in sufficient quantity
to germinate the crop of seeds; second,
the maintenance of a suitable shade
over the seedlings resulting from a fall
of seeds; and, finally, the removal of
the last of the old stand. These oper-
ations are accomplished in practice as
follows:—The forest is divided into
as many cantons as the number of years
of the revolution selected (70-120) and
a seeding cut is made in one canton
each year, cutting from east to west.
The severity of the seeding cut is de-
termined by the species and the first
canton in the series is selected that has
a seed year due that year. With the
oaks enough trees are taken to ijeave
the balance on 100 ft. centers; sylvester
pine at the other extreme would be left
on 200-250 ft. centers. The forester
sees to it that these seed trees are all
sound, healthy, and capable of shedding
an abundant crop of acorns, beech-nufs,
hornbeam, samaras or pine wing-seeds
that fall (whatever may be the species),
and the following spring, since the for-
est floor is warm and _ sunlit, an
abundant crop of seedlings comes up,
which gives a thick fur of young trees
of the same species as the original for-
est overhead. If not completely suc-
cessful, a second crop of seeds 1s al-
lowed to fall before proceeding to the
secondary cut. This removes half of
the seed trees, leaving enough protec-
tion to guard the young trees from sun-
scorch and early frosts. Five years
later they have grown so as to no longer
require protection, and the terminal cut
is then made which takes the last of the
old stand. The reproduction is now
complete and it has cost nothing beyond
a slight increase in logging expense due
to cutting over the same canton three
times instead of once as would have
been the case with clear cutting. But
the cost of planting, not less than $5
an acre, has been saved.
Continuing the régime of the Stand-
ard forest, the young growth is left to
itself for about fifteen years after the
terminal cut. It then receives its first
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AMERICAN
PORES DRY
cyan
PURE OAK FOREST,
thinning, taking out from one-half to
two-thirds of the thick growth. Periodic
thinnings follow at intervals of ten
years, the general principle being to
keep the tops of the dominant trees so
that they will just meet when the next
thinning comes due, and to keep enough
of the sub-stage trees to protect the
trunks of the first-class ones from the
sun. None of these thinnings are
wasted,—in fact nothing is ever wasted
in France,—and the income from all
classes of thinnings amounts to two-
fifths of the market value of the final
crop. The thicket-stage trimmings com-
pete direct in the markets with coppice
ducts, and the others furnish lum-
of increasingly valuable sizes.
Arrived at the end of the revolution,
which is at present taken at 60 years
for sylvester pine, 75 for oak, and 100
for fir, the seed cut is made in the
nearest seed year for that canton (they
occur every two to five years for most
species) followed by the secondary cut,
Photo by
CANTON ‘OF <CEOS:
Warren H. Miller.
and then the terminal cut when the
new growth on the canton is established.
In a French standard forest of an hun-
dred cantons, each year sees one ter-
minal cut, one secondary cut, one seed-
ing cut and ten thinning cuts; in all
thirteen cantons being cut over, so that
there is plenty of business going on even
though the cantons may be of only a
few hectares area each.
As the system is one which we will
adopt in America for nearly all forests
not in close touch with rail facilities
(such as replanted barrens and worn
out pasturage), I will give here a few
generalizations as to how to set about
converting a wild American forest into
a French Standard forest-- Ihe innse
desideratum is uniformity of species,
wherefore when you cut cord wood
from your woodlot or forest, replant
the spot liberally with the species you
have selected, preferably the dominant
species already placed there by nature
as survival of the fittest. The second
TEE FORESTRY OF FRANCE
consideration is uniformity of age for
the trees on each canton. A fifty-year
American white oak is 12 to 13 inches
in diameter, and at 75 years it will reach
19-20 inches, giving first-class new lum-
ber. Having divided your forest into
approximately equal areas as deter-
mined by the lay of water courses,
ravines, logging roads, etc., arrange
your thinning cuts and replantings so
as to give you an unbroken series of
ages year by year. If there are suf-
fcient seed trees year by year on the
spot, you can go direct to standard for-
est by making a seeding cut each year
on each successive canton, eking out
any bad spots with hand _ planting.
Doing one canton each year you will
have three cuts a year until the fifteenth
year when your first thinning cuts begin.
‘Any American hardwood forest can be
thus converted into standard forest pro-
vided that enough seed trees are al-
ready on the sight. With conifers, I
would advise underplanting for white
pine or clear cut and replant with three-
year nursery transplants for Scotch and
Norway pine.
The French have developed coppice
management to a science far in advance
497
of the other nations. In Italy, America
and other coppice countries , simple cop-
pice only is used, with no provision for
future regeneration, but in France the
predominating system, both in public
and private coppice, is ‘‘standard cop-
pice’ with complete systems of “‘bali-
veaux,’ “modernes’ and “anciens,”’ as
the seeding coppice trees are called.
This type of forest is based on the
principle that certain species of trees,
notably oak, chestnut, maple and ash
have the property of sprouting from
the stump, so that you have a forest of
straight vertical branches without any
trunks. As the root system is quite as
large as with standard trees it is nat-
ural that the yield in branch wood is
very large and sustained and the sprouts
are straight enough to be valuable com-
mercially. In twenty years a crop of
four-inch shoots twenty feet long, six
to ten to the stump, is available. All
the shoots but one are taken, and i
twenty years more a second crop has
grown from the same stump. The
sprout left from the first sprout is called
a baliveau and serves not only for a
future seed tree but for shade and pro-
tection to the young sprout.
Left again
Photo by Warren H. Miller.
REFORESTING MOUNTAIN SLOPES.
19S AMERICAN FORESTRY
SPRUCE
on the stump it is called a moderne and
is 40 years old and about 8 inches in
diameter. At the sixtieth year a third
crop of sprouts is taken and the
moderne becomes an ancien and bears
seed abundantly. The anciens start a
thick growth of seedlings all over the
forest igor and after two more crops of
sprouts the original stumps die but the
seedlings have grown to 40-year trees,
which are forthwith cut to stump and
the anciens harvested, putting the for-
est in shape for coppice again. Horse
chestnut coppice is usually managed in
“simple coppice” with poplar balivage,
that is, the whole crop of sprouts is
taken every twenty years and the pop-
lars held for shade.
The yield in poles, tan bark and
lattice stock from coppice management
is tremendous and the returns are quick,
that in Central France, where there
idy market for cordwood, turn-
ing \ Be tool handles and tan bark,
coppl management is very extensive.
It require ‘ich clay soil as the roots
feed exces er If “many of the
stumps are alio
and anciens t!
from shade, but
ved to produce modernes
sprout crop w ill suffer
more heavy timber will
DeLN SRE;
JURA.
be yielded so that in the judgment of
the forester almost any yield desired
for any particular market can be man-
aged. In our own country native chest-
nut is the principal coppice crop, and
telegraph poles, ties, and lumber for
interior trim offers the best market,
three or more shoots are allowed to
grow to 10 and 12 inch poles per stump,
yielding at the same iime seed for re-
generation.
REFORESTING MOUNTAIN SLOPES
The necessity for the hundreds of
millions of franes that France has been
forced to spend on this work had its
beginnings in the orgy of unrestricted
cutting which took “place during the
French Revolution and the Directory.
Under the Bourbons the laws governing
cuttings in private forests were severe
and drastic, unnecessarily so, perhaps,
so that, with the sweeping away of the
monarchy and all its laws, all restraint
was removed and an era of complete
denudation of mountain forests set in.
Furthermore, the herbage which sprang
was given over to unrestricted pastur-
age so that neither seedlings nor bushes
ThE FORESTRY OF” KRANCE
nor even perennial weeds had a chance.
The result was that over 9000 mountain
streams in the Alps and the Pyrennees
formerly steady in flow became raging
torrents after every rain storm, the
springs dried up, vegetation disappeared
and the mountain slopes became mere
arid sheds of detritus, loam and silt.
Mountain real estate values shrivelled,
the loss being something over three
hundred billion frances and the flood and
drouths in the low lands became an
annual curse.
To date over three hundred million
francs have been spent on reforestation
and barrage and about 6000 torrential
streams have been gotten under control.
The procedure outlines as follows :—
The first thing to do is to obstruct the
flow in the torrent bed and reduce its
velocity. A series of rough rock dams
across the bed arrests this difficulty to
form deposits of silt and mud. These
barrages, so called, are planted with wil-
low and alder shoots, forming living
hedges which are carried far up the
sides of the ravines. Next the mountain
slopes are terraced by digging narrow
horizontal ledges and planting seedlings
in the banks formed by throwing the
trench excavation down hill. The
trenches are parallel and about 6 feet
apart vertically. The species chosen
depend almost exclusively upon maxti-
mum and minimum temperatures ob-
taiminess «In order of), temperature —
withstanding qualities they are: green
oak, yew oak, pine Alep, Austrian pine,
Cembro pine, from highest to lowest
temperatures. The silt from the em-
bankment above gradually fills the next
trench below, but by the time the slope
has been restored, the seedlings have
formed an extensive root system and
are able themselves to resist further
erosion. As the plantation grows older
it is managed strictly on the selection
system. In the Terres Noires, where
the soil base is black calcareous lime-
stone, the case of complete soil de-
nudation is exemplified, not even pas-
turage being left. In such cases the
forester’s first aim is to produce a
thick covering of shrubs and weeds.
All mountain slopes consist of a series
of more or less vertical ravines with
ridges or mountain backs in between.
It is on these mountain backs that the
499
cere EE ‘1 iller.
STANDARD COPPICE, CHAMPEROUX.
forester begins his first attack, for here
the run-off is least severe. These slopes
are planted with broom plant, Alpine
heather, gorse and furze, which shrubs
have been found to secure a foothold
on dry, eroded soils more quickly and
surely than any others.
RECLAMATION OF WASTE LANDS
The reclamation of the Landes of
France constitutes another achievement
of the French foresters which has added
something like twenty million dollars
to the land values of Southwestern
France. Originally covered with for-
ests, the denudation of the Landes in
the 16th Century left nothing to take
up the annual rainfall, so that without
natural drainage the Landes soon de-
generated into swampy moors, in which
state they bid fair to remain indefi-
nitely. However, at a cost of but 3 cents
a square meter the French foresters re-
claimed this entire area with a properly
laid out system of drains. The sandy
sections were planted in sylvester pine
after several failures in maritime pine,
and the better soils were sown with
peduncle oak. The forest growth alone
on the Landes is now estimated at over
ten million dollars.
500 AMERICAN
CONTROL OF SAND DUNES
The struggles of the French foresters
agaist the mvasions of the sand dunes
along the southwest coast resulted m
developmg an admirable system of dune
control, simple, logical and mexpensive-
li was found that the only way to ar-
rest sand mvasion wes ai iis source
at the ocean shore Ime tiseli—and tf
was also found that it was not a difficult
matter io make ihe ocean build tis own
dune. Once havmg built a dume foriy
fo sixiy feet above sea level, further
sand invasion would cease and planis
and sedge could then be successiully
grown upon the dune.
The method of procedure is as fol-
lows: At 2 caleulaied distance beck
from ithe beach a Ime of stakes is
driven, catrymg 2 woven wicker screen
from four t six feet gh. Im a shori
time the sand drift has banked up sohd
to the top of the screen. makme a long,
gradual slope back to the shore. The
Stakes are now pulled up, advanced
img until he has a green siable dume
where once were conimuous movme
dnifts of sand. rolimg mland and bury-
img whole forests to their ireciops.
RANE GOING ABROAD
Rane, Simie Poeresier oF Massachusziis. has been delequicad Gy Gevermer Fess io
represent the Commommealiz of Massachusziis ai the Second Iniermaitemal Congress of
Exiomeloey. whack is ie be held = Oxjeré. Exglexd. 2ugusi 5 ia 1 1912
Rame wil go ou ie
iv foresiry comditioms and ihe gvesy moth question.
fermmaitom of the Comzenitenm, Mr-
ihe mowik oF Augquss
Paré —— Siezver, af Nez
tee elm: veces om
mssock moiks
“We are scrapmag amd spreying ike irees
our cy Oris fe save @
musied—thet 2 Oma as Be saved.
FIRE PROTECTION IN
Z Commas Simies
SECT
Revwoay compamizs oreraime
@md eirruiker: .
@ MOM Ger 27 2ciwe
and Gresé ivunt Pootac ees
es Edgmeuzcx om Fuly
At ihe
the Blac® Forest of Germany io
‘He wil remem abroad throughout
e Sit Yor’ Civ. = dome everyiking m kas power io save
nial Parz attacked by caierpilars, Emeowm ia lamdscuse aS as
rae
su tke Commessiomer, “emai We meer couse
G ee excedi whem ti becomes clear thai ithe laber ang expemse are
Whem ikis afpcers another ivee ts Plamizd m tis place”
ALBERTA
arz iakimg adzvuxced groumds eu ike qursiom af fre prosécien.
& rzreremce io Forests, as mduaied by recent reporis af legislazion yrem thas
im the provimce of Alberta are lable jor pres ™ Joresis
camag wikem 300 yerds of thew righkis-oj-wey. beik sues. accordmg ia
cre Om the Canadim ‘Pact&e Railroed. July 5. ond om the Canadian Northern
. July 15. Tz is provided under the requlawiems, given out
y 3, that im the event @ fre guims comirol the carmer company mus?
Bghi t io the orien: of iem miles. hema respousible for ike cost aad ihe dowmige-
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FOREST ROADS AND TRAILS
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AMERICAN
PORESTRY
A FIRE LINE IN WISCONSIN, USED AS A ROAD.
ing these trails was accessibility. At
present the main objects besides (1)
accessibility, are, (2) administrative
purposes, (3) routes for packing pur-
poses (to mining camps, etc.), (4)
pleasure (scenic trails), (5) fire lines,
to a small extent, and (6) stock trails.
The forest should be made accessible so
that any part can be reached in a reason-
able amount of time and routes of travel
should be made for administration. Oc-
casionally trails are built by private
parties to provide a route for packing
purposes, to remote mining camps.
Scenic trails are built either by the State
or by private parties, for both pleasure
and accessibility. Trails are also used
for fire lines, but due to their narrow-
ness are not of great value for this pur-
pose. Stock trails are built for moving
stock over rough country from one
range to another.
USES OF ROADS
The first roads constructed in the
forest regions of the west were built
for stage lines and for freighting pur-
poses; logging had not been developed
to any extent in the Rocky Mountains.
At present the purposes of building
roads are for (1) freighting, (2) log-
ging, (3) stage lines, (4) pleasure, (5)
fire lines. Freighting is a very impor-
tant item where camps and towns on
a forest are located at a distance from
the railroad. Where logging is going
on in the Rocky Mountains, roads must
be built on account of the extreme
roughness of the country. Roads, be-
cause of their greater width, are well
adapted for use as fire lines. In more
level regions fire lines can be used as
roads.
CONSTRUCTION OF TRAILS
Trails on the forest at present may
be classified as: (1) main trails, (2)
secondary trails, (3) spur trails. Main
trails are those connecting ranger dis-
tricts of the forest. They should be
well worked, well brushed out and well
blazed, and should have a fairly wide
tread with a maximum grade of from
ten to twelve per cent, for most of the
traveling in the district will be on them.
Secondary trails are those connecting
the main trails. They should also be
fairly well worked and blazed, and have
a maximum grade of twelve to fifteen
per cent. Spur trails are usually short
trails connecting lookouts with the more
important trails. These spur trails are
used only by the fire guards and there-
fore it is not necessary to do a great
deal of work on them. They can be
blind trails and need only be brushed
FOREST
ROADS
NID RATIES 503
THE DECIDUOUS
CANYON. THE
out enough so that a horse can get
through with ease, which would mean a
cleared space of four or five feet. “2
grade of fifteen to twenty per cent
would be permissible.
The first and most important con-
sideration in trail construction is al-
ways the location work. Grade is al-
ways the determining factor in location.
Where it is steep, switchbacks should
be resorted to. ‘The methods used in
location are, (1) compass and Abney
hand level (accurate), (2) hand level
only (fairly accurate) and (3) ocular
leveling (inaccurate). A route should
first be reconnoitered and definitely de-
cided upon before it is staked out. The
main points can be sketched in on a
map by means of a compass and hand
level. On short distances the hand level
will be sufficient. Laying out by eye
is a poor method and inaccurate at its
best. ‘The route should be staked every
50 to 100 feet and blazed, but as a
usual thing routes are laid out by blaz-
ing only. The blazes should be made
close together along the trail so that
LEAVED FORES
LARGE TREES ARE
T IN THE BOTTOM OF A
ELM AND COTTONWOOD.
there will never be any trouble in fol-
lowing them; a long blaze with a hori-
zontal notch above is used on Forest
Service trails. Location should always
be from the top of a hill to the bottom,
otherwise the maximum grade is apt to
be exceeded, because in locating from
the bottom there is danger of making
the grade steeper than necessary. Lo-
cation work can be done very well with
a crew of three men and costs from
$2.00 to $10.00 per mile.
There are several choices for trail
routes, (1) valley or cariyon, (2) ridge
route, (3) oti crossing mountains,
and (4) foothill grade. The use of
one of the first two routes depends
somewhat on the nature of the country.
Where the canyons are pe cemely steep,
narrow, and full of boxes or interrupted
by cliffs, the ridges and sidehills can
be followed without much . trouble.
Where sidehill routes are resorted to,
the south sidehills should be used be-
cause they are passable three weeks
earlier in spring and later in autumn
than north hillsides. Where the country
AMERICAN
504
FORE SIRY.
TRAIL BUILT-AROUND- A CANYON. BOX BY PACKERS
OF GILA> RECONNAISSANCE
has been worn down, the valleys have
a gentle grade and are quite wide so
that they make good trail routes. Where
mountains are crossed the route is
usually expensive and contains steep
grades. The foothill grade is unde-
sirable because there is so much winding
in and out around the heads of canyons,
in order to keep an even grade, that the
bound to be extremely long.
In the southwest, where cattle graze
on the forests to some extent, it is found
that they are very good engineers in
the location of trails, as a number of
trails on the Gila National Forest of
New Mexico are old cattle trails which
have been brushed out and blazed. In
trail is
CREW, 1911.
going up a grade cattle resort to switch-
backs and always travel where the going
is best, keeping an even grade. In
traveling down a ridge or canyon they
always pick out the smooth spots and
many of these trails located by cattle
are just as good as those located by
man.
The factors which influence the build-
ing-and cost*of trailssare> (1) perad]e
(2) width of cleared space and the
tread, (3) nature of the soil, (4) cost
of labor, (5) distance for packing sup-
plies, (6) distance men walk to work,
(7) cost of supplies, and (8) supervi-
sion. Grade, as said before, is the de-
termining factor of location; the steeper
PORES ROADS AND? TRAINS
the grade, the greater the length of the
trail and consequently the greater the
cost. The greater the amount of brush,
the wider the space brushed out and
the wider the tread the greater the cost.
The cleared space varies from 6 to 14
feet, and the tread varies from 1 to 4
feet. Ordinarily a tread of 18 inches
is wide enough, for a horse will almost
invariably travel on the lower side of
a trail and always in the same place, so
if the trail is wider than 18 inches the
inside will just fill up with sliding ma-
terial and the extra cost in excavation
will be thrown away. On turns, trails
are widened and on switch backs the
width is doubled. The trail bed should
be flat. Excavation should be made
into the bank instead of building up
the lower side of the trail, because on
steep slopes earth thrown out of the
trail makes a poor footing. The nature
of the soil affects the cost of excavation.
The cost for excavation of sand would
probably be the greatest, as the greatest
amount of material would have to be
taken out. The bank on the upper side
of an excavation should slope away
505
from the trail, the angle differing with
the nature of the soil, as follows:
Sand, angle of repose_2314° or 43%
Farth, angle of repose_33° or 65%
Dry clay, angle of re-
POSER a Se ee 45° or 100%
The greater the cost of labor the
greater the cost of the trail to a certain
extent. In some cases it is cheaper to
hire a good crew and pay them good
wages than to hire an inefficient crew
at a low wage. The greater the dis-
tance the men walk to work the greater
the cost of the trail, because even when
the time of going to and from work is
taken outside of the regular eight-hour
day, which is usually the case, a large
amount of walking and climbing before
and after work will tire and worry the
crew so that they will not be as efficient
as otherwise. The supervision of the
crew is the most important factor of
all because, if the work is not arranged
as it should be, the trail will be expen-
sive under the most favorable condi-
tions.
PINE CLAD SLOPES WITH
CLIFF ABOVE.
506 AMERICAN
FORESTRY
A DENSE
ABOVE THE
The size of the crews varies from 2
to 15 men. In crews of 8 to 15 men
it is necessary to have a cook, a packer,
and a foreman. ‘The brushing out can
be done by 2 to 4 men while 5 to 8 can
do the grading. Small crews vary
from 2 to 5 men. The men do their
own cooking and a ranger has general
supervision over the work. ‘The tools
ordinarily used are axes and_ brush
hooks for brushing out; cant hooks
and peavies for moving logs; shovels,
picks, and mattocks for grading.
Where small. crews are at work
and the slopes-are not too steep the
trail is brushed and blazed, and left in
that condition for travel to cut out the
tread. A method similar to this was
followed in connection with the Gila
reconnaissance work in. New Mexico in
the summer of -1911: The reconnais-
sance party was working in a fairly
open country..in. which there were
scarcely any trails. ‘The packers were
sent ahead to locate a route to the next
camp and to blaze and brush out the
trail to a width of about 4 feet. Then
MIXED FOREST.
BIRCHES, ASPENS
A ROCKY LEDGE HIGH
AND PINES.
when the pack outfit, which consisted
of about 18 burros and 2 horses, went
over this route it would be fairly well
cut out so that with a little extra work
a good trail could be built.
On side-hill locations where water
will run down a trail, it is always best
to put in water bars, that is, small
ditches 2 inches to 4 inches deep run-
ning diagonally across the trail and
banked on the lower side with earth
or a small log sunk a few inches in the
ground. These will turn the water and
prevent any great amount of washing,
which might ruin a trail. The number
of water bars will vary with the grade
of the trail and the degree of slope of
the side hill on which the trail is located.
It is much cheaper to put them in when
building the trail. than afterwards.
Under ordinary. conditions they can be
located from 50 to 75 yards apart.
In locating a trail, cliffs and rocky
outcrops should be avoided because
powder work is very expensive. Oc-
casionally when a trail affords so many
advantages that a high cost is permis-
PORES. ROADS. AND TRAILS
507
PINES SLOWLY INVADING THE GRASS FORMATION
THE LIGHT AREAS ARE ROCK OUTCROPS.
CANYONS.
sible a great deal of rock work can be
done. ‘The two materials used for
blasting are dynamite, which costs from
10 to 15 cents per pound, and black
powder, which is about the same price.
Dynamite when exploded works in-
stantaneously with a sharp shock, while
black powder works slower and exerts
more of a shoving force. The cost of
rock work varies from $ .50 to $1.50
per cubic yard.
In general in building trails the coun-
try should first be reconnoitered and the
route fully decided upon. ‘The trail
should then be located by stakes or
blazes and the route cleared and brushed
out to the specified width. The grading
work should then be done and the tread
AT THE HEAD OF
made the specified width. Signs show-
ing the distance from important points
and from water should be put in every
mile if possible and never less than
every 4 or 5 miles.
ROAD CONSTRUCTION.
The use of a road largely determines
the amount of work which should be
done upon it. Freight roads and stage
roads as a rule should be well worked
and kept in good condition and if there
is a great amount of traffic they should
be double tracked or turn-outs made
along the way, while for logging pur-
poses it is not so necessary to have a
well worked road, as it is only used
THE DOGBANE, A CONSPICUOUS PIONEER AFTER FOREST FIRES IN
THIS LOCALITY.
508 AMERICAN
temporarily, the road being abandoned
as soon as the timber is cut. The maxi-
mum grade for the former road should
be 7 per cent, but for a logging road,
especially where all logs are hauled
down hill, the maximum grade may be
greater but should rarely exceed 12 per
cent, and then only for short distances.
Where roads are used for fire-lines, and
fire protection is more important than
traffic, the only work necessary is that
of clearing the space.
The location of a road is more im-
portant than that of a trail, because
the former demands a gentler gradient
and requires a greater amount of
money in its construction. Since grade
is the determining factor in locating
roads a transit should be used for that
purpose, because of its accuracy.
Heavy rock work and the construction
of bridges should be avoided on account
of the great expense. Side hills are the
best for location since they are driest,
have the best drainage and the best
surface, and require less repairs, al-
though the grading at the beginning
will probably cost more. Routes of
avalanches should be avoided, also
routes in deep cuts, because the latter
will fill up with snow. Switch-backs
should not be used, for the sharp turns
are not adapted to wagon traffic. ‘The
cost of location varies from $5 to $50
per mile.
The factors which influence the cost
of roads do not vary a great deal from
those affecting trails. They are (1)
grade, (2) width, (3) amount of brush-
ing out, (4) amount of grading, (5)
drainage, (6) rock work, (7) distance
for hauling supplies, (8) cost of labor,
and (9) supervision. The steeper the
grade the greater the length of the road.
As the maximum grade for most roads
is from 6 to 7 per cent, a steep grade
will greatly increase the length of the
road. ‘The width of the roads varies
from 8 to 12 feet for single track roads
and 16 to 20 feet for double track. The
width of the road naturally affects the
amount of brushing out. In heavily
timbered localities the clearing is a very
expensive item as it is difficult to re-
move the stumps and to roll the logs
out of the way. The amount of grad-
ing is a factor which influences the cost,
PORE SiR Y
depending on the steepness of the hill-
side and the number of stumps to be
removed. A road should be so built
that it is well drained; side ditches
should be put in which have cross
drains every 100 to 200 feet. In cheap
roads the drains will not be covered,
while in well-built roads, culverts or
rocks or wood should be put in. Rock
work cannot be avoided as readily in
road as in trail construction and hence
adds much to the expense. The sup-
plies will be hauled by wagon, which
costs only about one-third as much as
by pack horses, hence the distance is
not as important as in trail work. ‘The
cost of labor will affect road building
the same as trail work. Supervision
again is the most important factor of
all.
In construction of roads, stumps and
rocks should be removed by using
powder or dynamite as it is much
cheaper than by manual labor, because
much time would be unnecessarily
wasted in grubbing out stumps. All
work possible should be done by teams,
since hand grading in construction of
roads is very expensive on account of
the large amount of material to be re-
moved. In building single-track roads,
turn-outs should be built about 50 feet
in length so that vehicles can pass each
other. The length of the intervals be-
tween turn-outs would depend entirely
upon the amount of travel expected on
the road. In grading there should be
more fills than cuts, because fills will
drain better. In rock work the walls
should slant away from the road so
that debris will not be continually drop-
ping down.
Drainage is an important item in road
building. On level ground both sides
should be ditched to a depth of about
1 foot and a width at the top from
2 to 3 feet. On hillsides the road should
slope toward the hill with a ditch on
the inner side. In swampy places a
ditch 2 feet deep and 2 feet wide should
be put on each side and a fairly high
crown left in the center if possible.
A comparison of roads in general
cannot be made because of the few
examples and also because of the great
variations in the use and construction
of roads under different conditions.
FOREST
ROADS sAcNIDe ERADIGS 509
A SAMPLE
OF MANY COTTONWOODS SIXTEEN INCHES IN
DIAMETER
AND LARGER CUT BY BEAVERS.
Forest roads as a rule are single tracked
and from 8 to 10 feet in width with a
maximum grade of 6 to 7 per cent. The
figures given by Mr. Greeley, of the
United States Forest Service, for the
cost of roads in District 1, are from
$100.00 to $1,000.00 per mile with an
average cost of about $500.00 per mile.
Just at present, trails are of much
more importance to the United States
forests than roads, because they are
much cheaper and can be built in more
inaccessible country. Very few roads
have been built by the Forest Service,
while a great many miles of trail have
been constructed during the last few
years. The great need of forests at
present is an adequate fire protection,
for which the trail will suffice, as far
as the traveling over the country is
concerned: in aoliOean appropriation
of $600,000.00 was made for improve-
ments, of which a considerable sum
was used for roads and trails, as 2,225
miles of trails and 320 miles of roads
were built. In 1911 this appropriation
was cut down to $275,000.00. Plans
are now prepared for individual forests,
which call for the building of over
30,000 miles of trail and 7,000 sees of
road at an estimated cost of $3,000,-
000.00. Several of the States h “enre plans
for road and trail construction, notably
Wisconsin, Minnesota and a few of the
eastern States. In the majority of
States, however, forestry work does not
include road and trail building.
*By courtesy of the Forest Club Annual,
University of Nebraska.
OFF
VYBAR FOR APPLES:
This is an off year for apples in New Jersey, according to the fruit growers and farmers.
They say that the same trees that were so heavily laden with young fruit at this time last
year that their boughs were
apples
form this spring.
bent almost to
There is no reason for the prospective shortage except that the blossoms failed to
the breaking point are now almost bare ofi
FOREST FIRES AND FORESTRY IN WHE
SOUTHERN STATES
3y HERMAN H. CHAPMAN
HE future timber supply of the
Eastern States must come from
one of two sources, either from
the Pacific Coast by rail or water, or
from home-grown timber. Pine or soft-
woods will continue to occupy the rela-
tively important place they now hold, in
the demand for lumber. It cannot be ex-
pected that the far West can ever sup-
ply lumber to the East even by the
Panama Canal in sufficient quantities
to wholly keep pace with the demand
or at prices as low as the present rates
on Southern yellow pine lumber. The
problem of providing large future crops
of pine in the East is an urgent one,
and it is already certain that before
such crops could grow to commercial
size, practically all of the present stand
of pine, both North and South, will be
exhausted. The situation in the north-
ern States is well known—the cut in
the eastern portion is now largely
spruce and hardwoods, while in the
Lake States, hemlock and hardwoods
are being cut that were worthless as
long as pine remained. In Minnesota
a fifteen to twenty years cut of pine
remains for some mills but the total
output is rapidly shrinking.
The alarmme “fact > here is” that
throughout the northern pine region
forest or brush fires have practically
eliminated the prospects for a second
crop, and completely destroyed all
young pine timber. Efforts at reforest-
ation so far have not assumed propor-
tions that promise a future supply of
commercial proportions—in fact, plant-
ing must in most cases be resorted to
and there are not funds available to
plant the millions of acres of devastated
lands in need of restocking.
This disastrous condition arises from
two causes—the susceptibility of north-
ern pines, especially white pine, to de-
struction by fire, and the enormous fire
hazard resulting from logging opera-
510
tions. It is not too late to solve this
problem in a small way, for small areas,
by brush piling, planting and forest re-
serves, but in these Northern States the
big opportunity to secure natural re-
production over wide areas is forever
lost.
This is not so in the South. Here
we have an area originally pine land,
much greater in extent than that oc-
cupied by northern pines. The soil
varies from fertile clay loam through
silt to grades of fine or coarse sand,
sometimes underlaid by hard clay, else-
where apparently very deep and holding
little moisture.
Over this great area the logging and
manufacture of southern yellow pine is
almost at its height, although already
the States on the eastern seaboard have
been practically cut over for virgin pine.
The future of these pine lands of the
South is the most urgent problem of
eastern forestry today. Shall they be
opened up for settlements or retained
to grow more pine timber? These lands
are practically all in private hands, and
largely belong to firms whose business
it is to run one or more large modern
saw mills, and to earn if possible a
fair rate of interest on the millions of
capital invested in mills, equipment,
lands and timber. Once cut over, these
lands are seldom regarded as having
any possible value as sources of another
cut of lumber. Hence they must be
sold as farm lands. There are and will
be for a long period millions of acres
of lands of this character in every
Southern State—lands which have been
until recently regarded by the natives
as of little agricultural value. The old
settlers farm the better classes of soil
lying along the bottoms of the smaller
streams not overflowed. In many dis-
tricts more land has been abandoned
after being farmed for varying periods
than is now under cultivation.
FORESTRY FIRES AND FORESTRY—
SOUTHERN STATES
511
GRANITE KNOB IN
THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN
MOUNTAINS FROM WHICH THE
FOREST AND LATER THE SOIL HAS BEEN LARGELY REMOVED.
It is true that these pine soils are
the poorest soils of the South, and that
under the old systems of farming, with
cotton as the principal crop, their fer-
tility was rapidly lost. But with the de-
velopment of agricultural experiment
stations in the South and the increasing
use. of leguminous crops, better crop
rotations, and truck and fruit farming
poorer soils are being used profitably
and prosperous communities are spring-
ing up here and there dependent wholly
on the agricultural use of these pine
lands. ‘Thus the whole question of the
future growth of timber crops on south-
ern pine lands is challenged at the out-
set on apparently valid grounds, and
by the overwhelming interest of practi-
cally all elements of the communities
affected.
It will be difficult for a long time to
strike a proper balance between agri-
cultural use and forest use of these
southern lands. But one thing is cer-
tain; every agricultural community no
matter how fertile the soil, is better off
if a certain per cent of the land is
growing trees. Every farm is more
valuable if it possesses a woodlot, and
the poorer the soil the greater the per
cent of the total area which can be de-
voted to tree growing, to the best in-
terests of agriculture and of the com-
munity. In the South the areas of poor
land are so vast and the quality of
much of it so poor that we can hardly
expect that a fifth part of it will ever
be used for the more intensive crops
like truck and small fruits. There are
great tracts in New Jersey on the sand
plains which are idle today in spite of
their nearness to the enormous markets
of New York and Phiiadelphia. Settle-
ment on these southern pine soils pro-
ceeds slowly. Foreigners do not take
kindly to the presence of the negro.
Southern whites do not welcome the
foreigner with open arms. Northern
farmers do not tend to emigrate South
as they are unused to the climate and
512 AMERICAN
social conditions. All signs point to an
increasing settlement and expansion of
agriculture, but this process will be a
gradual.one and not a rush for land.
From these facts two conclusions must
be drawn.
First, there should probably be from
25 to 60% of the land in every pine
district in the South, devoted perma-
nently to growing timber, the more the
farther the land is from markets and
transportation and the poorer the soil.
Second, much of the land that will ulti-
mately be used for farming will not
be so used for 15 to 20 years and under
proper management much valuable tim-
ber could be grown on it in that time by
proper cutting of present stands.
Who should be responsible for the
future of the southern timber crops?
Should the State governments acquire
lands for forest reserves and raise tim-
ber? Whatever the merits of this plan,
it will be difficult to carry out, because
of the fact that the forest on these lands
is not needed for protection of moun-
tain slopes or to prevent erosion, and
the State would use the land solely to
grow timber. ‘There would be opposi-
tion to State reserves both because of
the doubt about the agricultural classi-
fication of such lands, and because of
the expense attached to their acquisi-
tion and management, which Southern
States are poorly equipped to meet.
Small areas might be so acquired to
be used as demonstration forests for
the encouragement of private owners.
3ut the future of the pine forests
of this region will lie with their present
owners, the lumberman and farmer,
and State legislation should be shaped
with this in view, to encourage owners
to grow timber by giving them proper
assistance in controlling fires, and by
equitable taxation of growing timber.
There is a striking difference between
southern and northern pine in their re-
sistance to fire. White pine is killed
easily by fires even when mature. But
the three southern pines “are jal re-
markably fire resistant and the longleaf
pine has adapted its whole structure
and growth as a seedling to the primary
object of surviving ground fires. Prob-
ably not a single pine in the South has
ever grown to maturity without having
FORESTRY
survived repeated fires. Conditions in
these States make fires almost inevitable.
In spite of the abundant rainfall, the
late spring and summer months are
usually dry and fires burn readily.
These fires are set carelessly or pur-
posely to improve grazing which in most
sections is getting steadily poorer in
the woods.
The effect of these fires upon the
forest has been deplored by foresters,
and the tendency seems to be to try to
pass laws modeled after those of North-
ern States, which seek to absolutely
prevent fire in the forests and establish
a system of fire wardens for this pur-
pose. But it is more than probable that
such a policy in the South would defeat
its own ends and should never be at-
tempted. It is the “nicht “policy itor
Northern States, where fires can and
should be absolutely prevented. But
there is abundant evidence that the at-
tempt to keep fire entirely out of south-
ern pine lands might finally result in
complete destruction of the forests.
On longleaf soils, the pine needless
form a very inflammable layer, which
is supplemented by the growth of grass
in open stands. In many districts, fire
runs over these lands every year. In
two or three years’ time, if no fire
occurs, there will be enough of an ac-
cumulation to make a very hot blaze,
fatal to young seedlings in most cases.
The risk gets worse as the period ex-
tends till at the end‘of ten to fifteen
years, if fire is set in a dry time, the
mature longleaf timber may be killed.
This has actually occurred, though it
is so seldom that fires have been kept
out of such lands for more than a year
or two, that such destruction is very
rare.
In Shortleaf pine forests, fire is much
less of a problem. ‘The needles are
small and accumulate slowly. There is
more shade, less grass, and plenty of
hardwood growth whose leaves do not
burn with the heat and flame which
distinguishes a grass or pine needle fire.
Evidence from stumps of trees which
have been burned into shows that fires
occur in shortleaf at intervals of five
to eight years, instead of every year or
two, as in longleaf. Shortleaf seedlings
are very easily destroyed by fire. But
DOE RIVER GORGE, TENN. THE FORESTS ON THE STEEP SLOPES OF THIS BEAUTIFUL
GORGE HAVE ALMOST ALL°*BEEN CUT: DOWN.
514 AMERICAN
the young tree soon develops a thick
bark and will resist small ground fires.
In a region studied this spring in South-
ern Arkansas it was found that it took
the average seedling only five years to
reach a diameter of over an inch, and
become fairly fire resistant, when grow-
ing in open places. Seedlings growing
in the forest under partial shade grow
more slowly and may be killed by fire
ationon 10 years of ace.
But the young trees which spring up
on cut over areas would have plenty
of sun and room and five years would
“t
os
ag
*
a
hes
hi,
OLD VIRGIN FOREST REPLACING
FORESTRY
be enough to bring them to a fire resis-
tant size.
On longleaf lands, the fires are at
present so frequent that seedlings do
not have time to get by the first two
years when they are small and ill pro-
tected. If it were possible to keep fires
out of an area for five years, these
longleaf seedlings while still very short,
—probably not over a foot high—would
be an inch or more thick. None but
a hot fire in dry weather could possibly
kill them all at this stage. This fre-
quency of fires is not a natural condi-
ITSELF WHERE FIRES HAVE BEEN ABSENT:
SKIDDING LONG LEAF PINE LOGS IN A LOUISIANA LUMBER CAMP.
a) -_ a i
ot ee ee
nS — Ginet Gney ae ae ee ee
ae Ge Senin Ges gown op a on
SRE GG ie anf aout i ae
ami Ges Ge gees ser at Ge ail ae
cnn ime (ase oe die any Se
= al
conplisie:—ite comme simi can
fe gests Go Ge a ae oe
with pat an 2) pees anil = oop ae
acing gme oe je See oF He
auf Ga wall Ge well de owe
amie lnmies ami will ee & po
Bet GE Ge Go GS a =
Se ae ak ee Bee
fe Ree aot of awh aes ie oF
7s Ef pes wih = a ot
decd aoe Sage al or Sa
Samedi Ger die aromas ltteer «=n
can Ge die at fie poe See ae]
Wem GE= aml Ge Stan = zor ap ie
emiedi cs mm gs Ge iy fe
Gummi es at se eo
saa Ge oi ee oe SG
ds Gres con fe = at ge ed
amt on dis wey ie Gest welll Gee ge
et ant wot medi oe
The fre scars which m time burn ont
and desiroy old longleai pime have
usually been formed by fires burning
m a dry season and m several years
accumulated liter.
In the light of these facts it would
be very questionable policy for South-
em States by legislation to prohibit the
burning of woods or altempi 10 prevent
the use oi fire. Ti would be far wiser
for those Siates io establish Siaie
foresiry departments with a technically
traimed man im charge, who can devoie
his entire time to educating and en-
couraging land owners io practise
foresity by keeping their natural forest
land m igmber. An owner who desires
to esiablish a protected area of the
BOAT AND BARGE CONSTRUCTION
317
kind above described should receive the
support of the Siate m his efforts to
keep out fire and protect reproduction
of pine, which under proper conditions
he is almost certam to get But a
promiscuous eniorcemeni oi forest fire
laws. borrowed whole irom Northern
Siates, and uiterly unsuited to the
South, will never resuli m anything
bui dissatisfaction and contempt on the
part of practical men for foresiry. A
study of aciual conditions and laws
designed to meet these conditions is
the only route by which the South will
ever improve her wonderiul opportunity
to preserve her lumber imdusiry for
future generations.
ECONOMIC MATERIALS FOR BOAT AND BARGE
CONSTRUCTION
Br A [ Hacrso OBC
ck, In charge of Cresoting Operations U. S. Engineer's
Office, Rock Island, Iii.
UR office has been collecting daia
() on the cosi oi repairs of our
standard barge, 100 fi x 20 it. x
4 it 7 m., ior the pas si 20 years. As we
are building the same size barge today,
the cosi of repairs will be directly com-
parable.
It has been iound practical to frame
and creosote the timbers im iramsii at a
commercial treating plant, and then for-
ward the timbers io the pomt of erec-
tion. By marking the pieces thai can-
not be easily identified, # 1s possible to
assemble the barge quite rapidly.
Tn the past five years I have examined
a large number oi untreated barges at
Various pots on the river that have
been im service irom iour to fifteen
years. From these observations I would
say that the decay always starts where
there is an excess of moisture, together
with the air and heat. In 90 per cent
of the cases the decay starts m the ends
oi the timbers. Thai is to say, the de-
cay develops im the same ratio as the
wood absorbs moisture through the
ends. As a good pressure treatment
will always plug the ends of the timbers,
it is easy i0 understand why such good
results have been obtained in the past
with a pressure treatment of coal-tar
creosote oil.
In iormer years the opinion was held
that it would not pay to creosote a
barge because it would wear out before
it decayed. This may be ime under
certain conditions, but as a general
proposition I have iound the lumber de-
cays first, and when in this decayed con-
dition is easily broken.
For barges used in fresh water it is
not considered necessary tc creosote the
bottom, as it has been icund that the
bottom plank rarely decays. This fact
can probably be attributed to the ex-
clusion of air, as a barge usually con-
tains 4 to 6 inches of water on the imside.
In constructing light draft barges it
has been our policy to use the pressure
creosoted fir, as fr can be obiaimed m
long lengths at a reasomable cost. Long
timbers are especially desirable m barge
515
AMERICAN FORESTRY
DECK PLAN REPLACED BECAUSE OF DECAY.
construction, as they reduce the number
of gunwale joints to a minimum. ‘The
gunwale joints are always the first
points to cause trouble by leaking, and
so it is a big item to reduce these joints
to a minimum. Besides being cheaper
in cost, both before and after creo-
soting, the fir is lighter, resulting in a
draft of but 9 inches for a standard
barge 100 tt) 20 ft) x 4 if ein:
White oak has been used almost ex-
clusively in the past for the construc-
tion of model-shape steamboat hulls.
The present tendency is to use steel.
Cresoted timber is eliminated from
consideration for model-type hulls on
account of the necessity of framing and
cutting timbers during erection, which
would expose untreated surfaces if
creosoted timbers were used. It is
the opinion of the writer that the steel
hull will give more economical results,
for the reason that when the cost of re-
pairs on an untreated oak hull during
its life are added to the original cost,
the yearly charge will closely approxi-
mate that of a steel hull.
These relations, however, do not ex-
ist in the case of “scow” pattern boats
and barges. <A steel barge will cost
more than three times as much as an
untreated fir barge, and nearly three
times as much easna creosoted barge.
The lumber for these “scow” pattern
boats and barges can be advantageously
framed and bored before treatment.
The first creosoted barges used in this
country were built in 1900 of pressure
treated yellow pine by the New Orleans
Office of the U. S. Engineer Corps.
These barges are today in a perfect
state of preservation, and in all prob-
ability will be used for 10 to 12 years
longer. The cost of repairs has been
light, and the results so satisfactory that
no untreated barges are now built by
that office.
The Rock Island District formerly
used the open-tank treatment. The
penetration was usually superficial, but
the cost.1s only 5 per cent of the total
cost of a fir barge. Last fall the writer
inspected a large number of these fir
barges built in 1908, and in no case was
any evidence of decay found on the
treated timbers, while in a number of
cases the untreated timbers had reached
an advanced stage of decay. It is,
therefore, evident that the small cost
of this treatment will pay good returns
on the money invested. In the case of
90 per cent heart Long Leaf Pine the
same conditions exist, as the penetra-
tion on the heart surfaces is usually
superficial. With the Short Leaf and
Loblolly Pine it has been our experi-
ence that this class of timber requires
so much oil to saturate the sap that it
often costs more than a 10-pound
pressure treatment. For treating barge
timbers the pressure treatment has, in
the opinion of the writer, a number of
advantages that make it a far more
economical treatment. First, from a
treating standpoint, it is possible to
treat either green or seasoned lumber.
Second, the exact quantity of oil in-
jected can be ascertained by: the tem-
perature and gauge readings. Third,
the entire treatment can be regulated
BOAT AND BARGE, CONSTRUCTION
to meet the requirements of each par-
ticular charge. Fourth, it is possible
to plug the ends of the timbers and
thereby retard the absorption of mois-
ture. Fifth, the penetration of oil is
far more uniform. ‘The last two fac-
tors tend to eliminate the so-called
“working” of the timbers. This is an
important item in barge construction, as
it is a well-known fact that a barge built
of green untreated lumber will usually
cause trouble from leaking, due to the
subsequent shrinkage of the timber as
it dries, and the consequent opening of
the seams and loosening of the oakum.
Even after the lumber has once become
dry it readily absorbs moisture during
a wet period and again gives it up dur-
ing a dry period, and as a result an
untreated barge is re-calked every year
after its fourth or fifth year in service.
The pressure treatment has largely
eliminated this re-calking, and so ma-
terially reduced the cost of repairs.
519
In conclusion I will state that the
original cost of a steel barge with in-
terest on the investment is not com-
pensated for, by the added life, com-
pared with a creosoted barge. That the
cost of repairs on an untreated barge
and its short life of real hard service
makes the annual cost, including inter-
est, 25 per cent more than for the pres-
sure creosoted barge. That the pressure
creosoted yellow pine barge and the
pressure creosoted Douglas fir barge
have respective fields depending upon
the working conditions; on the Lower
Mississippi, where there is always a
good stage of water, the creosoted
yellow pine will probably be more de-
sirable, but for light draft and use on
the upper Mississippi the pressure creo-
soted fir will be far more economical.
*By courtesy of the American Wood Pre-
servers Association.
UNTREATED DOUGLAS FIR HULL FOUR YEARS OLD.
PLANTING NEW PINE TREES
Superintendent Eldridge, of the western division of the Florida Forest Reserve, is show-
ing great activity and is securing good results.
He will plant this season 800 pounds of
Maritine pine seeds, a French species of the pine which the government thinks will serve
as well for naval stores purposes as the Southern pitch pine. The start with this pine was
made last year by planting 500 pounds of seed.
FIRE PROTECTION ON THE OZARK NATIONAL
FOREST
By Francis KIEFER
Supervisor, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas
which the American forester lays
greatest stress is the quick ex-
tinguishment of small fires and the con-
sequent prevention of larger ones. In
Arkansas, peculiar features in connec-
tion with topography, climate, vegeta-
tion, and local sentiment (more par-
ticularly the last) have increased the
usual difficulties of fire protection, and,
on the Ozark National Forest, have
resulted in a unique solution of the
problem.
Briefly, conditions in and near the
Ozark National Forest are these: From
central masses which divide the head-
waters of the streams flowing north
and east into the White River and those
flowing south and west into the Arkan-
sas, broken, round-topped hills radiate
irregularly in all directions. heir alti-
tude rarely exceeds 2,300 feet above
the sea, or 1,800 feet above the lowest
valleys.
Although the rock and boulder-strewn
mountain sides are frequently broken
by abrupt limestone cliffs, narrow
benches occasionally attract the local
farmer. On the rolling crests of the
ridges, wherever the thin soil is at all
productive, are scattered cornfields. In
the narrow creek valleys the ribbons of
alluvial fields stretch unbroken.
The Forest embraces many _hard-
woods of which white oak is the most
prominent. Shortleaf pine is sprinkled
on the south slopes, and is gradually
strengthening its foothold. Trees of
all ages and kinds grow in mixture—
black oak, blackjack oak, post oak,
black hickory, and pale leaf hickory,
confining themselves to the drier, less
fertile hilltops; white oak, red oak, shag
bark and pig nut hickory, seeking the
moister, deeper soils of the north and
lower slopes. Groups of red cedar grow
520
(Oe point in fire protection upon
on the bare, shallow limestone slopes
and ledges. Reproduction of all these
species is dense and thrifty wherever
fires have been excluded. Sprouts, of
course, are abundant, because fire,
which is conducive to sprout growth,
has been nearly everywhere.
The ground cover consists of sedge
grass, lespedeza, and other range plants.
Where fire is kept out for a year or two
all of these are quickly smothered by
the heavy floor of coarse oak leaves.
Often burned areas support a sparse
growth of sedge grass, wild pea vine,
lespedeza, and other herb weeds less
valuable for forage, upon which the
scattered cattle of the mountaineers de-
pend for subsistence.
Every year the woods are burned over
to improve the range. ‘The people pat-
tern the often described mountaineer
of Kentucky and Tennessee. They lead
a secluded existence in their valley and
ridge-topped communities, depending
upon the forest range and mast for
fodder for their cattle and hogs. Un-
disturbed, they have for years burned
over the woods and destroyed the un-
derbrush and litter of hardwood leaves
in order to encourage the growth of
grass and herbs. It is this custom,
firmly established, which has been the
greatest obstacle in the way of efficient
fire protection in Arkansas. Observa-
tions made on the Arkansas and Ozark
Forests show that burning in the long
run does not benefit the range, which
at best is inferior, but that on the other
hand tremendous injury results to tree
growth through the total destruc-
tion of reproduction and basal scarring
of the older timber.
With this fact established a vigorous
educational campaign was undertaken
against woods burning, which has been
continued to the present time. The re-
FIRE PROTECTION ON THE OZARK NATIONAL FOREST 521
SHOWS LOOKOUT TOWER ON McGOWAN’S POINT.
THESE PICTURES SHOW THE NEED OF A HIGH
TOWER ON THE OZARK NATIONAL FOREST,
BECAUSE OF THE HIGH TREES SURROUNDING.
THESE TREES THAT ARE NEAR WILL BE
FELLED TO PREVENT DAMAGE BY REASON OF
THEIR FALLING AGAINST IT IN A
McGOWAN’S POINT, ARKANSAS.
WIND STORM.
sults, though slow, have been encour-
aging.
The system of fire protection first
adopted was a riding patrol maintained
during the fire season in the spring and
fall. On the Ozark each of the six dis-
trict rangers, with 160,000 acres to
cover, was authorized to expend from
$150 to $200 for the hire of mounted
patrolmen as conditions might demand.
The first year the mere presence of
the Forest officers checked wholesale
burning. By the second year, however,
this influence waned, and burning was
HEAVY
carried on more vigorously than ever.
The season (fall of 1909 and spring
of 1910) was unusually dry and windy,
and the Forest officers were unable to
cope with the situation. But the very
extent of the damage which resulted
worked in favor of the Forest Service,
for many of the settlers who suffered
heavy fire losses in fences and build-
ings became strong supporters of an,
effective plan of fire control. At the
same time the inefficiency of the riding
patrol and fire-fighting methods was
made clearly apparent. ‘Their weakness
522 AMERICAN
lay in the fact that persons who wished
to burn the woods could watch the
movements of the patrolmen and set
fires during their absence. Thus sev-
eral fires could be started and given the
opportunity to spread past control be-
fore the patrolmen returned. This
fully demonstrated the need for per-
manent lookout points from which fires
could be accurately located immediately
upon their appearance. ‘The patrol-
men, it is true, maintained an inter-
mittent lookout in riding point to point,
where tall trees had been trimmed and
made climable by the insertion of tele-
phone pole steps, but this was insuf-
ficient.
At this point, Mr. Adams, then Su-
pervisor of the Arkansas National For-
est, introduced his ingenious ideas in
watch towers and fire-fighting appara-
tus. His success encouraged the adop-
tion of a scheme of steel lookout tow-
ers. The system installed on the Ozark
during the fall of 1911 includes seven
64-foot towers and 120 miles of tele-
phone line. The towers, with square
open platform, are placed upon the
highest points of vantage with least ob-
structed view. Each tower is connected
with the others by telephone, and is
equipped with a special telephone in-
strument and dial range finder. The
range finder, a German silver plate 1-16
of an inch thick and 10 inches square,
inscribed with a compass circle, is se-
curely mounted on the apex of the four
posts of the tower in the center of the
platform, at a convenient height for the
observer. In the center of the circle,
swung on a pivot, is an arrow with
sights. When the lookout discovers a
smoke, he trains the sights on the fire
and reads the bearing indicated by the
arrow point. He then communicates
by telephone with a neighboring tower
and secures a cross bearing. With two
bearings he is able to notify the district
ranger of the exact position of the fire
with reference to legal subdivision,
topography, roads, etc. In this he is
aided by the title map and protraction
chart showing each tower with bearings
projected for every five degrees. As
a check the lookout makes a detailed
report of his finding and action, and at
stated intervals during the day reports
by telephone to ranger headquarters.
FORESTRY
The approximate average cost of a
tower on the Ozark Forest is as follows:
Costiot towers t.0. by tactony=— =e $63.00
‘Telephone “instrument2_2_2_-- 22 24.00
Range: find erie ae et eee 8.00
Tools, dynamite, and miscellaneous__ 5.00
IEirenedlne choral IMeyoUboove 25.00
abor 4.252222 eee eee ee 25.00
Rotal. i . oe ee e $150.00
Description of tower:
Weights 222) 2 ens Soe ee 1,440 pounds
Naor (en oh peeeeme pete Sr ees 64 feet
Platform: eae eee Bexhn
Capacity... See eae ee 5 persons
Sate loadi ease ee 16,000 pounds
Depth of anchor plates_-_-_-. 5 feet
Spread between’ posts at
eround: {+2 6S eee IOP Reet
As soon as a fire is reported by a
lookout the district ranger takes steps
to extinguish it. Each ranger district
is subdivided, as streams and roads dic-
tate, into fire-fighting units, in each of
which a reliable settler is designated
as ‘‘selected fire-fighter” and supplied
with complete fire-fighting equipment,
consisting of potato rakes, wooden
brooms, canvas sprinkling buckets, and
pack bags. He has also a title and
topographic map of his unit which en-
ables him quickly and intelligently to
plan his action. As a rule each “selected
fire-fighter’ is connected indirectly to
the ranger station and lookout tower
by a neighborhood telephone line.
When a line of communication is lack-
ing the “selected fire-fighter” is reached
by a mounted messenger.
As soon as a fire is reported to a
ranger he notifies the proper “selected
fire-fighter” to hasten immediately to
the blaze with such tools and extra
help as he may need. Should the ranger
in the course of his duties be out of
touch with the lookout tower, the man
in charge of the tower directs the
“selected fire-fighter.”
This simple organization has worked
successfully wherever reliable men to
serve as fire-fighters can be found and
a good telephone line exists. Fires are
discovered in their beginning and ex-
tinguished while they are still small.
The value of a tower itself lies in the
fact that it gives a stable and protected
support to the range finder and ele-
vates the lookout above the surround-
ing brush and timber.
GOV. BASS AND DIRECTORS OF AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION ARRIVING AT LOST RIVER CABIN
TAE
RSE OF
ALONG THE COU
N
O
ATI
ASSOCI:
Pa
—4
YREST
F¢
MERICAN
THE A
RIVER.
LOST
4
JUE
ICTURES(
Pp
IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS
(\ui of the most important actions
taken by the directors of the
American Forestry Association,
who held their midsummer quarterly
meeting in the White Mountains on
July 17, 18 and 19, was the passage of
a resolution protesting vigorously
against the proposed amendment to the
Agricultural Appropriation Bill, soon
to be acted upon by the Senate, which
provides that all lands in the national
forests, “suitable and fit” for agricul-
ture, must be classified and listed for
settlement whether it is wise or unwise
to remove them from public control.
This resolution has been sent to each
member of the Senate with a request
for his careful attention.
The directors, with a number of
guests, including State foresters, for-
estry instructors, State officials, timber-
land owners, paper and pulp company
officials and a number of other promi-
nent men, gathered at Plymouth, N.
ie on the “morning of July 17 and,
through arrangements by Col. W. R.
Brown, of the Berlin Mills Company,
journeyed to North Woodstock in auto-
mobiles. The afternoon was spent in
looking over the Lost River reserve,
recently acquired by the Society fur the
Protection of New Hampshire Forests,
and the members of the party climbed
down the course of the Lost River for
some distance among the mammoth
boulders, into the caves they form, and
viewed the remarkable scenic effects
caused by some remote convulsion of
nature, with wonder and delight. Here
is a spot, which, when the road to it is
improved, will become the mecca of al-
most every sight-seeing party going
into the White Mountains.
There followed in the evening, at the
Deer Park Hotel, a meeting partici-
pated in by the directors of the Asso-
ciation, and under the auspices of the
Society for the Protection of the New
Hampshire Forests. Some three hun-
dred deeply interested people attended,
many of them of national prominence.
They included Mrs. Grover Cleveland,
Governor Robert P. Bass of New
Hampshire, the president of the Ameri-
can Forestry Association, who opened
the meeting with words of welcome;
former Governor F. W. Rollins, who
presided; former Governor Quimby of
New Hampshire, former Governor
Woodruff of Connecticut; President
John H. Finley of the College of the
City of New York; President Henry
S. Drinker of Lehigh University, and—
as ex-Governor Rollins said—‘so many
distinguished people that you could not
turn around without bumping into one
of them.”
W. R. Brown, president of the New
Hampshire Forestry Commission, told
about the progress of forestry in New
Hampshire during the year, his address
appearing on another page; a paper by
Montgomery Rollins, on the acquisition
of Lost River, was read; E. FE. Wood-
bury, an orator of North Woodstock,
told of the towns interested in the Lost
River, and there were talks by Dr. Fin-
ley, ex-Governors Quimby and Wood-
ruff, Dr. Drinker, Dr. B. EK. Fernow of
Toronto, P. S. Ridsdale, executive sec-
retary of the American Forestry Asso-
ciation, and others.
The following day the entire party
journeyed by automobile to Bretton
Woods where Thursday and Friday
were spent in viewing the Crawford
Notch reserves, and at several impor-
tant meetings discussing forest prob-
lems and conditions of the day. The di-
rectors of the American Forestry As-
sociation held their sessions at the Mt.
Washington Hotel and the other meet-
ings were at the Mount Pleasant and
the Crawford House.
Reports of the condition of the Asso-
ciation were most satisfactory and
showed that the membership is steadily
growing, that the sphere of its influence
is rapidly extending, and that it is now
regarded as one of the most important
organizations, for the good of the gen-
eral public, in the country, and as such
525
526 AMERICAN
is receiving steadily increasing support
and recognition.
At the fifth annual forestry confer-
ence meeting on the afternoon of July
18 there were represented the American
Forestry Association, the Society for
the Protection of New Hampshire For-
ests, the New Hampshire Timberland
Owners’ Association, and the Associa-
tion of North Eastern Foresters. The
fire protection problem was discussed
at length, papers being read by Prof.
J. H. Foster, of the New Hampshire
State College; FE. A. Ryder, Commis-
sioner of the Department of Claims,
Boston and Maine R. R.; State For-
ester E. C. Hirst, of New Hampshire;
F. H. Billard, forester of the New
Hampshire Timber Land Owners’ As-
sociation; F. G. Olmstead, consulting
forester of Boston; F. W. Rane, state
forester of Massachusetts; S. N.
Spring, state forester of Connecticut;
Austin F. Hawes, state forester of Ver-
mont, and Dr. B. E. Fernow, of To-
ronto.
In the evening H. S. Bristol, superin-
tendent of Woodlands, for the Dela-
ware and Hudson R. R. Co., spoke on
problems of forestry as they relate to
the railway; Prof. Walter Mulford, of
Cornell, discussed the prospects of for-
estry as a profession; Prof.. W. C.
O’Kane, of the New Hampshire State
College, spoke on the present status and
prospects of the gypsy moth and the
brown tail moth in the State; George
H. Wirt, chief forest inspector of
Pennsylania, gave an illustrated lecture
FORBES ERY
on the management of State forests in
Pennsylvania.
At the annual meeting of the Society
for the Protection of New Hampshire
Forests, held on the morning of July
19, reports were made on the gratifying
progress of the society's work in the
past year. In addition, Herbert Welsh,
of Philadelphia, spoke about the prog-
ress upon the Sunapee Forest Reserva-
tion, and Harris A. Reynolds, Secretary
of the Massachusetts Forestry Associa-
tion, told how he is organizing branch
associations in that State.
The ever interesting and vital ques-
tion of the taxation of forests was dis-
cussed at the concluding meeting of the
conference on Friday afternoon. Dr. B.
E.. Fernow spoke on the principles un-
derlying the taxation of forests; Prof.
F. R. Fairchild, of Yale, discussed the
taxation of forests in America and
abroad; and Prof. Charles J. Bullock,
of Harvard, gave his ideas on practical
plans for taxation in New Hampshire
and Massachusetts. The other forest-
ers and lumbermen present joined in
the discussion, which, while it resulted
in the enlightenment and instruction as
to ways and means, of all who were
present, did not reach any definite con-
clusion as to the best way to overcome
existing difficulties.
In the evening, at the Crawford
House, Philip W. Ayres, forester of the
Society for the Protection of New
Hampshire Forests, gave an illustrated
address on the forests of the White
Mountains.
MORE LAND FOR RESERVE
Washington, D. C—The National Forest Reservation Commission has approved for
purchase 55,000 acres in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina.
In ad-
dition, a tract of 24,900 acres, near the Natural Bridge, in Virginia, was approved for
purchase,
It is estimated that nearly $2,000,000 was expended in connection with the ac-
quisition of lands under the provisions of the Weeks law during the fiscal year which ended
June 30, 1912.
OUR NATIONAL TIMBERLANDS THREATENED
By HERMAN H. CHAPMAN
EGISLATION pending in the
present Congress, and which may
be consummated at any day,
threatens to take from the National
Forests of the West, millions of acres
of the most valuable timberland remain-
ing in government control, and turn it
over to the large lumber companies
through the agency of the homestead
laws.
In the agricultural appropriation
act, which is now in final conference,
the clause was introduced by Senator
Nelson, providing that all lands “‘suit-
able and fit” for agriculture must be
classified and listed for settlement at
once under the homestead laws. This
clause is intended by its author to apply
to heavy bodies of timber. Under its
operation all timber on the National
Forest, which is growing on land for
which any claim of agricultural value
can be made must be listed, not when
there™is need of it “for farming, but
now, and by this listing be removed at
once from the jurisdiction of Forest
Service. Not a single safeguard is
thrown around the operation of such a
clause, and it would become necessary
to list all lands of doubtful agricultural
value, which might be claimed or de-
sired for their timber under the guise
of agricultural use. Claims are made
that even steep mountain slopes are suit-
able for fruits and orchards and this
would mean the immediate elimination
of timber-covered slopes, because some
of this land might some day be used for
such purposes, and it is, therefore, all
suitable and fit for agriculture.
There is hardly an acre of good tim-
ber land in the West to which claim
would not be made under this proposed
law, and if pushed to its logical con-
clusion the nation would be stripped of
its remaining timber resources for the
ultimate enrichment of the large lum-
ber men, and an incidental and tempo-
rary benefit to those through whose
hands the timber passed en route to its
ultimate ownership.
The opposition of the friends of true
conservation secured a change in the
wording of this amendment, while it
was in the hands of the Conference
Committee, and it now reads that all
lands that are “chiefly valuable for agri-
cultural purposes and that are not
needed for public purposes, or for use
by the public,’ must be listed imme-
diately. This would prevent the listing
of timbered land, and would prevent ap-
plications for water-power sites and for
government ranger stations, which, un-
der the original clause, could have been
demanded as agricultural lands. ‘The
adoption of this modified amendment
has met with bitter opposition on the
floor of the Senate and the advocates
of the original timber grabbing amend-
ment threatened to filibuster against the
bill and prevent the passage of the ap-
propriations for the Forest Service un-
less they are permitted to have their
way.
When these forests were created they
were supposed to include lands more
valuable for their timber or for the pro-
tection of water sheds than for agri-
culture, and to exclude lands chiefly
valuable for agriculture. It was impos-
sible to avoid including some lands
within the original boundaries, which
were agricultural in character, but as
fast as the work could be done close
examinations were made of all forests
and the boundaries were readjusted to
exclude all large bodies of lands, not
heavily covered with valuable timber,
which could be used for agriculture.
This work has been completed for over
a year, but to supplement this classifica-
tion and make sure that there remain
no land genuinely desired and suitable
for farming, a law was passed June 11,
1906, permitting persons to apply
for any lands within the National For-
ests for homesteads. If, on examina-
527
528 AMERICAN
tion by the Forest Officers, these lands
prove to be agricultural and not more
valuable for their timber than for farm-
ing, they were listed for settlement. In
this way practically all lands of enough
possible agricultural value to induce
some one to apply for them, have been
or will be listed and eliminated from the
forests, except those lands which are
covered by heavy stands of timber on a
soil which would be agricultural, if
cleared. ‘The liberality of the Forest
Service in listing lands has gone even
beyond the points of the limits of wis-
dom, for in some cases on National
Forests, from twenty to forty per cent
of the lands listed on application of
would-be homesteaders are not even
filed upon, but remain vacant, and the
number of claims which are proved up
will fall far short of those listed.
There remains the heavily timber
lands with good soil. Under the opera-
tions of the old land laws, all such lands
were eagerly sought by claimants who
proved upon them as homesteads or se-
cured them under the Stone and ‘Tim-
ber acts. Few of these claimants had
the slightest intentions of retaining
these lands for homes and they sold
them to lumber companies at low prices
as soon as they obtained title. In this
way the large holding of the Western
Lumber men were built up.
To prevent a repetition of this process
to secure the true aims of the law and
encourage bona fide settlers and not
timber land grabbers, the Forest Service
has been obliged to report adversely on
hundreds of applications for timber
lands under the homestead provisions
FORESTRY
under the act of June 11, 1906. On
the other hand the service attempts to
encourage the sale of timber from these
lands as rapidly as possible. When the
timber is sold and cut the lands are
listed for settlement and none but the
genuine homesteaders ever apply.
If such lands should fall into the
hands of lumber companies who already
own vast areas, the chances are that they
will not be logged for many years. After
removing the timber the companies will
endeavor to sell these lands to settlers
who will thus be under the handicap of
paying for the land as well as clearing
it for farming. ‘The policy of the serv-
ice tends to concentrate lumbering and
sales on agricultural lands and is the
surest method of hastening the settle-
ment of such lands. It is evident that
under the present law agricultural de-
velopment is stimulated and not de-
layed.
The situation calls for immediate
action on the part of those who desire
the true development of the West and
are opposed to the old wasteful policy
of the past. The specious arguments
which are cited to justify this timber
grab break down in the light of those
facts. If the nation is to have timber
in the future, it must come largely from
lands owned by the Nation and the peo-
ple. If inroads upon these timber lands
are allowed to go on unchecked in the
interest of private greed, it will not be a
decade before the National Forests will
be reduced to barren rocks and snowy
mountain tops, which now compose
more than half their total area.
SHOOTING IN BURMA’
By A. J. Burterwick, &. A. C. Forests
N the beginning of this year I was
instructed to go and do markings
in the Mahuya and Paunglin Re-
serves, which lie on the eastern slopes of
the Pegu Yomas, and in which the two
chaungs, the Paunglin and Mahuya, take
their rise, and uniting, eventually form
what is commonly known in Burma as
the Pazundaung creek. When I arrived
at my destination, the villagers round
about came and gave me thrilling ac-
counts of the many tigers and elephants
which roamed about the surrounding
forests. As the latter class of animals
may not be shot except under certain
conditions, and as I had never shot a
tiger and was very anxious to do so,
I gave all my spare attention to the
former class. I tried again and again
to purchase a buffalo or cow-calf to put
SHOOTING IN BURMA
out as a bait, but the villagers refused
to sell me even one. I was thus forced
to rely on the chance of finding a kill
of a wild animal in the forests. I was
rather lucky in this, as about three
weeks after I had arrived, one of my
men one morning came upon the body
of a sambur stag which had been killed
by a tiger on the previous day. In the
course of the day I had my machan
erected on a conveniently situated tree
and at about 4.30 p. Mm. I started off
the kill, accompanied by two Burmans.
When I arrived there, to my great sur-
prise I came face to face with the tiger
having its meal. However, before I
could get a shot stripes was off. I felt
inclined to return to my camp, thinking
that the beast would not come back that
evening, but acting on the advice of
my Burmans, I changed my mind and
went to the machan followed by my
men. We had hardly been seated for
half an hour, when I saw the huge cat
coming stealthily along towards the kill,
taking cover most carefully for about
four or five seconds behind every bush
it came across. As it approached nearer
and nearer to the kill, I gradually
brought my rifle up to the present, and
as soon as it came into the open near
the carcass, I aimed for its heart and
fired. As soon as I had done so, the
beast gave a wild jump, let out a loud
roar and rolled over. At first I thought
it was dead, but after a short time it
got up and disappeared from sight into
the thick undergrowth. As it was
getting dark by then I decided not to
follow up the wounded animal, but re-
turned to camp as soon as possible. The
next morning, accompanied by almost
all the villagers who having heard of the
affair had early flocked to my tent, I
went in search of the tiger. When we
came to the site to my great astonish-
ment I found that the kill had been
dragged during the night. This could
mean either I had not mortally wounded
the tiger or else there was another ant-
mal feeding on the kill. The first sup-
position was soon dispelled, for we soon
after struck the trail of blood and found
stripes lying cold and stiff in a chaung
close by. It was a tigress I had shot,
and it measured 8 feet 6 inches. The
bullet had gone clean through its body,
and it must have died shortly after we
*Courtesy The Indian Forester,
529
had quitted the machdn the evening
before. The Burmans and Karens then
told me that its pair must be the animal
which had dragged the kill during the
night. I immediately had another
machan erected and went off to work.
I went out to the kill that evening at
about 3.30 P. M., but when I arrived
there I found that the body had been
dragged again by the beast during the
day. To enable me to see the carcass
clearly from the machan, I had the place
around it slightly cleared, but whether
this cutting frightened the animal or
not, nothing turned up that evening, al-
though I sat up till it was too dark to
see. The tiger, or whatever it was,
came, however, the same night and
dragged away the kill again. I had an-
other machdan erected near the new spot
and sat up again that evening. When
it was almost dusk, to my great surprise,
instead of a tiger a huge black bear
shambled out from the undergrowth and
started eating at the carcass. I soon
settled him with a shot through his
breast. I then naturally concluded, that
it must have been the bear that had
dragged the body of the deer the day
before. But the Burmans and Karens
would have it that it was a tiger and
even showed me fresh pug marks of
the huge cat. They also solemnly stated
that the tiger had not come because it
was atraid @f the bear, and that it
would come again now that the latter
was dead. I may here state that when
I was skinning this animal the villagers
were very keen on getting hold of a
part of the intestine they called the
the-gay. I do not know exactly what
organ of the bear’s body it is, but it
was considered very valuable as a medi-
cine by the people, and one villager
even offered me Rs. 5 for it. He was
greatly surprised when I declined to sell
it to him, but gave it away gratis to the
man who had helped me most in the
shoot. Well, to revert again to the kill,
I found the next morning that it had
been dragged yet again, and I was thor-
oughly astonished. In the evening I
sat up again on a newly-made machdn,
but it was in vain, as nothing appeared.
The next evening, however, I was more
fortunate, but again, instead of the ex-
pected tiger, another black bear came to
the kill, and I easily disposed of him.
NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE WORK*
By W. R. ‘Brown
T is a great privilege and pleasure
4 for the State of New Hampshire
to receive a visit from the D1-
rectors of the American Forestry Asso-
ciation and to extend to you and your
guests, not the keys of the City in this
case, but the open door of this, our
beautiful State. We are particularly
glad to welcome you, and it is especially
appropriate that you come to us just at
this time, to help us take stock of our
recently acquired land reservations;
and while we felicitate ourselves on the
happy termination of the event, we are
not unmindful that a large share of our
thanks is due to you for the aid and as-
sistance which you have so generously
given us, in our endeavor to have these
Federal, State and private reservations
established among the White Moun-
tains.
While earnest endeavors towards
conservation are being here crystallized
into a tangible fact; while this land is
about to be purchased and administered,
I must not fail to bring to your atten-
tion also the considerable responsibili-
ties which it involves, and that the ad-
ministration of this property wisely, will
have a great effect upon the common
acceptance which is given to the prac-
tice of forestry. Both the immediate
and potential good to be derived must
be clearly shown, for it must not be for-
gotten that the State is losing a consid-
erable income from taxation in the pass-
ing over of these lands.
I have been asked to give a short ac-
count of State work and will therefore
take up the administration of State land
first. For the first time in this country
the usefulness of preserving timber for
the protection of stream flow has been
actually demonstrated by the Geological
Department, and the maintenance of a
thick cover upon the headquarters of
the streams should be aimed for. This
530
will probably necessitate a certain
amount of planting on the waste and
cut-over areas, and the conservative cut-
ting of the tracts containing mature
trees. It will also carry with it eternal
vigilance against the spread of any fire,
and call for careful observation and
supervision of the general public, who
will make use of it in the way of a pub-
lic park. As much income as is compat-
ible with the essential preservation of
stream flow and park purposes, should
be derived from the cutting of the ma-
ture trees in order to help pay the nec-
essary expense of supervision and re-
stocking. It is extremely doubtful if
there will be anything but a debit bal-
ance for the first few years in the ad-
ministration of the present State lands,
but it is not unreasonable to prophecy
that in the case of the Federal Reserves
in the end, they will prove extremely
valuable to the Government and yield a
handsome income over and above the
cost of maintenance. Particularly will
New England profit by the demonstra-
tion which can there be made of silvi-
cultural practice of efficient methods of
protection against fire. And to the
Forest Service also the practical opera-
tion of logging methods designed to suit
New England conditions will be of high
educational value.
The reservations which have been
taken over are as follows: Two belong-
ing to the Association for the Protec-
tion of New Hampshire Forests, one of
which is the Lost River Reservation,
which you have seen, comprising 148
acres, and which it is proposed to main-
tain as a public park. This reservation
was secured through a widespread sub-
scription. ‘The other one, the Sunapee
Reservation, comprises 656 acres on
Sunapee Mountain, and was acquired
by those having places nearby and
through the generosity of Herbert
NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE WORK
Welsh. It contains much fine timber
and will be preserved as a demonstra-
tion forest.
The Appalachian Mountain Club has
eleven small reservations comprising
¥50 acres, acquired to preserve spots of
especial beauty to the mountain climber.
Belonging to the State are three small
reservations: Monadnock, on Monad-
nock Mountain, comprising 600 acres;
Harriman Reservation in the town of
Warner, comprising 200 acres; and
Haven Reservation in the town of Jaf-
fery, comprising 100 acres—all acquired
by gift to the State. These tracts should
be the nucleus of planted State lands,
if sufficient appropriation can be had
for this purpose. The State is also
engaged in taking over by Legislative
Act between five and six thousand acres
of the upper end of Harts T ocation,
which we shall have the pleasure of
showing you from Bretton Woods, ex-
tending as far south as Bemis Brook
just below the Frankenstein Cliff, and
comprising the most picturesque part of
Crawford’ Notch. A committee of
three, appointed by the Supreme Court,
is now sitting to hear testimony as to
values and areas, to determine the pric?
which will be paid the owners under
condemnation proceedings. After the
State has acquired this land the For-
estry Commission proposes to make a
working plan of the age and condition
of the various species of trees found
thereon, and report to the Governor and
Council with recommendations as to the
thinnings desirable in the different sec-
tioris. ‘To assist them in this it is pro-
posed to secure the services of a land-
scape architect to determine if short
vistas, giving a view of the lofty side
cliffs, cannot be opened up on both sides
of the carriage road at advantageous
places without doing injury to the now
almost complete shade. It is also pro-
posed that a suitable tablet, showing
it to be a State Reservation, might be
properly placed upon the cliff face at
the Northern entrance, and a gateway
at the South end. Paths to exception-
ally fine view points ought to be con-
structed, and such other suggestions as
would make it an attractive place to
visit should be carried out by means of
531
a liberal appropriation at the next legis-
lature.
he Federal Government has aiready
purchased three distinct areas; the first
of about 7,000 acres, comprising the
westerly slopes of Mt. Lafayette and
Mt. Garfield, through which the State
road dedicated to Mr. Anderson runs
between the Profile House and Twin
Mountain. ‘This, although largely cut
over for soft wood, is still coming up
to a fine growth, and offers much fu-
ture for the practice of forestry. The
second, a 30,000-acre tract, starts from
a point within a short distance of the
Mt. Washington Hotel and takes in
the whole of Cherry Mountain, the
Dartmouth Range, and the Northern
slopes of the Presidential Range as far
as Gorham, and contains considerable
areas of old growth timber, second
growth cuttings and waste lands, and
much of the finest scenery in the State.
The third has an area of about 35,000
acres in the valley of Wild River, some-
what off from the tourist route, but par-
ticularly desirable for its protection of
the stream flow and the coming up of
much young growth.
While the Federal, State and Private
forces are engaged in securing them-
selves in the possession of land, the
towns and municipalities who possess
the best opportunity for doing this, have
not as yet recognized the great advan-
tage which would return to them and to
the State from the purchase of their
waste lands. Many lands are thrown
upon the towns for taxes and could be
picked up at a small figure, and if this
was done no one step would go farther
towards solving the future timber sup-
ply of the State as a whole. The For-
estry Commission cannot too strongly
recommend the town and municipal
ownership of a certain portion of the
State and call this to the attention of all
selectmen and mayors of all cities, both
because they are in a splendid position
to bond for this purpose, which, if
rightly handled, should yield a net in-
come over and above the interest on
such bonds, and because the town in
the course of time would thereby in-
crease its value for taxation purposes,
and meanwhile furnish a labor market
close at hand for its citizens. A few
532 AMERICAN
cord and Nashua, have acquired land,
usually for the protection of reservoirs ;
ten thousand acres being the total
owned by towns throughout the State.
STUDY OF CONDITIONS
The State Forester has printed and
distributed a pamphlet on Forest Plant-
ing. In conjunction with the Forest
Service he has completed a report on
the woodworking industries of our
State, which will shortly come from the
press. He has completed five maps of
the four fire districts into which the
State is divided, for the use of the serv-
ice. He has made a complete map of
the railroads rights-of-way throughout
the State, showing the character of the
growth on each side in reference to the
danger from ignition by sparks from
locomotives. It is interesting to note
that this map shows that only bout
half of the 1,085 miles of railroads
within the State, or 456 miles, run
through woodland, and has proved of
much service in narrowing down and
locating the points at which fire has
and will most frequently occur, and
shows the necessary points at which
ditching outside could be most advan-
tageously done.
The State Forester has given thirty
lectures and five fair exhibitions. To-
gether with the members of the Forestry
Commission and Mr. F. H. Billard, For-
ester of the New Hampshire Timberland
Owners’ Association, nine warden con-
ferences have been held, with an aver-
age attendance of fifteen, at which the
laws were explained and the needs of
the different sections discussed, and co-
operation encouraged between neighbor-
ing towns. The services of the Boy
Scouts of New Hampshire have been
obtained through the offer by the for-
estry Commission of two gold, three
silver, and five bronze medals for as-
sistance in the apprehension and ex-
tinguishment of fire, through such rules
and regulations as have been found safe
and practical in other parts of the coun-
try ; the committee of award to be com-
posed of the Governor, the Chief of the
Boy Scouts, and the State Forester.
An organization for fire protection
has been perfected with the active
FORESTRY
co-operation of the towns and ‘Tim-
berland Land Owners’ Association
and the Federal Serice, which com-
prises at the present time in total
24 mountain lookout stations with
watchmen, 24 regular patrol routes and
50 temporary ones at times of extreme
dry weather; the distribution of 30 tool
boxes containing fire-fighting tools at
inaccessible points; the construction of
60 miles of telephone line; the cutting
out of 29 miles of trails; the making of
12 contour maps for the mountain look-
out stations, and the appointment of
224 regular and 400 deputy fire wardens
in the towns of the State.
A renewal of the Federal assistance
under the Weeks law was obtained of
$8,000, an increase of $800 over the
amount obtained last year.
At the close of last year’s fire season
a little over one thousand fires had been
reported on blanks furnished the fire
wardens for this purpose, of which 133
were apprehended by mountain look-
outs. The majority of these fires were
extinguished in their incipiency, the few
which got away burning over forty-two
thousand acres. The wooded area of
the State being reckoned at four mil-
lion acres, the resulting burned area
amounted to about 1%, if the land
burned over was a fair average in value
of the whole; this in a year which was
decidedly unfavorable throughout the
country. The proportionate area burned
in the northern part of the State where
the best patrol had been established was
7-10 of 1%, while the proportionate
area in the southern part of the State
was 1 3-10%, showing the efficiency
directly attributable to additional patrol
and watchfulness. Even with the fires
confined to this small percentage of the
area, the whole damage _ reported
through the State was on this 1% of
the total area, $206,000. About $38,000
was spent last year from all sources
representing the State, the towns, the
timberland owners and the Federal Gov-
ernment, or an insurance premium paid,
we will say, of about 1-5 of 1%, so that
we are led to believe that if a few
thousand dollars more were spent in
protection it would yield immense re-
turns in the saving of even a portion of
this $206,000. Co-operation has been
RURAL MAIL PATROL
established with the Boston & Maine
Railroad during the year, leading to the
appointment of Mr. E. A. Ryder at the
head of a Fire Claims Department, and
an agreement with the State Commis-
sion that if the crew section bosses in any
towns are appointed State Deputy Fire
Wardens, the railroad will take charge
of all fires originating from their right-
of-way, and reimburse the towns in
which said fire occurs for all expense
incurred in extinguishing the same.
Also that all section crews will be in-
structed and equipped to handle fires
occurring in their section; that all sta-
tion agents will be instructed to post
notices within stations and to actively
assist in spreading alarm and securing
aid and assistance in the case of fires,
occuring on each side of their station ;
that fire signals from engines will be
sounded, and that a commencement will
be made towards cleaning up the slash
and ditching outside of the right-of-
way in dangerous places. Legislation
calling for the permission and assistance
of adjacent land owners in this most
important work should be passed at the
next Legislature. Two large mogul oil
burning engines have been installed on
the Maine Central Railroad to run up
the heavy grade through the Crawford
Notch, and it is particularly desired that
this installation be extended to other
branch roads throughout the State.
*An address delivered at North Woodstock,
ference.
533
A movement towards the protection
of forests from over taxation has been
started at the recent convention to
amend the constitution of New Hamp-
shire, and a bill passed to amend the
equal and proportionate assessment of
all property for the purpose of taxation
and to allow a special classification of
timberland. This will enable the com-
ing Legislature to act if it is so dis-
posed to do. The various methods
under which this could be done will be
discussed at a special meeting Friday
morning at the Mt. Pleasant Hotel.
The Commission regrets that it was
not possible for the party to go by
the way of Boscowen where the
State has now some three hundred
thousand transplants of White, Red
and Scotch Pine, Norway Spruce,
Balsam Fir, Red Oak, Chestnut and
Basswood under cultivation preparatory
to selling them during the coming sea-
son. The nursery distributed two hun-
dred thousand trees during the past
year, principally for planting on farms.
n the run to-morrow to Bretton
Woods a few of the reservations spoken
of above can be seen by the party, and
some of the mountains on which lookout
stations have been established, and the
Commission joins with the Association
in hoping that the weather, the road and
the automobiles for the run be equally
settled and propitious for your pleasure.
July 17, at the Fifth Annual Forest Con-
RURAL MAIL PATROL
By J. G. Peters, Forest Service
HROUGH the co-operation of
the Post Office Department a
special order has been issued to
postmasters in practically all the Na-
tional Forests and in the States which
have established fire protective systems
to instruct rural mail carriers to report
forest fires. For several years in some
of the National Forests there has been
informal co-operation of this nature be-
tween the rangers and mail carriers, and
its effectiveness in securing increased
protection has been clearly demon-
strated. Now, all national and State
forest officers who have requested as-
sistance of this kind may receive it.
The plan is for the carrier to report
a fire to the nearest forest officer on his
route; or, if no officer lives on the
route, to have him notifed by some re-
sponsible citizen. The State Foresters
and National District Foresters are sup-
plied with post maps showing the routes
traversed and with Postal Guides con-
taining the addresses of the different
postmasters, who are, in turn, supplied
by the Foresters with the names, ad-
dresses, and telephone call numbers of
534 AMERICAN
forest officers residing on or near the
carriers’ routes. Thus, the carriers as
instructed by the postmasters will con-
stitute a valuable supplement to the
regular patrol maintained by federal
and State officers, who are often unable,
through lack of numbers, to give full
protection. The plan is purposely ex-
tremely simple; the carrier will not
necessarily be compelled to leave his
vehicle or deviate from his course.
As can readily be seen, the effective-
ness of the work will depend in a large
measure upon the ability of the Forest
officers and the postal employes to co-
operate closely. Star route contractors
and carriers are not ordered, but are re-
quested, to co-operate.
The special order is as follows:
“In accordance with the request of
the Secretary of Agriculture, this De-
partment has arranged a plan of co-
operation with State and National For-
est officers whereby rural and star route
carriers shall report forest fires discov-
ered by them along their routes to
persons designated by the State and
National authorities to receive such in-
telligence.
“Co-operation with State officers will
be given in the following States: Maine,
New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu-
setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mary-
land, West Virginia, Tennessee, Ken-
FORESTRY
tucky, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota,
Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Cali-
fornia.
“The National Forest officers will be
co-operated with in the following
States: Florida, Arkansas, South Da-
kota, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico,
Arizona, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Wash-
ington, Oregon, and California.
“The State and National authorities
will inform postmasters as to whom the
discovery of fires should be reported,
and each rural carrier should be di-
rected to co-operate to the fullest ex-
tent with such authorities in the man-
ner agreed upon, namely, that the car-
rier shall report a fire to the nearest
State fire warden or National Forest
officer on his route, or, if no such war-
den or officer lives on the route, to ar-
range through some responsible citizen
to have him notified, by telephone, if
possible. Star route contractors and
carriers are included in the plan of co-
operation and should be requested to re-
port the discovery of fires in the same
manner as will be done by the rural
carriers.
“Postmasters in or near National
Forests are also directed to report fires
to the nearest Forest officer.”
Respectfully,
(Signed) P. V. DeGraw,
Fourth Assistant Postmaster General.”
THE PRESENT FIRE SEASON ON THE NATIONAL
FORESTS
fire losses within the National
Forests during the calendar year
1912 have been unusually light. A late
spring, with»plentiful rain, has char-
acterized the general climatic conditions
in the West. :
The most serious fire of the season
so far occurred on the Olympic Na-
tional Forest, Washington, where 640
acres of cedar and spruce were covered
by a crown fire which killed twenty
million feet of Government timber and
ten million feet of private timber. It
was caused by the carelessness of
O: to the middle of July the forest
settlers in burning brush, and the whole
area was devastated in about two hours
because a strong wind was blowing at
the time. Another fire destroyed 350,-
000 feet on the Rainier Forest.
Outside the National Forests, espe-
cially in portions of Washington, fires
have been quite frequent in old slash-
ings.
The total number of fires within Dis-
trict 6, which comprises the National
Forests of Oregon and Washington, re-
ported to the middle of July, is 43, of
which only the two mentioned above
caused much damage.
PRESENT FIRE SEASON ON NATIONAL, FORESTS
Further south, in California, which
forms District 5, 154 fires have been re-
ported up to July 20. These burned
over a total of about 6,000 acres, of
which one of 4,000 and another of 953
acres, both on Kern River, did the prin-
cipal damage. While the weather con-
ditions during the early part of the sea-
son greatly reduced the fire danger, the
recent reports indicate that it is in-
creasing, nearly one-half of all the fires
having occurred in the last week re-
ported. As yet, however, the damage
has not been great, and the fire or-
ganization is working splendidly.
In District 1, which includes Michi-
gan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Mon-
tana, and northern Idaho, the weather
conditions during June were again con-
ducive to safety for the forests. The
dry weather in the first part of May
resulted in a number of small fires, all
of which were easily controlled. In
these States there is a marked tendency
on the part of lumbermen, railroads, and
timberland owners to improve the fire
situation by taking care of slashings and
railroad rights of way. The Northern
Pacific Railroad Company has adopted
systematic clearing of its rights of way,
which will materially lessen the fire
hazard. The Great Northern and the
Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navi-
gation Company have signified their in-
tention of doing likewise. The North-
ern Pacific has turned over its holdings
in northern Idaho within the National
Forests to the protection afforded by
the timber protective associations. This
will greatly strengthen the protective
work in Idaho.
An agreement between Montana and
the Forest Service, now in preparation,
provides for the protection of State
lands within and contiguous to the For-
ests, and relieves the Service of the
patrol of districts containing large tracts
of State timberland, thus permitting
more intensive patrol by the Service in
sections hitherto inadequately pro-
tected.
Idaho and Montana are expecting to
secure funds under the Weeks law to
augment their share in protecting tim-
berlands. Altogether, the situation in
this District is much improved over
previous years.
535
The notable success of the Chicago,
Milwaukee, and Puget Sound Railway
in keeping down forest fire loss is due
to the use of oil-burning locomotives.
Their adoption by other roads will
greatly lessen the fires in any forested
country.
Up to June 20, 38 fires occurred
within the National Forests of Michi-
gan, Northern Idaho, North Dakota and
Montana. These burned over about
2,500 acres, of which less than 80 acres
were covered with merchantable timber.
Twenty of these fires were started by
railroad locomotives, 10 by campers, 1
from careless brush burning, 1 by in-
cendiarism, and the rest were of un-
known origin. Since then about the
same number of fires, mostly small ones,
have been reported; one, however,
covered 331 acres. So far weather con-
ditions have been good, yet it is not ex-
pected that the whole season will be
passed without some considerable losses.
Much will depend upon rains and the
continued co-operation of the public,
especially the campers and the railroads.
In the central Rocky Mountain re-
gion, District 2, a late spring with fre-
quent rains has up to the present time
been instrumental in holding down fire
loss to a gratifyingly small amount.
About 50 fires, mostly small ones, have
occurred, but the damage has been
negligible.
A grass fire burned over nearly 31,000
acres within the Nebraska National
Forest, but as is well known, this is
in the barren sandhill region and is
only prospective timberland, since the
most of the Forest is yet to be planted
tO*trees.
Arizona and New Mexico, in District
3, up to the present time have suffered
most, except for the crown fire on the
Olympic in Washington. Reporting last
on July 16, the District Forester states
that 236 fires have occurred, burning
over altogether 46,840 acres, and neces-
sitating an expense for fighting them of
about $5,000, exclusive of salaries of
Forest officers.
The most serious fire was in the
Sitgreaves National Forest, in east-
central Arizona, where lightning set a
fire which spread lightly over 22,560
acres, consuming the forest litter and
536
killing 50 per cent of the young growth,
but destroying practically none of the
commercial timber. Another one, which
burned over 4,000 acres within the
Crook National Forest, was similar in
character and effect. It, too, was caused
by lightning, as the great majority of
the fires in District 3 have been this sea-
son. Abundant, frequent showers set
in about the middle of July, as is usual
in that region. ‘The total damage from
these fires has been small, since many
of the most extensive ones were grass
fires.
In southern Idaho, Utah, and Nevada,
in District 4, late snows, a backward
spring, and frequent showers have been
RESOLUTION TO
Each member of the United States
Senate has been sent a copy of the fol-
lowing resolution which was adopted at
the meeting of the Board of Directors
of the American Forestry Association
at Bretton Woods, N. H., on July 18,
and asked to give his careful considera-
tion of it.
Whereas, amendment 85 to Agricul-
tural Appropriation Act (H. R. 18960,
62nd Congress, 2nd Session), page 50,
provides that the Secretary of Agricul-
ture is hereby directed and required to
select, classify and segregate as soon as
practicable, all lands within the bound-
aries of national forests that are suit-
able 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 homestead law, be it
Resolved, That the American For-
estry Association, a national organiza-
tion, with a membership in every State
in the Union, and with which numerous
AMERICAN FORESTRY
unfavorable to fires. Only 11 fires have
been reported, and the total damage was
practically nothing.
Although there is yet plenty of time
for disastrous fires, the situation so far
is very gratifying to the officers of the
Forest Service. While frequent rain
has held down the fire loss so far, it
has also, in connection with a long
growing season during spring and sum-
mer, caused an unusually rank growth
of grass and weeds within the open
stands of timber. When this vegetation
becomes dried out during possible later
summer droughts, the fire menace will
be increased.
THE SENATORS
State forestry organizations are affiliat-
ed, declares that the passage of this
amendment would result in abuses such
as took place before the National For-
ests were created, that many areas cov-
ered with enormous stands of valuable
timber would pass to private ownership
without settlement actually taking place ;
that it would prevent the Secretary of
Agriculture withholding from entry
lands which are of great value as water-
power sites, for the developments of ir-
rigation works and other purposes, as
well as lands needed for public pur-
poses, and be it
Resolved, That the American For-
estry Association, declaring that the
public interests would be seriously
jeopardized by the passage of the
amendment in its original form, and
that it would be against public policy,
solicits the careful consideration, by
each member of the United States Sen-
ate, of the request that the amendment
shall not be passed in its original form.
STUDYING FOREST CONDITIONS IN NEW YORK
ROM statistics gathered already
by the State Conservation De-
partment,” says Hugh P. Baker,
dean of the New York State College of
Forestry at Syracuse University, in a
letter addressed to the Conservation
Commission, “we know that New York
now secures only about one-fourth of
the wood it uses from the lands of the
State, sending outside the cost price for
three-fourths of its wood. This means
that New York is sending into other
States several millions of dollars for
wood that its 12,000,000 acres of forest
land could be made to produce easily
under scientific forest management.
Such area of forest land, if properly
managed, would not only supply fully
the needs of the State, but there would
be a large surplus which would bring
considerable money back into the State
as the material is exported.”
These conservation facts and conclu-
sions, brought home to the head of the
State College of Forestry at Syracuse
by the Conservation Commission’s in-
vestigations and bulletins, have prompt-
ed the college to inaugurate this fall
“A study of the wood-working indus-
tries of New York.” In announcing
this plan to the Conservation Commis-
sion, Dean Baker makes the following
statement, which forecasts a valuable co-
operation with the State department in
the practical conservation of the State’s
forests and lands best adapted to grow-
ing trees:
“For some time various States and
the National Government have felt the
necessity of taking stock both of our
forests and of the wood that we are
using in our manufacturing and for
other purposes. Until we do know defi-
nitely as to how much we have left in
our forests and how much we are using
annually, can we say exactly how long
our virgin forest will last and how soon
we must prepare for the time when all
of our forests will be so-called “second
growth.” The United States Forest
Service began some three years ago this
stock taking as far as the wood-working
industries are concerned by making co-
operative studies with various States.
Such studies have been made in some
ten or twelve States including New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Vir-
ginia, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and
Washington. On July 1st the study of
New York conditions was begun and
the Government Service considers it so
important that it will open an office in
New York City so that the various
parts of the State may be more effec-
tively covered by the agents of the New
York State College of Forestry and the
. Forest Service.
“Blank sheets and cards are being
sent out to manufacturers throughout
the State, asking for the kinds of wood
used, for what used, form, quantity in
board feet, cost per thousand, and the
source of the material used. Also what
attempts have been made to use waste
material for purposes other than fuel.
As the data is gathered it will be tabu-
lated with the idea of determining ex-
actly the purpose for which the various
woods are most generally used, how
much is being used, its cost and where
the State is getting it. From statistics
gathered already by the State Conser-
vation Commission, we know that New
York now secures only about one-
fourth of the wood it uses from the
lands of the State, sending outside the
cost price for three-fourths of its wood.
This means that New York is sending
into other States several million dollars
for wood that its 12,000,000 acres of
forest land could be made to produce
easily under scientific management.
Such an area of forest land, if properly
managed, would not only supply fully
the needs of the State, but there would
be a large surplus which would bring
considerable money back into the State
as the material is exported.”
537
STATE NEWS
Vermont
The Republican Party in Vermont has
adopted the following plank in its platform:
“The maintenance of the forests of the
State is of prime importance. We believe
that adequate measures should be taken by
the General Assembly to safeguard the for-
ests from insect ravages, fires and other de-
structive agencies; that the forestry branch
of the State government should be strength-
ened and that forest tracts suitable for
nurseries and for demonstration of the most
approved forestry methods should be ac-
quired and utilized for these purposes in
various parts of the State.
“We approve the present policy of encour-
aging private owners to re-forest their waste
lands in an intelligent manner. Conservation
of such woodlands should be fostered by a
liberal tax policy.”
The State has just acquired two new State
forests: one of between 800 and 1,000 acres,
including Bald Mountain in Mendon, about
three miles from the city of Rutland ; the
other in Townshend of about 700 acres in the
beautiful West River valley of Southern
Vermont. Both of these tracts are admirably
located for demonstration purposes.
Colorado
Every day has been Arbor Day high up on
the slopes of Pike’s Peak lately. Govern-
ment forestry officials have been replanting
a vast area which was fire swept more than
fifty years ago. Hundreds of thousands of
pine seed and young trees have been planted
on barren slopes, marking the first important
step toward reforesting the entire Rocky
Mountain range—or so much as is included
in the national forests.
With the denuded areas on the slopes of
the Rockies covered with a sturdy growth
of young trees, the snowfall in the moun-
tains will be much slower in melting. This
will hold back the waters which now rush
to the Mississippi Valley from the Rocky
Mountain watershed in April and May.
These late floods have done the most damage
this season, as their addition to streams al-
ready bank full has proved too great a strain
for levees.
Minnesota
The importance of the forests in the south-
eastern part of Minnesota and the oppor-
tunities for further economic value are little
realized, in the opinion of W. F. Cox, state
forester, who returned yesterday from an
extensive trip. The forestry service has
538
started an investigation of the situation,
looking toward the protection of the forests
in that portion of the State.
“Certain counties have about half forested
land, in spite of the fact the country has
been settled longer than other parts of the
state,’ said Mr. Cox. “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 par-
ticularly adapted for municipal forests. They
could be bought cheaply and would make
beautiful parks.”
South Dakota
Two years ago the forest service seeded
with pine a tract of 500 acres near Savoy in
the Spearfish canyon country and results
manifest thus far show that the work will
prove a success. The young trees are up
over the entire tract and appear to be strong
and healthy. In most instances they have
already attained a height of six or eight
inches.
In the Redfern district, where a tract of
several hundred acres was seeded at the
same time, the results have not been so suc-
cessful, although in many places there a new
growth of pine has started, which promises
to develop well. On the whole, the growth
there is not as good as in the Spearfish dis-
trict, but the work is far from being un-
successful.
New York
Nearly 3,000,000 acres of land in New
York State, or about 8 per cent of the total
area of the State, are in immediate need of
reforestation, being now without profitable
growth of any kind, is the statement of the
conservation commission based on a careful
survey just completed.
To encourage the farmers of the State to
recover these waste lands and to instruct
them how to restore and handle his woodlot
so as to produce the best results is one of
the important undertakings of the conser-
vation commission, which was created by
Governor Dix and the Democratic legisla-
ture.
STATE
The proper care and maintenance of grow-
ing forests and the restoration of lands
which have been denuded but are not avail-
able for cultivation are important to the
people of the State as a whole because of
the effect of the forests upon rainfall and
control of streams, but the reforestation of
waste tracts under conditions which have
been created by the conservation commission
affords an opportunity for individual profit
to the farmers while working for the gen-
eral welfare of the State.
California
An increase of $48,000 in the receipts from
the national forests in California for the
fiscal year ending June 31, 1912, over those
for the previous 12 months is shown in the
annual statement of receipts just issued from
the main office in San Francisco of district
5 of the United States forest service.
The total receipts for 1911-1912 were
$272,433, against $224,531 for 1910-1911. An
increase in nearly all the departments from
which revenue is obtained is shown in the
report, timber sales being a particular feature
with an increase of $35,000 in the past year.
In this time $119,128 worth o1 timber was
sold, against $84,471 during the previous
fiscal year.
For settlements on timber destroyed in the
building of railroads and reservoirs or other-
wise, $6,347 was received in 1911-1912, and
$4,441 in 1910-1911. For timber trespass
there is a decrease, $7,451 being collected
against $12,205 for the previous year; $95,-
504 was paid for grazing privileges, an in-
crease of $4,009 for the last year. For water
power approximately $42,000 was received
compared with $31,000 the year before.
Kentucky
Prof. Arthur M. Miller, dean of the Col-
lege of Arts and Sciences, and professor of
geology at Kentucky State University, has
written an interesting paper on the proposed
arboretum for the Capitol grounds at Frank-
fort in which he points out the difficulties
in the way of having each county in the
State represented by a separate species of
tree, and mentions the objection which any
county would have to being typified by the
sassafras or persimmon, everywhere stand-
ing for poor land, and the unpoetic associa-
tions of the pignut. Prof. Miller suggests
that before it is too late a section of a mam-
moth Kentucky oak should be secured, on
which, when polished as a scroll, the prin-
cipal events of Kentucky s history should be
recorded, making it similar to the famous
tablet in the Kensington Museum in Eng-
land. Prof. Miller’s paper contains a strik-
ing and instructive history of the native trees
of Kentucky.
NEWS 539
Pennsylvania
Thirty-five sophomore forestry students of
the Pennsylvania State College are en-
camped for the summer in N. P. Wheeler’s
“forest primeval,” Forest county, under the
supervision of Professor Clark, head of the
Forestry Department of State College, and
his assistants. Mr. Wheeler is showing them
a few of the original “big sticks’ and a
good field is offered both for a scientific and
practical study of forestry.
New York
“We have eleven million baby trees ready
for distribution among the people of the
State of New York,” is the statement made
at the New York State, Forest, Fish and
Game Bureau.
These small trees are to be sold within the
State at the extremely low price of $4 a
thousand.
This, it is asserted by the bureau officials,
shows that New York has taken the lead in
the great forestry movement that now is
sweeping the whole country. It is declared
these eleven million trees mean the salvation
of this State in the years to come.
The bureau officials say that the spirit of
conservation is manifest in all the cities as
well as in the rural districts, the question
being recognized as vital to the nation. New
York plainly is leading the great move-
ment.
Growth of tree culture sentiment nowhere
is in greater evidence, assert the expert for-
esters. One tree grower wants an almost un-
limited number of white pine trees from six
to fifteen feet high. The stipulation is that
these trees must be growing from six to
twenty feet apart in a loam, preferably not
more than four miles from a railroad.
Texas
Texas is the largest State and has more
forested area than any other, though the
total stand of its timber is much below some
of the rest. The area of its woodland has
been placed at about 40,000,000 acres; but it
is difficult to draw the line between forested
and unforested land in the State. There
are all grades and degrees from the heavily
timbered pine belts of the east to the thinly
covered brush land in some of the central,
southern and western parts. Much land is
covered with tree growth and yet is incap-
able of producing a large amount of mer-
chantable lumber, because the trees are too
small for milling purposes. There is room
for difference of opinion as to where the
lines should be properly drawn. between the
timbered and untimbered portions of Texas.
The estimate of 40,000,000 acres land includes
only that which now is capable of yielding
a reasonable amount of saw timber per acre
and does not include wide expanses of brush.
540
California
A newspaper report says: A considerable
fortune is being spent by wealthy Califor-
nians in an effort to save groves on beautiful
estates near this city from a blight that has
recently attacked most of the trees. Tree
surgeons are gathering here from various
parts of the country and are working hard
under offers of large rewards if they can
stop the destruction. Should they fail, it is
probable that foresters will be brought from
Europe.
The blight is in the form of a fungus
known as the volsairia bacteria. After it has
taken hold on a tree thousands of worms
develop. They are much like the carpenter
borer. These pierce the bark through and
through, and sometimes make large holes.
Their ravages were not detected until many
of the fine shade trees wilted this season
and were threatened with quick death. Tree
authorities of Stanford’ University were
called in and found that the blight extended
among the estates in beautiful Menlo Park.
They also discovered that the disease was
spreading rapidly to the north.
New Jersey
The report of the New Jersey Forest Com-
mission for 1911 is being distributed. This
AMERICAN FORESTRY
shows that the chief effort of the Commis-
sion is to give value to the forests through
fire control. The State owns and can own
no important part of the forests within her
borders, but by encouraging and helping
those who do own them a better order will
be established.
In New Jersey most forest fires occur in
the spring, and the spring of 1911 was so
exceptionally dry that the fire hazard was
greatly increased. Nevertheless, the fire
service which has been developed during six
years succeeded in lessening the number of
fires by 13 per cent., and in reducing total
damage by 32 per cent. over what was suf-
fered the previous year. In neighboring
States under similar conditions the fire loss
was from two to five times as great as that
of the preceding season. The report points
out that most of the railroads are doing
their utmost to prevent fires. Their em-
ployees and the firewardens succeeded so
well in meeting the situation that of 200 fires
started only 17 burned as much as ten acres.
A strong indication of the railroads’ inter-
est is found in the statement that they have
built 235 miles of fire lines, practically vol-
untarily, and at their own cost. Of the 64
fires due to brush burning some were serious,
though what might have happened is sug-
gested by the showing that upwards of 2,400
brush burning permits were issued.
PRESERVATION OF MINE TIMBERS
The Forest Service has issued Bulletin 107, treating of the “Preservation of Mine
Timbers.” Practical methods of increasing the durability of timber are given. First,
peeling is advised, by which simple and inexpensive treatment the life of timber is increased
from 10 to 15 per cent. Seasoned timber, it is claimed, will last 25 per cent longer in a
mine than green timber and hence it is advised that the timber be seasoned in the woods
before shipping.
INVENTORY OF FOREST LANDS
In accordance with the requirement that it investigate phases of forestry of value to
all the people of the State, the new State College of Forestry at Syracuse University is)
taking an inventory of New Vork’s forest lands. Although New York no longer ranks
as one of the big lumber producing States, it is not without resources in its forests. Dean
Baker of the College of Forestry believes that Scientific management would make them
vastly greater and an important benefit.
NEWS AND NOTES
Canadian Forestry Association
Much interest is being taken in the forth-
coming annual meeting of the Canadian
Forestry Association which will take place
in Victoria, B. C., from September 4 to 6.
Not for six years has the gathering been
held on the Pacific Coast. The Province of
British Columbia has just enacted a new
timber and forestry law and is adopting a
progressive attitude in regard to the con-
servation and proper disposal of its inval-
uable timber wealth. Much concern is evi-
denced on the Coast in regard to the new
law and to modern methods of lumbering
and clearing the pulp wood off the limits.
A conference on farm forestry will be one
of the features of the Seventh International
Dry Farming Congress, which will be held
in Lethbridge, Alta., from October 21 to 26.
Dr. A. R. Myers, of Moncton, IN Beset
out 40,000 white pine last spring and all are
thriving. The owner expects to plant 50,000
more this season and 100,000 more white pine
early next spring.
Boy Scouts Aiding
Nearly 100 scoutmasters representing the
Boy Scouts of America in Pennsylvania,
have appointed five wardens to serve during
the present year.
These scoutmasters are located in various
counties throughout Pennsylvania, and are
empowered to exercise to the full powers of
fire wardens should forest fires occur at any
point within their jurisdiction.
Members of the Boy Scout troops are
co-operating in the work of preventing forest
fires, and it is reported much valuable work
along this line has already been done by the
boys.
These appointments have been made by
Robert S. Conklin, commissioner of for-
estry of Pennsylvania, upon the suggestion
of the executive officers of the Pennsylvania
Chestnut-tree Blight Commission. The com-
mission was inspired to make this suggestion
by the great value of the services of the
Boy Scouts in detecting the presence of
chestnut-tree blight, and in reporting the lo-
cation of the diseased trees to the com-
mission. National and State authorities have
heartily commended the scouts for their in-
terest in forest conservation.
Sewall in Maine
James W. Sewall, formerly forestry mana-
ger of the Appleton & Sewall Co., of New
York City, has opened an office at Old Town,
Maine, where he will continue his business
of the mapping or surveying of wild lands,
or the estimation of timber. Mr. Appleton
has been in ill health for some time and the
firm decided to give up its forestry work
on that account. Mr. Sewall has with him
the almost intact field force of the company.
Hickory Trees Killed
Numerous magnificent hickory trees have
been killed by the pernicious hickory bark
borer in the vicinity of New York City.) “Ut
has destroyed thousands of trees in the
central part of the State, while recent in-
vestigations show that it is at work in the
Hudson Valley, near Tivoli, and probably is
injurious in numerous other places. The
severe droughts of the last two or three
years have undoubtedly been favorable to the
development of the pest, since the vitality
of many of the trees has been lowered, and
they have been thus rendered more suscep-
tible to attack by insect enemies.
Wireless in Forests
Wireless telegraph stations for use in
transmitting messages to rangers when for-
est fires are discovered are to be built on
summits in various sections of Vermont.
The first station is to be built on Mt. Pico,
ten miles east of Rutland, at an altitude of
3,900 feet.
Other stations will be erected on moun-
tains to the north.
Forests in China
The United States Consular Report says:
Forestry is a subject in which the Chinese
evince no interest, as there are no forests
in that country. The Great Plain, on which
Tien-Tsin is located, never had forests, being
entirely of delta formation, and the moun-
tainous regions to the north and west were
denuded of their forests centuries ago. The
surface soil of these mountains has been
washed away, and to reforest them would be
a matter of great difficulty. The only
nurseryman in this consular district is 18,
Bade, of the Tien-Tsin Nursery Gardens,
who is much interested in tree culture. He
raises various shade and otnamental trees
from seed, but the soil of the Great Plain
is alkaline and comparatively few varieties
of trees will flourish in it. A British cor-
poration engaged in mining and shipping has
a concession for coal mining in the Kaiping
district, about eighty miles northwest of
Tien-Tsin. The surface of the region is
broken by hills from fifty to two hundred
feet high, which are absolutely bare of trees,
and the company has begun work of affores-
tation. It already has 1,000,000 young trees
growing, chiefly acacia, and is preparing to
coated a nursery for them on an extensive
scale.
541
542
New York’s Oldest Tree
The oldest tree on the Island of Manhat-
tan, one that is declared to be more than 303
years old, has had its identity established and
the authenticity of its age proved by the city
administration after a thorough investiga-
tion into its right to be called the oldest in-
habitant.
This is the discovery of a living tree that
flourished when Hendrik Hudson in the good
ship Half Moon sailed up the river which
was to receive his name.
The city has taken this tree under special
care and henceforth it is to be guarded from
vandalism and as much as possible from the
ravages of insect warfare and the natural
process of decay.
The tree is a tulip, and a giant at that.
The trunk at the base is: about 24 feet in
circumference. The trunk bifurcates eight
feet from the base. Its top reaches up about
a hundred feet and near the top it spreads
out like a big elm with generous shade.
It is the only tree so far as known that
existed before the first Hollanders set foot
on Manhattan soil.
Reforestation at the Capital
Reforestation of the Capitol grounds by
prominent statesmen is the latest fad at
Washington. The old German custom of
planting a tree every time one is destroyed
has been inaugurated, and there is a rush
among Congressmen for planting privileges.
A purple beech that grew in northern New
York, near the home of Vice-President Sher-
man, now adorns the Capitol grounds, near
Delaware avenue and B street northeast, at
the brow of the hill on the north drive.
Other public men, including Speaker Clark,
former Speaker Cannon and a number of
prominent candidates, will be invited to plant
trees, and there promises to be a lively arbor
campaign. Among the trees that will be
planted are the walnut, hickory and red oak,
each man selecting the tree under which he
loved to linger in his boyhood.
Superintendent Elliott Woods is providing
photographs of the recent tree planting, to
be filed away with the official records, and
reforestation is now having its innings on
the Capitol grounds.
Boy Scouts to Save Trees
The Boy Scouts of America have leagued
themselves together as an army to save the
trees and shrubs of America from insects
and diseases. The work started in Pennsyl-
vania, where thousands of chestnut trees are
being destroyed. The boys have been of
great help to the Forestry Department in de-
tecting this disease and reporting the trees
thus afflicted to the department.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
That work afforded an excellent piece of
scouting for boys, and the result has been
that Boy Scouts throughout the country have
written to James E. West, Chief Scout
Executive of the Boy Scouts of America,
asking for information about other diseases
and insects that attack trees and shrubs. As
a result George H. Merritt, one of the secre-
taries employed by the Boy Scouts of Amer-
ica, is compiling, with the aid of Gifford
Pinchot, former United States Forester, and
member of the National Council of the Boy
Scouts of America, a chapter for the manual
and for the scoutmasters, outlining different
diseases of the most important trees.
Appointed as Forester
E. C. M. Richards has been appointed tem-
porarily as forester of the Park Department
of Queens Borough, New York. The exam-
ination for a permanent appointee will be
held in the near future. Mr. Richards was
graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School
and from the School of Forestry at Yale
University.
A New Douglas Spruce
Arthur Smith, of Reading, Pa., writes that
a French explorer, Dr. Dode, has discovered
a new species of Pseudotsuga, the habitat of
which is a limestone district, 8,000 feet above
the sea, in the province of Yunnan, China. It
is reported to be closely allied to Pseudotsuga
Japonica, Beissner, a native of Japan and
Formosa, with which it agrees in having its
leaves emarginate at the apex, but differing
in having larger cones and seeds, with more
numerous scales. The new species has been
named Pseudotsuga sinensis Dode, and it ap-
pears probable that it will prove a valuable
addition to our cultivated forest trees.
May Form Forest Protective Association
Wisconsin paper and pulp manufacturers
are interested in a movement started at a
meeting held at Oshkosh, looking toward the
formation of a forest protective association
operative in the northern forests of Wiscon-
sin. Several of the companies were repre-
sented at the meeting. Lumbermen and tim-
ber land owners predominated, however.
After debating and discussing the question
one entire day, the meeting voted that pre-
liminary steps be taken in the matter of form-
ing a definite organization. More than a
half million acres of timber land were spoken
for at the meeting, and it is believed that
this amount can be more than doubled when
active organization work is undertaken.
EDUCATIONAL
Appointments at Syracuse
Since Dr. Hugh P, Baker, formerly in
charge of the Department of Forestry at
the Pennsylvania State College, took charge
of the New York State College of Forestry
at Syracuse University on April 1st, the fol-
lowing additions have been made to the
Forestry Faculty:
Professor Frank F. Moon, who for the
past two years has been in charge of Fores-
try at the Massachusetts Agricultural College,
comes to the College as Professor of Forest
Engineering. Professor Moon is a graduate
of Amherst College and the Yale Forest
School, 1909. After working for the Forest
Service in Texas, he was appointed Forester
of the Highlands of Hudson Forest Reser-
vation, and while connected with the Forest,
Fish and Game Commission of New York,
prepared a bulletin on the Forest Conditions
of Warren County, New York. Professor
Moon will spend the coming summer in
Germany.
Professor Philip T. Coolidge, who has been
Director of the Forest School of Colorado
College, will take charge of the Ranger
School of the New York State College of
Forestry on July 1st. Professor Coolidge is
a graduate of the Harvard Forest School
and after two years’ work with the Govern-
ment in the West, took charge of the Colo-
rado School of Forestry, which he has
brought to high efficiency.
Professor Nelson C. Brown, who has been
teaching in the Department of Horticulture
and Forestry in the Iowa State College
during the past year, takes up work with
the College on July ist as Assistant Pro-
fessor of Forest Utilization. Professor
Brown was graduated from Yale University
in 1906, and from the Forest School in 1908.
During 1908 he was Forest Assistant on the
Absaroka Forest in Montana and in 1909 be-
came Deputy Supervisor on the Gallatin
Forest. During a portion of 1910 Professor
Brown was an instructor in the Yale Forest
School Camp at Milford, Pa.,.and in the
fall of 1910 was assigned as Deputy Super-
visor on the Kaniksu National Forest.
Professor John W. Stephen, who had been
a Forester with the Forest, Fish and Game
Commission of New York since the spring
of 1908, came to the College of Forestry on
April 15th as Assistant Professor of Silvi-
culture. Professor Stephen is a graduate of
the University of Michigan, and in 1907 re-
ceived from that Institution the degree of
M. F. During 1907 and 1908 Professor
Stephen was in charge of the Michigan
Forest Reserve and during the same year
acted as Instructor in Forestry in the Uni-
versity of Michigan. Since taking up work
in New York, he has had much to do with
the planting of waste lands in the Adiron-
dacks and developed the State Nursery at
Salamanca. While connected with the State
he published a report on a Forest Survey
of Oneida County, New York, and on the
Basket Willow Industry of the State.
In the fall of 1912 Professor Edward F.
McCarthy came to the College of Forestry
as an Assistant Professor, and will have
charge of the work in Dendrology and Wood
Technology. Mr. McCarthy graduated from
the Forest School of the University of
Michigan in 1911, and during his last year
there assisted Professor Roth in the course
in Technology. During 1910 he was em-
ployed by the Ohio State Forestry Depart-
ment and in June, 1911, became a Forest
Assistant on the Caribou Forest in Idaho.
Students in the Forest
The students of the Forestry Department
of the Missouri Agricultural College are
making a study during the summer months
of the forest conditions in the pine forests
of Shannon County. A camp has been estab-
lished near Eminence on the Current River
on the holdings of the Missouri Lumber and
Mining Company, of which Capt. J. D. White,
the president of the National Conservation
Commission, is the president and general
manager. The students live in tents, cook
their own meals and by “living next to
nature” learn to be “woods wise.”
Biltmore Doings
The Biltmore Forest School students leave
Cadillac on the 6th of August, for the west-
ern headquarters, established since 1911, on
the holdings of the famous C. A. Smith
Timber Co. at Marshfield, Oregon. En route
to the West, they will visit the National
forests and the logging operations in Idaho
and on Puget Sound, and are looking for-
ward, with keen anticipations, to the lessons
of the West in practical American forestry.
Their address, after August 18th, is Marsh-
field, Oregon.
The degree of Bachelor of Forestry was
granted, upon the completion of the statutory
conditions, to G. W, Thompson and J. K.
Esser, in the U. S. Forest Service; R. V.
Myers, with the Champion Lumber Company;
Harry S. Welby and Hubbard Hastings, with
the C. A. Smith Timber Co.; P. A. Guibord,
with the Laurentide Paper Company; Christo-
pher Swezey, with the American Forestry
543
544
Company; and H. H. Goodale, with the Paul
Lumber Company.
The degree of Forest Engineer was con-
ferred on A. H. King, N. Y. State Forester,
Biltmore, B.F., 1909, on a thesis entitled:
“The Growth of Spruce in Maine.”
S. S. Converse, Biltmore, 1912, was mar-
ried to Miss Alice Merle King, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. H. W. King, at East Long-
meadow, Mass., on June 12th, 1912. Con-
verse has accepted a position with the
Diamond Match Company. We congratulate
Milo most heartily.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
The following resolution was present-
ed and adopted at the meeting of the
Society for the Protection of the New
Hampshire Forests at Bretton Woods,
N. H., on July 19:
Whereas, The American Forestry
Association, the only national public
service organization devoted to the
cause of forest conservation, has been
of great service to New Hampshire, as
well as many other States, in working
for desirable forest legislation, and ma-
ASSOCIATION
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Irving Southworth is employed on the
Plumas Reservation in California.
W. W. Watkins, Biltmore, 1910, is again
in the tie business for the Joyce-Watkins Co.,
with headquarters at Nashville.
D. E. Lauderburn, Biltmore, 1905, is a
member of Vitale and Rothery, Forest
Engineers, with offices at 1133 Broadway,
New York.
Raymond Mount, Biltmore, 1908, is Vice
president of the Gillette-Mount Lumber Com-
pany, at 50 Church Street, New York
ENDORSED
terially aids in the effort to secure for-
est reservations, be it
Resolved, That the Society for the
Protection of New Hampshire Forests
urges its members to give their active
support to the American Forestry As-
sociation, and to aid it in the important
and patriotic work it is doing for for-
est conservation, by becoming members
of the American Forestry Association
and subscribers to its magazine.
CITIZENSHIP AND FOREST FIRES
The Oregon Forest Fire Association has posted a new forest fire warning throughout
the timbered counties. It reminds the reader that good citizenship demands the observance
of the forest fire laws, and that a little care may result in the saving of thousands of}
dollars, for the forests of Oregon distribute more wealth in the State than grain, fruit,
vegetables and fish combined. This warning also calls attention to the fact that Oregon
timber owners pay more than one-third the taxes of the State.
ANOTHER WOOD WASTE ELIMINATED
By a series of experiments extending over the past six years, the Department of Agri-
culture has found that California grapes packed with a filler of redwood sawdust keep
better and longer in cold storage than when packed in ground cork.
_ Redwood sawdust has been found to be peculiarly adapted to use in fruit packing, as
at ts more nearly neutral in odor and flavor than even ground cork and therefore does,
not impart tts taste or odor to the fruit, as would the sawdust from other kinds of wood.
CURRENT LITERATURE
MONTHLY LIST FOR JULY, 1912
(Books and periodicals indexed in the
Library of the United States
Forest Service.)
Forestry as a Whole
Proceedings and Reports of Assoctations,
Commissions, Forest Officers, ete.
Forestry association of Vermont. Proceed-
ings, 1911. 31 p. Burlington, Vt. 1912.
India—Ajmere-Merwara—Forest dept. An-
nual report on forest administration for
1910-1911. 30 p. Mount Abu, 1911.
India—Punjab—Forest dept. Progress report
of forest administration for the year
1910-11. 74 p. Lahore, 1911.
Indo-China, French—Service forestier. 10th
Rapport annuel sur l’organisation et le
fonctionnement du service. 40 p. 1910-
11. Hanoi, 1911.
Interstate conference on forestry, Sydney,
1911. Report of the proceedings. 52 p.
Sydney, Australia, 1912.
Massachusetts forestry association. Register
for 1911. 45 p. Boston, 1911.
Ontario—Dept. of lands, forests and mines:
Report for year ending 31st October,
1911. 114 p. Toronto, 1912.
Society for the protection of New Hamp-
shire forests. Tenth annual report, 1911.
106 p. pl. Concord, N. H., 1911.
Forest Aesthetics
Street and park trees
Cromie, George A. and Filley, Walter O.
The planting and care of street and
highway trees. 19 p. pl. New Haven,
’ Conn., 1912. (New Haven—Civic fed-
eration. Document no. 8.)
Forest Education
Forest schools
Colorado college—Dept. of forestry. An-
nouncement, 1912-13. 23 p. pl Colo-
rado Springs, 1912.
Hawes, Austin F. A summer school of for-
estry and horticulture, to be held at the
Downer state forest, Sharon, Vt., Aug.
13 to 24, inclusive, 1912. 10 p. pl. Bur-
lington, Vt, 1912. (Vermont—Forest
Service. Publication no. 10.)
Arbor day
Illinois—Dept. of public instruction. Arbor
and bird day, 1910. 76 p. il. Spring-
field, Ill., 1910.
Forest Botany
Trees, classification and description
Elliott, Simon B. The important timber
trees of the United States; a manual of
practical forestry. 382 p. pl. Boston,
Houghton Mifflin Co., 1912.
Garman, H. The catalpas and their allies.
21 p. il, pl. Lexington, Ky., 1912.
(Kentucky—Agricultural experiment sta-
tion. Bulletin 164.)
Johns, Chas. Alexander. British trees, in-
cluding the finer shrubs for garden and
woodland. 285 p. il, pl. London, G.
Routledge & Sons, 1911.
Maiden, J. H. The forest flora of New
South Wales, pt. 47. 22 p., pl. Sydney,
Gov't printer, 1912.
Silvics
Studies of species
Loughbridge, R. H. Tolerance of eucalyptus
for alkali. 71 p., il. Sacramento, 1911.
(California — Agricultural experiment
station. Bulletin 225.)
Forest Protection
Insects
Hole, R. S. Bark-boring beetle attack in
the coniferous forests of the Simla catch-
ment area, 1907-1911. 21 p. Calcutta,
1912. (India—Forest dept. Forest bul-
letin 10.)
Iyer, V. Subramania. A further note on
some Casuarina insect pests of Madras.
9p. pl. Calcutta, 1912. (India—Forest
dept. Forest bulletin no. 11.)
Snyder, T, E. Insect damage to mine props
and methods of preventing the injury.
4p. 8 Wash. D. C., 1912. (U. S—
Dept. of Agriculture—Bureau of ento-
mology. Circular 156.)
Fire
Potlatch timber protective association. An-
nual report, 1911. 19 p. Potlatch, Idaho,
1912.
Forest Mauagement
Appleton and Sewall Co., inc. Applied for-
estry; written particularly for owners
and managers, explaining certain
methods of foresters toward conserving
property values and providing maximum
returns from current operations. 34 p. il
N. Y., 1912.
545
546
Baker, J. Fred. The Michigan woodlot. 14
p. il, East Lansing, Mich., 1912. (Mich-
igan—Agricultural experiment station.
Circular 17.)
Forest mensuration
French, Trurnan R. French’s scientific tim-
ber cruiser; a compendium of valuable
information for cruisers or estimators
of timber, sawyers, millmen or owners
of timber lands. 36 p. il. Los An-
geles, Cal. T. R. French, 1910.
Forest Engineering
Surveying and mapping
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. Signs, symbols and colors; sup-
plement to the Instructions for making
forest surveys and maps. 12 p. il., map.
Wash., D. C., 1912.
Forest Utilization
Lumber industry
Bryant, R. C. An outline for a field study
of a lumber operation. 24 p. New
Haven, Conn., 1912.
Wood-using industries
Maxwell, Hu and Hatch, Chas. F. The
wood-using industries of Texas. 18 p.
New Orleans, La., Lumber trade journal,
1912.
Forest by-products
Cross, C. F., and others.
TSH ISESa ee 10) apart lay Nees
Nostrand Co., 1911,
Pearson, R. S. Commercial guide to the
forest economic products of India. 155
p. pl, map. Calcutta, India, Supt. govt.
printing, 1912.
Thickens, J. H. Experiments with jack
pine and hemlock for mechanical pulp.
29 p. pl. Wash., D. C., 1912. (U. S—
Dept. of agriculture—Forest service.)
Wood pulp and
DS Vean
Wood preservation
American wood preservers’ association. Pro-
ceedings of the 8th annual meeting held
at Chicago, Jan. 16-18, 1912,. 302 p. il.
Baltimore, Md., 1912.
Auxiliary Subjects
National parks
United States—Dept. of the Interior—Office
of the Secretary. General information
regarding Crater Lake national park,
season of 1912. 10 p. maps. Wash.,
IDEGeyalgakes
United States—Dept. of the Interior—Office
of the Secretary. General information
regarding Glacier national park, season
OF A9TZ5 9 pY imap Wash. DG i912:
United States—Dept. of the Interior—Office
of the Secretary. General information
AMERICAN FORESTRY >
regarding Mesa Verde national park,
season of 1912. 24 p. il. Wash., D. C.,
1912.
United States—Dept. of the Interior—Office
of the Secretary. General information re-
garding Mount Rainier national park,
Season o£ } 1912.) 19p5 | Wash, DEC.
1912.
United States—Dept. of the Interior—Office
of the Secretary. General information re-
garding the Sequoia and General Grant
national parks, season of 1912. 22 p.
map. Wash., D. C., 1912.
United States—Dept. of the Interior—Office
of the Secretary. General information
regarding Yellowstone national park,
season of 1912. 30 p. maps. Wash.,
DiCx for:
United States—Dept. of the Interior—Office
of the Secretary. General information
regarding Yosemite national park, sea-
Son Of 191222) p. map yy ashi Ce
1912.
Periodical Articles
Miscellaneous Periodicals
American city, April 1912.—Protection of
shade trees against insects, by A.
Hastings, p. 644-6; Caring for twenty-
three hundred elm trees, by C. F. Law-
ton, p. 656,
American city, May 1912.—Insects and shade
trees, by E. P. Felt, p. 731-2.
Annals of American academy, May 1912.—
Timber bond features, by T. S. McGrath,
p. 1-8, suppl.; Science of timber valu-
ation, by J. D. Lacey, p. 9-22, suppl.;
Questions of law encountered in timber
bond issues, by E. E. Barthell, p. 23-44,
suppl.; Accountant’s relation to timber
bond issues, by F. Jones, p. 51-8,
suppl.; Waste material as a source of
profit and added security on timber
bonds, by W. J. Cummings, p. 76-80,
suppl.
Breeder’s gazette, July 10, 1912—Forest serv-
ice range reconnaissance, by Arthur D.
Read, p. 50-1.
Gardners’ chronicle, June 8, 1912.—Humus,
by Alger Petts, p. 373.
Harpers’ magazine, July 1912—The secret
of the big trees, by Ellsworth Hunting-
ton, p. 292-302.
National geographic magazine, June 1912.-—
Our national parks, by L. F. Schmecke-
bier, p. 531-79; Scenes among the high
Cascades in central Oregon, by Ira A.
Williams, p. 579-92; The great white
monarch of the Pacific northwest, by A.
H. Barnes, p. 593-626.
National wool grower, June 1912—Range
improvement and methods of handling
stock in national forests, by J. T. Jar-
dine, p. 7-10.
Outing, June 1912.—Windbreaks for the
country home, by E. P. Powell, p. 372-6;
Profit from trees on waste land, p. 377-8.
Outlook, May 25, 1912.—Something of a
problem; forest rangers, by C. H. Shinn,
p. 174-80.
CURRENT LITERATURE
Overland monthly, May 1912.—Conservation
and the farmer, by C. B. Lipman, p.
473-8.
Plant world, July 1912—vThe behavior of
the nectar gland in the cacti, by Fran-
cis E. Lloyd and Chas, S. Ridgway, p.
145-56.
Quarterly journal of economics, May 1912.—
Lumber grading in the Pacific northwest,
by V. Curtis, p. 538-44.
Scientific American, May 11, 1912.—Zapote
tree as a source of chicle, p. 528.
Scientific American, May 18, 1912.—Most ex-
pensive wood in the world; cabole, p.
444,
Scientific American, May 25, 1912.—Methed
of making pulp lumber, by M. T. S., p.
475.
Scientific American, June 15, 1912—How we
can utilize $250,000,000 worth of wasted
timber, p, 537, 547-9.
Trade journals and consular reports
American lumberman, June 15, 1912.—Inci-
dental features of logging operations, p.
58-9.
American lumberman, June 29, 1912.—Somie
construction timbers of the Philippines;
tanguile, by H. N. Whitford, p. 37.
American lumberman, July 6, 1912—Some
construction timbers of the Philippines;
apitong, by H. N. Whitford, p. 29; Dura-
bility of wood, p. 29; Merits of wood
blocks for street paving, p. 49.
Canada lumberman, June 15, 1912.—Modern
methods of timber estimating, by T.
Read, p. 48-9.
Canada lumberman, July 1, 1912.—Interesting
facts about timber cruisers, p. 50-2.
Engineering magazine, May 1912.—Refrac-
tory building material; a new non-com-
bustible wood substitute for building
purposes, by C. L. Norton, p, 279-81.
Hardwood record, June 25, 1912.—Forests
as climate regulations, p. 31; Increasing
kiln capacity, p. 32-3; Cell structure of
oak and gum, p. 33-4; Forest fires; what
they cost, how they start, how to pre-
vent them, by Chas. H. Flory, p. 35;
Wooden pails and shoe pegs, p. 38-9;
Cherry birch for gunstocks, by S. J. R,
p. 39; Burls and bird’s-eye, by S. J. R,,
p. 41-2.
Hardwood record, July 10, 1912—Making
wood distillation history, p. 26-8; Yellow
poplar and cucumber, p. 33; Splash
damming on the Big Sandy, p. 34a-36.
Lumber world review, June 10, 1912.—For-
estry work in the state of Massachu-
setts, by John M. Woods, p. 19-20; Sugi
finish applied to cypress, p. 18-19, 27.
Naval stores review, June 27, 1912.—The
naval stores industry of France; its
origin, development, acreage, annual
crops, home consumption and exports,
p. 3-13; The working of the French pine
forests; the prices of turpentine; the
values of the lands, p. 13-14; What the
maritime pine has done for France, p.
16-22; The maritime pine in the United
547
States, p. 26; The naval stores industry
in Spain, p. 28-31; The naval stores in-
dustry in Greece, p. 33-4; Developing
naval stores industry in Japan; worked
in a petty way by numerous small
farmers, p. 34; Rosin production in Prus-
sia, p. 50.
Paper, July 3, 1912—Bamboo as papermaking
material, by William Raitt, p, 17-18;
Forest workers in Germany, p. 19.
Paper, July 10, 1912—Mechanical pulp from
Jack pine and hemlock, p. 15-16; Wood-
pulp yarn; its manufacture and uses, by
W. P. Dreaper, p. 17-18.
St. Louis lumberman, June 15, 1912—The
Yale forest school in Arkansas, p. 79.
Southern industrial and lumber review, June
1912.—Standing timber values; Texas
forests and their values, by F, A. Briggs,
Done
Southern lumber journal, June 15, 1912—
Wood for car wheels; timber faults
pointed out by odd names to the wheel-
wright, p. 35.
Southern lumberman, July 13, 1912.—
Methods for utilization of wood waste,
by George Walker, p. 41-2.
Timberman, June 1912.—Practical forestry
schools have ever broadening field of
usefulness, p. 20-1.
United States daily consular report, June
20, 1912.—Chinese wood oil, by Roger S.
Greene, p, 1226-7.
United States daily consular report, June
30, 1912.—Russian state forests, by John
H. Grout, p. 1231.
United States daily consular report, July 12,
1912.—Chinese lackwood furniture, by
George E. Anderson, p. 202-3.
Wood craft, July 1912.—Varying character-
istics of the same woods, by Samuel J.
Record, p. 108; Various tables; their de-
velopment, design and construction, by
John Bovingdon, p. 110-13; Microphoto-
graphs of the structure of wood, p. 114-
15; Refractory woods and some substi-
tutes for them, by Chas. L. Norton, p.
116-18.
Wood-worker, June 1912.—Manufacturing
piano sounding boards, by E. E. D., p.
27; Relative merits of red and white
oak, by George Keller, p. 35-6; The
Hawaiian cabinet wood, Acacia koa, by
J.\S2/ Batley, p: 40,
Forest journals
Allegemeine forst—und jagd-zeitung, May
1912.— Wald und sturm, by Vogl, p. 145-
51; Forstliche reisenotizen aus Sidi-
talien, by A. Miiller, p 151-5; Die nor-
malertragstefeln im dienste der praxis,
by Eberhard, p. 155-62.
Allegemeine forst—und jagd-zeitung, June
1912.—Die furstlich Isenburgischen wal-
dungen bei Birstein, by Reiss, p. 181-96.
Canadian forestry journal, May-June 1912.—
A forestry students’ camp, by R, B. Mil-
ler, p. 59-61; Les usages du Bouleau a
papier, p. 62-3; Quebec Province starts
forest planting, p. 63-5; Our forest re-
048
serve problem, by J. R. Dickson, p. 66-
71; Measures for the prevention of for-
est fires, by M. Kienitz, p. 74-8.
Centralblatt fiir das gesamte forstwesen,
May 1912.—Versuche iiber individuelle
auslese bei waldbaumen, by E. Zeder-
bauer, p. 201-12.
Forestry quarterly, June 1912——National for-
est timber sale contract clauses, by Theo-
dore S. Woolsey, p. 139-83; Light burn-
ing versus forest management in north-
ern California, by Richard H. Boerker,
p. 184-94; The effect of forest fires on
trees and reproduction in southern New
England, by P. L. Buttrick, p. 195-207;
How the insect control problem com-
pares with the fire problem on national
forests in District 5, by John M. Miller,
p. 208-14; A new method of constructing
volume tables, by Donald Bruce, p. 215-
21; Rainfall a factor of tree increment,
by Francis Davis, p. 222-8; The equip-
ment and operation of a Prussian seed
AMERICAN FORESTRY
extracting establishment, by A. B. Reck-
nagel, p, 229-34; North American species
in Hungary, by Karl Petraschek, p.
235-6; Girdled trees, p. 237; Two minor
wood industries, by C. S. Judd, p. 238-42.
Forstwissenschaftliches centralblatt, May
1912.—Der gegenwartige stand der hu-
mussaurefrage, by H. Bauer, p. 247-54;
Uber das sichlichten und die behandlung
alterer kiefernbestande, by C. Frémbling,
p. 254-62.
Indian forester, May 1912.—The need of fire-
protection in the tropics, by C. E. C.
Fischer, p. 191-221; Peridermium cedri
as a destructive fungus, by R. S. Troup,
Pp. 222-3.
Revue des eaux et foréts, June 1, 1912—
Coniféres; essais de table aux dichoto-
miques pour la détermination des espéces,
by L. Pardé, p. 340-1; Mouvement for-
estier a l’étranger; Autriche, by G. Huf-
fel, p. 342-4.
E. T. ALLEN VISITS SOUTH SEA ISLANDS
Completing on ocean trip of some 8,860 miles, E. T. Allen, forester of the Western
Forestry and Conservation Association, has returned from Tahiti, and again taken up the
great work of forest fire prevention.
years ago.
Mr. Allen contracted the Society Island habit some
On his return to Portland after this last trip he said the South Sea Islands
looked better than ever before, with crop prospects down there indicating a probable increase
in the use of fir from Oregon and Washington.
American Forestry
VOL. XVIII
SEPTEMBER, 1912 No. 9
FROM RED LAKE TO RAINY RIVER
By Wriui1aAmM T. Cox, Minnesota State Forester
me to write an account of a re-
cent snow-shoe trip across the Red
Lake country in Northwestern Minne-
sota. Most of these people expected to
elicit a tale of hardships and a descrip-
tion of worthless wild country. These
I cannot relate. The trip was an easy
one, if mushing on Indian snow-shoes
can be considered easy at best; and the
country traversed, far from _ being
worthless, contains great areas of as
rich land as can be found in the state.
It is with the hope of dispelling some
of the misconceptions regarding the
region in question that I have decided
to write this article.
There is a popular notion that the
country for some distance east of Rec
Lake is for the most part a sparsely
timbered swamp, and that the coun-
fry north of the - lake -1s ‘one ‘vast
muskeg too wet even for travel and
utterly unfit for habitation. These no-
tions are absolutely wrong. The object
of my trip was to find out at first hand
just what the forest is like and what
the land is good for so that the State
Forest Service may pursue the proper
policy with reference to the whole re-
gion.
Since there is a lack of roads and
trails through the territory covered,
we traveled on “webs.” They were of
the Chippewa style and in size 14x48
inches. ‘imey were made by Forest
Patrolman Albert Smith, who is an ex-
pert at making snow-shoes and who
i:nows the Red Lake and Rapid River
countries better than any other man.
Mr. Smith, his dog Togo and myself
constituted our party.
Togo, a powerful and tireless dog, on
the onder of a <luisky,” but larger,
A NUMBER of people have asked
hauled a toboggan with all our pro-
visions, blankets, a tent and a little
stove. He followed along in the trail
made by our snow-shoes and would
eat nothing but rabbits. Rabbits were
everywhere plentiful and easy to shoot
with a pistol or snare at night on
their runways.
From the Minnesota & International
Railway to Red Lake there is a rich dis-
trict, rather level but well drained and
in most places covered with a splendid
stand of hardwood, birch, elm, oak and
especially poplar, very tall and of ex-
cellent quality. This is one of the very
best hardwood districts of the state.
There is also a good deal of white pine,
cedar, tamarack and spruce. Much of
the land has been logged off and set-
tlers\ are: “rapidly — cléarina+ 1h “tp.
Wherever cultivated, the heavy soil
produces excellent crops and there are
good local markets in the nearby log-
ging camps and mill towns. The settle-
ments along near the southeast and
east shores of Red Lake show every in-
dication of being prosperous consider-
ing their recent establishment.
On account of the great variety of
tree growth, there is upon nearly every
claim some kind of timber that can
be marketed at a profit during the
winter. Poles, posts, ties, cordwood,
pulpwood, stave bolts as well as logs
are cut bv the settlers and hauled out
to the railroad or the like, where there
is a ready market at prices which give
the settler some capital for developing
his land, erecting buildings and pur-
chasing stock.
Clearing, especially where the timber
consists of poplar, is not at all ex-
pensive since grubbing is unecessary.
The stumps of poplar rot in two or
549
AMERICAN. FORESTRY
STATE FORESTER COX, “TOGO” AND THE SLED ON THE ARM OF BELTRAMI PRAIRIE.
three years so that they can be plowed
out. Some of the settlers have fields
of 40 to 100 acres under cultivation.
The haul to Kelliher on the M & I.
Railroad is from 5 to 12 miles, and there
are several points along this shore of
the lake where steamers call and prod-
uce may be shipped to Redby, the
terminus of the MR L & W. Railroad.
This hardwood district east of Upper
and Lower Red Lake would be an ex-
cellent place for stave mills, box fac-
tories, spool factories, excelsior plants,
etc. The supply of material is ample,
cheap and of the best quality. Manu-
facturing concerns like these would be
of great benefit to the settlers and
would bring about a more rapid devel-
opment of farming and_ especially
dairying, for which the district is ad-
mirably adapted. Within five or six
miles of the lake there is an entire ab-
sence of summer and early fall frosts,
due to the influence of such a large
body of water. On this account there
is a probability that fruit raising may
become profitable here.
The Peninsular, between Upper and
Lower Red Lake, in area about seventy
square miles, is a sandy and gravelly
ridge, covered with a beautiful Nor-
way pine forest, and should be made
a national forest or park.
Red Lake deserves to be much better
known than it is. With the exception
of Lake Michigan, it is the largest
body of fresh water wholly within the
United States. It covers an area of
nearly 400 square miles.
Red Lake is remarkable in that de-
spite its immense size, it contains no
islands and that its shore is practically
a continuous sand beach. ‘The deepest
portions of the lake are only about
thirty-five to forty feet, but the bot-
ton is so uniform that a sailboat or
steamer can take a straight course
without danger of striking reefs or
sand bars. The surrounding country is
even in topography and breezes on the
lake are dependable so that this splen-
did body of water offers perhaps the
best opportunity in the world for yacht
racing, ice-boat racing and_ similar
sports.
FROM RED LAKE TO RAINY RIVER
FOREST PATROLMAN SMITH WHO KNOWS THE UPPER LAKE
Red Lake has no muscallonge but is
well supplied with white fish, pike and
other food fishes. The fishing industry
has not been developed. Perhaps this
is well since it will now be possible
owing to an interest in conservation,
to provide for proper supervision of the
fisheries when they are developed to
see that favorable conditions are main-
tained for the reproduction of the fish
and continuance of the industry. It
would be much more sensible for the
government to encourage a conservative
development of the fisheries of Red
Lake and thus lead the 1,200 Indians
living on its shores to become self-
supporting through a line of work for
which they are suited than to spend
untold sums trying to make farmers
of them.
The fish of Red Lake are worth far
more to the Indians, if the government
only thought so, than all the pine on
the reservation and all the land which
may ever be allotted to them. The
present Reservation includes the coun-
Ct
=
Y
j—
COUNTRY.
try on the south and west sides of the
lake, together with the pine covered
peninsular and embraces about 400,000
acres.
At the time we were “mushing”
across the broad expanse of the upper
lake the snow-shoe rabbit was migrat-
ing, and hundreds of the little creatures
were out on the crusted snow of the
lake. Evidently during these migra-
tions they are not in the habit of turn-
ing aside for lakes even if, as in this
case, they could not possibly see the
farther shore.
The distance across was more than
one night’s march for rabbits and they
were accordingly compeiled to squat
on the snow and makes themselves as
inconspicuous as the conditions per-
mitted with nothing to hide behind.
Owls of various kinds were abundant
along the north shore of the lake and
there were numerous evidences of
where they had made meals of the un-
fortunate rabbits. No doubt that shore
is an excellent hunting ground for owls
552
and foxes since they need only await
their prey and catch it in the open.
Small birds in their autumn migrations
frequently perish in attempting to
cross the lake in the face of cold winds
and are found washed up on the shore
in large numbers.
Red Lake may eventually be used as
a reservoir to control the waters of
Red River, and prevent the spring flood-
ing of much good land between Grand
Forks and Winnipeg. Red Lake River,
through which the waters of the lake
find their way to the Red River of the
North, is no mean stream, having been
used by steamers of considerable size
freighting from Grand Forks, a dis-
tance of about 150 miles. There are
rapids furnishing important water
power at Red Lake Falls and Thief
River Falls.
The streams entering the lake are
Black Duck River and Battle River, at
the east end, and Mud River, Bigstone
Creek and Sandy River on the south
side of the Lower Lake; Tamarack,
Moose, Big and Little Deer Rivers,
Mahnomen River and Shortley brook on
AMERICAN FORESTRY
the North Lake. The Tamarack, Black
Duck and Sandy drain rather large
areas; the other streams are short.
The Indians living on their reserva-
tion, which includes the south and west
sides of the lake, are not so badly
demoralized as other tribes within the
state. They have come less in contact
with the white man and therefore re-
tain more of their old characteristics.
They are a pretty trustworthy lot of
Indians, showing some industry when
given work at all suited to their na-
ture.
It is needless to say that farming
does not appeal strongly to them, and
I question the wisdom of the govern-
ment’s costly efforts to make them
till the soil. Some of them, generally
the squaws, do raise gardens, but the
male members of the tribe prefer the
lumber woods and the log drive, some
spending their summers at the fisheries
on Lake of the Woods and making
good wages. For this reason I want to
repeat that with proper supervision of
the fisheries which could be developed
on Red Lake these Indians might be-
See
THE FAITHFUL COMPANION OF MANY WINTER TRIPS THROUGH THE WILD COUNTRY.
THE KIND OF SLEDS USED IN THE LONG TRIPS OVER FROZEN WATERS FROM ONE CAMP TO ANOTHER.
554 AMERICAN FORESTRY
BREAKING A TRACK
THROUGH SPRUCE
AFTER A HEAVY
SNOW STORM.
come self-supporting and useful citi-
zens.
We now come to a particularly in-
teresting part of our trip, namely, the
crossing of the so-called “Great Mus-
keag.”’
After leaving the north shore of Up-
per Red Lake we went through a nar-
row belt of hardwood and _ spruce,
emerging into tamarack, which soon
gave out, and we were on what has
been indicated on map after map as
an expanse of open swamp. ‘This has
deterred everyone from venturing into
the district.
As a matter of fact a large part of
the country from Red Lake to the
Rapid River was wet until the last four
or five years, but a change has taken
place which is exceedingly important
to Minnesota, for it has resulted in
giving the state another ‘Red River
Valley.” Perhaps due to the driving
of the hundreds of millions of feet of
timber through the outlet of Red Lake
and down the river, the channel has
been deepened and the lake permanently
lowered. This has reduced the water
level in the former open swamp to
the north and made of it a prairie.
I now propose naming it “Beltrami
Prairie.” It is a wonderfully rich piece
of country with a deep black soil cap-
able of producing prodigious crops and
THE KIND OF WINTER SHELTER USED IN THE NORTH COUNTRY AND WHICH MAY BE MADE VERY COMFORTABLE.
see
556
in places ready for the plow without
further drainage. With state ditches,
sore of which are already approved
by the Drainage Commission, there will
be less danger of flooding than in what
are considered the best portions of the
Red River Valley. Much land on the
borders of this rich district north of
Upper Red Lake has been taken up as
homesteads recently. But to my mind
the best of it still remains to be home-
steaded, and the man who is willing
to undergo some hardships and _ re-
moteness for a year or two will be
well repaid for making his home in the
Upper Red Lake country.
We found travel easy on “Beltrami
Prairie.’ Snow-shoeing was good and
a fair distance was made each day.
Prairie chickens were very plentiful,
both the pinnated and sharp tailed
species being observed in big flocks.
The tracks of foxes and coyotes wound
here and there, but it was not until
nearing the heads of creeks which
drain to the Rapid River that we ob-
served tracks of big game, then moose
tracks were abundant and we started
one which was feeding on the willows
along Miller creek. The caribou which
range in this locality had gone east
toward the headwaters of the Tama-
rack, so we did not see any of them
on our trip.
The existence of caribou here has
been known for years, but owing to
the closed season and to the remote-
ness of their range, few of them have
been killed by hunters. The Indians
have shot a few, but since the swamp
has dried up and the mother caribou
no longer find safety during calving
time on little islands which used to
dot the great swamp, the wolves now
get practically every calf.
After crossing “Beltrami Prairie” we
entered the hardwood, spruce and
cedar forests along the Rapid River,
and its tributaries. This is a district
of rich soil and heavy growth. What-
ever is found growing on a particular
piece of land seems to be producing all
it can. The trees are tall@and* the
timber yields heavily. It would be dif-
ficult to find better stands of poplar,
spruce or cedar than are to be seen
AMERICAN FORESTRY
here. ‘There is also considerable ash,
birch and soft maple.
Down the rapid, half way to the
“forks,” the settlement begins in earn-
est and from there on forty miles
down to Clementson, where it empties
into the Rainy, settlers’ cabins and
clearings line the beautiful banks.
Wherever crops have been raised in
these clearings the yield and quality
have been wonderfully good. Wheat,
oats, barley, clover, timothy and root
crops yield as well as anywhere in the
state, and even tomatoes seem to be a
sure crop, which is an indication that
summer frosts are lacking.
Between Baudette and the Rapid
River settlements there is a large area
of fertile land, much of which had a
heavy stand of spruce, cedar, tamarack
and birch, until the fire of 1910 swept
that locality. There are still patches of
green timber, but most of the forest
was killed. Some of the land is not
difficult to clear and nearly all of it is
good farming land when once cleared.
A good deal of it has been cut over
for pulp wood and cedar. The land
was practically all taken up primarily
for the timber and can now be bought
at very low figures by people desiring it
for farms.
Along Rainy River there is a beauti-
ful country. The soil is not quite as rich
as on the Rapid River, but is never-
theless real good soil. Moreover, the
transportation facilities are already
fair and markets good along the Rainy.
On the Canadian side there are com-
paratively old settlements and the
farmers are well-to-do. They have not
known drouths, summer frosts or other
causes of crop failure in thirty years.
The proximity to Lake of the Woods
on the northwest, Rainy lake on the
eastward and Red Lake on the south-
west, temper the winds and keep them
above the point of frost danger through
the growing season.
The man who watches the Rainy
River country for the next ten or fif-
teen years is going to see a surprising
development or I am badly mistaken.
A VIEW OF ONE
CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK: A WORK OF ART’
By
HE designers of Central Park de-
cided that the best expression
they could bestow on it, that
which would be of the greatest value
to the greatest nunber, was one which
would recall the feeling of the woods
and meadow, rocks and water, of rural
scenery. ‘This would give the relief of
suave surfaces of ground and mobile
masses of foliage to minds and bodies
wearied with the endless rectangularity
of the streets. So they laid out a
scheme, simple in its main structure
though looking complicated enough on
the map, consisting of a road running
all around the park, with certain cross-
roads to provide for the east and west
traffic. Four of these are the famous
sunken roads which are said to have
been the means of Olmsted and Vaux
gaining the prize, and which they so
skillfully treated that you can seldom
see them unless close upon them, and
OF CENTRAL, PARK’S LAKES
Harorp A. CAPARN
often cannot see them at all even when
crossing them. ‘The reason for conceal-
ing them was that they were intended
for business traffic, which should be
kept out of the park. On this road
plan is superposed a system of walks
crossing the park in many directions,
leading to and helping to create an end-
less variety of scenes of grass and trees,
lakes and rocks. Several sheets of
water of considerable extent occupy the
sites of former swamps, the muck of
which was used to enrich the lawns and
woods. ‘These walks penetrate and en-
close pieces of ground of the most
varied shape, size and expression. Yet
all are connected so admirably that one
passes insensibly from cue to another,
and there nowhere apparent the
shock of arrested dimefhsion. of finality
that is essential to the cxpression of
architecture but quite foreign to the in-
tent of informal design. Everywhere
iS
557
is displayed the utmost resource of the
artist and variety of treatment, as con-
sistently as though the true solution of
the problem of each part had been
found without effort. When conditions
are at their best, after rainy weather or
in the early morning or evening, there
is a wonderful air of calm beauty per-
vading it all, so that one marvels more
and more that such a thing with such a
sentiment should exist in New York
City
Now, if you travel in any rural dis-
trict, you will find in all directions the
raw material or the motive from which
Central Park is made. ‘There will be
trees and bushes, meadows and rolling
ground, buildings and bridges, rocks
and water, each in its way more or less
beautiful because of the beauty of many
or most of the details, the cheerfulness
and vitality of it all: in short, because
it is the country, as big and free as all
out-of-doors. But, though there is much
pictorial beauty, it will be seldom that
you find a scene, small or large, that
composes well. By composing well I
A WINTER SCEN
AMERICAN FORESTRY
mean not only showing orderly ar-
rangement, just proportion, good lines,
and so on, but conveying the impression
of .a_ complete — picture, — “carrying
through” as it is called. ‘his is the
quality that conveys an impression of
unity to the mind, that gives the ef-
fect of simplicity to the most complex
design, and may be seen in a book cover,
« Corinthian column or a church facade.
Remember, I am not speaking of the
untouched country, but of the country
altered by man mainly for the purposes
of agriculture. There will be a piece
of meadow with trees on it, but they
will be too scattered or too crowded, or
a border of them will have a gap in it
or a group extend too far or not far
enough. A piece of ground of naturally
good shape will be partly in meadow
and partly plowed up, and a wall or
fence will divide it just where it is
best placed to interrupt the flow of line
of the earth’s surfaces. Houses, barns
and other buildings will be scattered
wherever the convenience of their
builder dictated, but with little or no
YE IN CENTRAL PARK.
Ss ES seer aaa a jE RE ee
A DELIGHTFUL PATHWAY THROUGH DENSE FOLIAGE.
560
thought to their effect as part of the
landscape. The whole of this could be
made into a coherent composition if
anyone would pay for it, and so could
each scene that the eye can separate for
itself. ‘This is what is done in Central
Park; each successive part into which
the uneven surface naturally resolves
itself is treated according to its own
suggestion, with thoroughness and re-
serve. Buildings and other subordinate
objects are carefully set where they will
do least harm to the general composi-
tion. The ragged countryside planting
is arranged in groups or masses or bor-
ders with due regard to the habit of the
trees, texture, and color of foliage, sky-
line and so on. For the rough or divi-
ded surface of land is substituted the
smooth and continuous lawn, display-
ing the best contours of the ground,
and preserving them unbroken to their
logical end. In fact, an informal park
is mostly constructed of endless vari-
ants of these two features of lawn and
planting, of open spaces surrounded by
covered ones, as a room or a building is
composed of voids and solids.
We should not forget that this com-
position of voids and solids, of open
lawn and enclosing foliage, is not a
natural thing, is not even an imitation
of nature, as it has been so often called ;
even its prototypes, the meadow and
woods, are not natural. The meadow
is browsing land cleared and cultivated
by man, and the woods themselves, in-
digenous though they may be, have
their extent and outline from the axe
of the farmer. Then what of the lawn
set in artificial planting, it may be, of
exotic trees and bushes? It is but a
paraphrase, a conventionalizing of an-
other artificial thing, and is itself as ar-
tificial or constructed a thing as any
building or statue; in fact, it resembles
the works of nature, much as a statue
or painting resembles its original. Yet
the general impression conveyed by a
well designed, large city park is that of
being in the country.
If it is desirable to produce the im-
pression of being in the country, one
would expect that the easiest way
would be to imitate the country as
closely as possible. But the curious
AMERICAN FORESTRY
contradiction here is that, if we did, we
should not produce the effect of being
in the country at all. If we were
to cover the area of Central Park
with fields of corn and potatoes, with
grazing land, casual buildings, woods,
swamps, and crowded or scattering
trees, it would merely look like a piece
of unkept city land which remained
open because it was held at too high
a price, or because it belonged to the
estate of someone deceased, and could
not be sold. Even if you should ar-
range your agricultural features with
regard to their artistic effect, like the
“ferme ornee’ of Shenstone, you
would not get the feeling of the coun-
try. The city park is not an imitation
of the country, it is a paraphrase of it;
and if you want to create in the city
the country feeling, you must not imi-
tate the country, you must paraphrase
or conventionalize it. You must repro-
duce not its accidents and incidents, its
roughness and casualness and disorder ;
you must reproduce its essentials, its
openness, its vitality and its verdure,
its contrast of the surfaces of the
ground and the masses of woods, of the
light greens of the grass and the dark
of the trees, their freedom and grace
and benignity.
Central Park, in view of its extent,
its cost, its location, is perhaps the most
important and interesting thing of its
kind in the world. It is one of the
best-loved and one of the worst-hated
public recreation grounds in the world.
It is admired without reserve by vast
numbers of people of all kinds, and it
is condemned with as little reserve by
some others. Among its friends are
east-side Hebrews, west-side million-
aires, New York’s blue blood, aliens ©
who came over in the steerage but a
few months ago, and everything in be-
tween. -Among its enemies are the
type of self-styled ‘“‘practical” man who
cannot see that a piece of city land is
doing any work unless it is covered
with a pavement or a building, some
real estate men who see fine possibili-
ties of a boom in their business were
the park cut into lots, and a certain
class of artists who see no merits in
its present plan, and think it should be
Se pei
gi oa 5 ae
ONE OF MANY BEAUTIFUL EFFECTS OF LIGHT AND SHADE.
562 AMERICAN FORESTRY
laid out in some other style. These
artists say that, being a long and rela-
tively narrow rectangle set in a system
of parallel lines, its Tay out should also
be rectangular, that we ought to have
something like the Champs Elysees or
the avenues at Versailles. They say that
it should have a scheme in scale with
its size, that you should be able to see
through it from end to end and, in fact,
that there ought to be something grand
and vast, instead of the rural prettiness
they see in it at present. They decry
the meandering lines, the indefinite sur-
faces and vistas, that everywhere
abound. In short, they find in it little
but irresolution and aimlessness, and
an expression which excites in them
only the contemptuous verdict that
there is no “design” in Central Park.
We need not concern ourselves with
the naive utterances of the “practical
men” or the real estate operators, but
the views of some of the others touch
us very closely, for among them are
some of the men in our own world of
artists whom we most respect, a in
whose class we all hope to be. But, if
you examine their criticisms of Cen-
ONE OF THE
tral Park, you will find them all merely
expressions of personal opinion, not of
natural laws or canons of art. You will
find that they may have been misled by
prejudice for or against one style of
design, or by an imperfect understand-
ing of one style of design—the in-
formal. They may assert that a rec-
tangular piece of ground should of ne-
cessity have a rectangular plan, which
seems about as reasonable as that a
rectangular frame should of necessity
enclose a picture of rectangular pat-
tern; or that the veining in a marble
panel must Boney be perfectly sym-
metrical, like a piece of floor cloth. The
boundary lines of Central Park were
laid down, not by nature or the con-
ditions of the problem, but by the city
engineer. Why should they necessarily
control the design? As a matter of
fact, once inside Central Park sitetshasea
rule hardly possible to tell what or
where the boundaries are; and when
you can see a boundary it is a row of
high buildings so far away that they
seem to be in no conflict with the park
scenery; and probably from no point
within is it possible to discern the en-
MANY PLACES WHERE CHILDREN LOVE TO PLAY.
CENTRAG PARK ENEW YORK. A WORK.OF ART
963
A SPARSELY WOODED SLOPE WITH DRIVEWAY IN THE BACKGROUND.
tire size and shape of the park. In
short, once within, you lose all sense
of the boundaries, and are affected only
by the park itself. It seems to me that
there could be no such grateful relief
from the rigid rectangularity of the
New York streets, nothing in so pleas-
ant contrast with the eternal parallelism
of the city plan, as the indefinite lines
and surfaces of the park; its undulating
lawns with foliage, the contrasted ver-
dure of its grass and trees and bushes.
When we get into a large park, we
surely want to escape straight lines,
not to discover new ones; to find vege-
tation in its natural freedom, not shorn
into the forms of stone and wood. Prob-
ably nothing could be more fortunate
than that its principal park in the heart
of Manhattan Island should be com-
posed of lines and forms and textures
that recall the best of the country
scenes of pasture and wood and water,
and provide continual refreshment and
solace for those wearied with the ruth-
less lines and angles and bricks and
mortar of the surrounding streets.
I am inclined to suspect that some
of the abuse of the plan of Central
Park arises from its appearance on
paper, at first glance having little rela-
tion to the system of streets around it.
But it is dangerous to be misled by the
picture plan, with its resolute straight
lines running off into impressive in-
finity, and the whole merging into the
nebulous unknown. I admit, at once,
that the plan of Central Park on paper
looks about as vague and shapeless a
thing as | know, but then so does a
study in anatomy; and, whatever one
may think about the park plan, one will
certainly not deny that the anatomical
plan represents a thing quite perfect in
design from beginning to end with com-
plete connection and coherence between
all its parts and with all of them mu-
tually interdependent. ‘The structure of
the human brain shows no regard for
its appearance on a medical chart, yet
564
its design surely shows as comprehen-
sive adjustment of parts to a complete
whole as we can conceive. So it is
with an informal landscape design; so
long as it is logically concetved and con-
sistently maintained, so long as it
“carries through” not only in feeling
but in actual structure, and so long as
it serves the purposes, practical and
esthetic, for which it is intended, it
matters little what it looks like on
paper.
This brings me to another charge
against Central Park: that it is a suc-
cession of separate features pretty
enough in themselves, but not sequen-
tial nor connected by any big scheme
worthy in scale of the size of the tract,
not such as need the serious attention
Of jan artist. to compose. 4 tor the
abusive word pretty you substitute
“beautiful,” half the sting is taken from
this severe arraignment. Again we
have an adjective which is a matter of
personal opinion. ‘To me the scenes of
Central Park seems as beautiful as any
I know of their kind. Their relation
to each other is so well managed that
you cannot find where the line of sepa-
ration occurs, but pass imperceptibly
from one to the next. It is no reproach
to a large building that it consists of
many separate and relatively small
apartments whose connection with each
other and with the whole and whose
importance as part of the whole can-
not be seen, but can only be demnon-
strated by the convenience and efficiency
with which they serve the purposes of
the whole. Every building cannot be
a church or dance-hall, a building of
one roon; we must have our business
blocks, our hotels, our courthouses, and
so on, which do not admit of interior
grandeur in scale with the mass of the
structure. So with a park; it may
serve more and better purposes by
being a succession of scenes adjusted
to the natural contours, aptly united
and rationally separated, than by being
constructed on a single motive apparent
at a glance. They who find a lack of
simplicity and dignity in Central Park
forget that it was made not only for
those in it, but for those over it, who
can look down on it from the sur-
AMERICAN FORESTRY
rounding buildings, the upper stories on
Fifth and Eighth Avenues and Fifty-
ninth and 110th Streets. Before them
opens a prospect of massed foliage, with
openings of green turf, and from some
parts of shining water, perhaps as su-
perbly simple as any formal scheme
that could be imagined. ‘The fact is, a
good deal of this criticism rather savors
of ill-nature and calling names; a thing
of which artists, who all live in glass
houses, should be very careful. The
next stone may be thrown at your
house or mine, and we cannot get it
mended because we cannot prove either
that we are right or that the other is
wrong; we have no means of demon-
strating the beauty or justness of our
work as a building inspector can demon-
strate good or bad work, or as a watch
can be shown to be well made, to any-
body’s satisfaction, by merely keeping
time. We all depend for approval or
disapproval on the body of opinion, and
nearly all criticism can be boiled down
tol think-that “or “it seems: to ame?
I think that the design of Central Park
is, all things considered, and allowing
for certain imperfections, very good;
but I cannot demonstrate its excellence
except in the same way that I can
demonstrate the excellence of design of
Michael Angelo’s Last Judgment, or a
landscape of Corot.
Inasmuch as most artists nowadays
are educated in schools of art, and
emerge therefrom supported by the con-
fidence and authority of their school,
it is usually assumed that such training
is necessary to produce an artist. But
in all arts there have been men of emi-
nence without conventional training,
and notably so in landscape design.
No more striking instances of the self-
evolution of natural gifts can be found
than in the designers of Central Park,
Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert
Vaux. Vaux was an Englishman who
had turned to landscape design through
natural preference, and the extent and
value of whose work was never popu-
larly known, and perhaps never will be.
Judging by the quality of what he did
alone, he was one of those who have
found what they are sent into the world
to do. As for Olmstead himself, it is
CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK: A WORK OF ART
often assumed that he entered on the
construction of Central Park as an in-
experienced amateur, and succeeded by
a miracle. But he had a strong natural
inclination for such work. He had
traveled through Europe, and studied
its scenery natural and artificial. He
had traveled 5,000 miles on foot and
horseback, to observe the scenery of his
own country; and, in fact, for fifteen
years he had steeped himself in the
works of nature, and of art as applied
to nature, and was so full of her pre-
cedents and suggestions that he could
discover and explain the sentiment in-
herent in any piece of ground, and pro-
pose a fitting method of treatment. He
had also had not inconsiderable ex-
perience in actual constructive work,
and, though his training was not that
of the schools, it was perhaps in reality
as thorough as that of anyone who has
prepared himself for the practice of an
art, for genius will occasionally do bet-
ter and travel farther when left to its
own guidance than ordinary talent di-
rected by others. And, after all, his
education was not different in principle
from that of other art students. They
study the work of their predecessors
and exemplars, the works of nature and
man’s interpretation of them, until they
have amassed a store of impressions
and experience, from which they can
draw the power to express w hat is in
them when opportunity arises. ‘Their
training differs from Olmstead’s only in
that their choice of examples is guided,
565
and their conclusions from them con-
tinually criticised, by their teachers. He
made his own choice of subjects, and
drew from them his own conclusions
unaided. It is worth while to linger a
little on this man who, by his career
and his achievements, was one of the
very greatest of American artists. His
personality, his career, and even his
writings, bear many striking resem-
blances to those of Humphrey Repton
in England, in the previous century,
whose books are probably the most
valuable contribution to the literature
of landscape design in existence, at
least in the English language.
The value of all this discussion is not
very great, except as it supplies us with
answers to hostile criticism, which
sometimes proceeds fron apparently
high authority, and aids us in focusing
and strengthening our own impressions.
The fact remains that few people can
enter Central Park without becoming
sensibly happier, that it produces to a
greater or less extent in those who en-
ter it such sensations as its designers
wished. And, surely, for a man to-be
able by his creation to arouse in in-
numerable others who come after some
such sense of beautiful in nature as has
inspired himself, to instill into then
something of his own spirit, is a great
achievement; and the means by which
he does it is entitled to be termed in a
very high degree a Work of Art.
*By courtesy of Landscape Architecture.
The Western Forestry and Conservation
States, sets the standard for forest fire prevention as well as forest fire fighting.
Pacific
Aniong its methods is the circulation among the people of hundreds of
which are sometimes appeals, and
panphlets, play-c
cards, Stickers and warnings,
Association, representing the five timber
thousands of
sometimes
warnings, as to the importance of the forests through the community at large and what
x loss would be invalved in their destruction.
NINE GRADUATES AT MONT ALTO
Academy, Mont Alto, Pennsylvania, which
comprised Walter R. Evans, Nathaniel B.
Meek, Maurice Mustin, Milton
The graduaimg class at the State Forest
held commencement exercises on August 14,
Funk, Joseph R. [agentogler, James A. Irvin, Charles R.
O. Robinson, James B. Ryon, and George W. Sheeler.
MASSACHUSETTS FORESTRY WORK’
TATE: -PFORESTERY B22 We
RANE, of Massachusetts, is sat-
isfied that his department is ac-
complishing gratifying results and
doing as much as the State appropria-
tion permits. In his eighth annual re-
port recently issued he describes in de-
tail the year’s progress. He says in
part:
It has been the constant aim of the
State Forester to establish a forest
policy worthy of Massachusetts inter-
ests. Year by year, through the splen-
did support given by our public-spirited
citizens and various organizations, we
have made constant progress.
In submitting this, the eighth annual
report, it is certainly a great pleasure
to be able to state that, through the
generous consideration of the last Gen-
eral Court, we have been able finally to
perfect a State-wide forest fire policy
that promises very great economy.
With an up-to-date patrol and look-out
system for forest fires, backed by a
strong and efficient town and city for-
AY PORZION 4ORS EE
STATE FORESTER’S
est warden unit of organization, al-
ready well established, together with
the perfecting and adapting of previous
laws, we now can boast of being in a
position adequate for natural growth
and development.
I am frank to say that there never
has been a more wholesome, co-
operative interest shown toward this
department than during the present
season, and this, too, following an ap-
parent misunderstanding on the part of
a few of our legislators last session,
who finally gave the department their
support.
I firmly believe that ultimately Gov-
ernor Foss’s first year’s administration
will be as noted for its establishment
of a State-wide forest fire protective
policy as any legislation enacted during
the session. When we once can assure
our people that forest fires can and will
be controlled, there will be little trouble
to interest capital in reforestation. With
fire protection and a rapidly increasing
interest in modern forestry, which no
one can deny is prevalent even at pres-
Se oa rt
NURSERY AT AMHERST.
THESE ARE THREE-YEAR-OLD WHITE PINE SEEDLINGS THAT WILL
BE SET OUT PERMANENTLY NEXT SPRING.
566
MASSACHU SEA as
VIEW
MOUNTAIN, IN WARWICK.
FROM THK LOOKOUT STATION FOR FOREST FIRES ON GRACE
WACHUSETT
FORESTRY WORK 567
MOUNTAIN IN. THE
BACKGROUND, ABOUT THIRTY MILES AWAY.
ent, it only remains for the casual ob-
server to predict what we may be able
to accomplish in Massachusetts.
The various lines of work in this de-
partment have been explained quite
fully in past reports, and it is necessary
only to state that the work throughout
the year has even surpassed any other.
The requests for examinations and ad-
vice have been far in excess of our abil-
ity to meet them with our present force.
Forestry literature has been in great
demand, and several bulletins have
been revised and reprinted, besides
much new material sent out. Lectures
and demonstrations have been constant-
ly requested, and as many given as
conditions would permit. Forest laws
and fire-warning posters have been
posted fully by our wardens throughout
the State.
Towns generally are awakening to
the necessity of being equipped with
modern fire-fighting apparatus if they
are to encourage forestry in their midst.
The towns with a valuation of $1,500,-
600 or less are taking advantage of the
State’s offer of assistance, and it is
predicted that the usual appropriation
by the State of $5,000 will be utilized
immediately following the spring town
meetings. As usual, those towns with
equipment and organization have kept
forest fires under control, while other
towns have suffered.
The work of reforestation continues
as, popular as ever, andi ll anu con-
i
|
i
i
a
aes
(i
BROWN-TAIL MOTHS THE MORNING AFTER
THEY HAD BEEN ATTRACTED TO THE
ELECTRIC LIGHT, ON LAKE SHORE AVENUE,
NORTH SHORE,
BACK FOREST WHERE NO WORK WAS DONE.
TREES STRIPPED OF THEIR LEAVES IN
JULY, AS THOUGH IT WERE WINTER.
vinced that if the Legislature could see
its way clearly to enlarge greatly the
present appropriation for this work, we
could readily plant many times our
present annual acreage. Our reforesta-
tion act 1s unique and is proving a suc-
cess. ‘The work in this line will be far
better appreciated in a few years, when
the young trees have grown to a more
desirable size.
The gypsy and brown-tail moth
work, while still a very perplexing
problem, is better understood and
more intelligently combated than ever.
Our people are finding out that the
best way to fight these pests is to take
advantage of the advice and assistance
that experience has taught us. This
office is in a position to advise and as-
sist in this work throughout the 1in-
fested territory. The division super-
intendents are men of ripe experience,
and the local superintendents are more
efficient and in better control of their
conditions than ever before.
If, as we now have reason to believe,
it is soon to come to pass that the
AMERICAN FORESTRY
I osm s :
“4 United States government will take
over the parasitic work which the State
has financed up to the present, and
also assume the work of controlling the
spread of the moth, then our State
work will resolve itself down to in-
ternal self-preservation in the present
infested territory. With this arrange-
ment, I believe the State ought to com-
bat the enemies satisfactorily with de-
creasing expenditures. Many cities and
towns once badly infested are at pres-
ent, through State aid, in good condi-
tion, and now should become self-sup-
porting, and it is the department's pur-
pose to so direct the work that the an-
nual drain upon the State treasury may
be lessened as much as possible.
Massachusetts has been the motive
force in combating these pests up to
the present. In recent years the in-
sects have spread into adjoining States,
where little attention to their control
has been given, so that now the problem
is one of protecting the nation.
WITH
FEET OF HOSE AND A PRESSURE OF 300
SPRAYING IN THE FORESTS, 1,500
TO 350 POUNDS AT THE NOZZLE. EX-
PENSE NOW REDUCED FROM OVER $40
AN ACRE TO BETWEEN $6 AND $10.
MASSACHUSETTS FORESTRY WORK
569
GYPSY MOTH CATERPILLARS DYING FROM THE WILT DISEASE, OR FLACHERIE.
It is believed that the national goy-
ernment can ill afford to take other
than a more progressive stand in this
work. A million dollars a year at pres-
ent will go farther than a much greater
sum later on. It is reasonable to hope
that the parasites, diseases or natural
causes may work to the detriment of
theses tmsects,, but there, faves. many.
chances of other sections of the coun-
try becoming infested and_ thereby
working great destruction before re-
sults from these are realized. At pres-
ent the only practical means of pro-
tection from the spread of this pest is
through spraying and other well-known
mechanical methods.
The reforestation work has been car-
ried on this year along the same lines
as formerly, and the increasing interest
of lumbermen and landowners proves it
a policy worthy of enlargement.
The plantations put in during the
spring of 1909 and 1910 are showing
up well, and growth in many instances
on plantations made with transplant
white pine being as much as 8 to 16
inches this last season. “here was prac-
tically no loss this year from dry
weather affecting these plantations,
proving that when once well started
they are not liable to be affected by
climate conditions.
Plantations made this year in one or
two instances were quite badly affected
by the exceedingly dry season, as might
be expected.
SPRAYER~ IN
ACTION, THROWING TWO STREAMS
AND TRAVELING AT THE RATE OF
4 OR 5 MILES AN HOUR.
THE POWER-TRUCK
570 AMERICAN FORESTRY
MOTH WORK
POWER TRUCK SPR AYER.NO!
A CLOSE VIEW OF THE NEWLY INVENTED POWER-TRUCK SPRAYER.
SAME POWER AS THE ABOVE, BUT DOES AWAY WITH HORSES AND
DRIVER, AND THE ENGINEER BECOMES THE CHAUFFEUR.
TANK
AND PUMP ARE EASILY REMOVED AND THE TRUCK THEN IS USED
THE SAME AS ANY TRUCK.
Increased interest has been shown by
parties looking over plantations with the
idea of making small plantings on their
own land, and the large number of in-
quiries shows that this work is awaken-
ing great interest.
This’ year. 860° acres. “have. been
planted, and deeds for 500 acres ad-
ditional have been recorded which,
from lack of sufficient appropriations,
we were unable to plant. There are
also now offered 700 acres more. ‘The
amount of work possible is governed
entirely by the appropriation, and it
would seem advisable for the State to
enlarge this work.
It has been impossible up to the pres-
ent time to raise sufficient stock to take
care of the planting done under the
reforestation act, the department being
forced to purchase a large number of
seedlings from outside nurserymen at a
much higher price than if raised on our
own land. It has, therefore, been
deemed advisable to enlarge our nur-
sery from time to time, and we are now
in a position to supply from our own
nursery sufficient stock for our planting
work next spring.
It is with considerable reluctance that
each year we include in our annual re-
port a chapter on this painful subject,—
painful, because forest fires are the
greatest obstacle to the advancement of
practical forestry throughout this Com-
monwealth. As long as this State con-
tinues to burn over from 35,000 to 100,-
000 acres each year, just so long will
forest owners hesitate to make provi-
sion for natural reproduction, to plant
trees, to make improvement thinnings,
or to do other work looking to con-
tinued forest production.
The season just ended has undoubt-
edly been the worst fire season this
State has experienced in many years.
When we stop and compare figures
with the records of the past three years
we find that during 1908, 1909 and 1910
there was burned over throughout this
State 116,976 acres, with a damage of
$600,017, and in the year 1911 our re-
ports show 99,693 acres burned over,
with a damage of $537,749, nearly as
MASSACHUSETTS FORESTRY WORK
Or
-~2
=
THE FIRST POWER-TRUCK SPRAYER EVER INVENTED.
MASSACHUSETTS STATE FORESTER IN 1911 FOR SPRAYING IN THE
GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTH WORK.
BUILT BY THE
THE WHOLE OUTFIT WAS
DESIGNED AND BUILT FOR THIS WORK, AND PROMISES TO REVO-
LUTIONIZE THE QUESTION OF SPRAYING, PARTICULARLY ROAD-
SIDE, PARK AND SHADE TREE WORK, IN COMBATING INSECT AND
FUNGOUS DEPREDATIONS. IT
WORK AS WELL.
CAN BE USED FOR FOREST
THE SAME ENGINE THAT PROPELS THE *RUCK
FIRE
ALSO IMPARTS THE POWER FOR SPRAYING.
much as the three previous years com-
bined. Estimating the forest area of
the State at 2,500,000 acres, which is
a very conservative estimate (and in
order to reach this amount there has
been included all the scrub growth and
old pastures), it will require only twen-
ty-five years to completely’ destroy
every acre of forest land within this
State. Then what is the result? Sim-
C
~~
©
Com=o MASS
AMERICAN FORESTRY
T. Of >
=—_ : a
THE STANDARD IMPROVED POWER
STATE
ply this: not only are we compelled to
go elsewhere for our timber supply,
but we have created a condition which
seriously threatens our future water
supply, for it has been demonstrated by
the greatest engineers in the world that
forests play an important role in the
regulation of rivers. They retain for
some time the rainfall and lessen the
violence of flood flow. Whenever for-
ests have been destroyed stream flow
has always become more irregular and
floods have increased in number and
violence. ‘Therefore, is it not time the
public were awakened and a more thor-
ough organization perfected to avert
these dangers?
The moth work has been under the
supervision of the State Forester for
the past three seasons. It has been
his constant aim to perfect a “live-
wire’ organization. The department
has received $300,000 a year for the
State work and $15,000 a year extra
for parasite work. This last sum has
been largely expended under the direc-
tion of the United States government.
For the expenditure of the $300,000
each year for the past two years state-
ments have been made in previous an-
SPRAYER,
FORESTER.
PLANNED AND BUILT BY THE
nual reports, and the results of the
present season are given in the follow-
ing pages.
The expenses for supervision of
moth work in two years were reduced
from $92,000 to $36,000, and we be-
lieve the work is more efficient than
ever
What has been saved in supervision
has enabled the department to do just
so much more in cities and towns. With
modern conveyances, as with the motor
cycle and automobile, the whole prob-
lem of better supervision and methods
has been solved. The improved spray-
ing machinery and general equipment
have revolutionized former practices,
as the cost of woodland spraying alone
was reduced from $40 to about $6.50 an
acre. The burlap methed of treatment
is practically a thing of the past, ex-
cept in certain cases. ‘The same amount
spent for spraying that was allowed
for labor and burlap proves more ef-
fective in combating the moths.
At present we have a more definite
State policy. The co-operative under-
standing between the State forces and
the United States government officials
A NATURAL STAND OF WHITE PINE PROPERLY THINNED TO ASSURE
GOOD GROWTH OF THE REMAINING TREES. IN THE TOWN OF
BUCKLAND.
A -PLANTATION OF WHITE PINE, THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS OF AGE,
WHICH HAS. BEEN THINNED AT A PROFIT, BELONGING TO W. G.
KILL BURN-OF LANCASTER.
574
is much improved, and it is believed
promises well for the future.
During the fiscal year of 1911 the
work on the State highways has been
supervised by this office as in previous
years, and we have given it our best
attention. Not only has work been
done against the gypsy and brown-tail
moths, but we have also worked against
the elm-leaf beetle in the moth-infested
section of the State. The condition of
the State highways at the present time
is very much improved, as far as the
gypsy and brown-tail moth infestation
is concerned, and is not at all serious.
A general infestation of the elm-leaf
beetle occurs throughout the district on
the highways, and in most places is
serious, and will necessitate very care-
ful spraying during the next summer
season.
The amount expended this year is
somewhat increased over the previous
AMERICAN FORESTRY
year, owing to the fact that in 1910 the
government took care of several miles
of State highways which had been
turned over to the care of the highway
department during this year.
In view of the fact that a feeling has
been entertained by some people in the
State that infantile paralysis has been
caused in some instances by arsenate of
lead used in spraying, for the gypsy and
brown-tail moths, the State Forester
has caused a rigid investigation to be
made in order to determine if there is
any foundation upon which to base
such fears. Asa result of his research
he is firmly convinced that the use of
arsenate of lead has in no way been
responsible for the existence of the dis-
ease, and apprehends no danger in the
future from its use.
*By courtesy of the Massachusetts State
Forestry Department.
GREAT LOSS FROM YUKON FOREST FIRES
ONSUL G. C. COLE, Dawson.
Cues Territory, Canada, reports
as follows:
The timber referred to in the an-
nexed paragraphs from the Dawson
Daily News of May 28 is spruce. In
fact, nearly one-half of the whole
Yukon Valley, including that part in
Alaska, contains a dense growth of
spruce (of a size suitable for pulp and
firewood only) which, if protected and
utilized, is worth more than the valley’s
gold.
Timber destroyed by forest fires in
Yukon Territory the last two weeks
was worth millions of dollars. Men
engaged in the wood business say it
might be placed at $100,000,000 or even
more. A well-known Dawson wood
dealer remarked:
“Tt is easy enough to arrive at the
fact that wood destroyed was worth
millions. The Yukon Gold Co. burns
at its thawing plants $500,000 worth
of wood in a season of less than six
months, yet the removal of that wood
scarcely makes a noticeable hole in the
forest. Dawson has been burning a
large amount of wood for 14 years, and
for a long time much, if not the most,
of it has come from two gulches north
of town. Those gulches have pro-
duced millions of dollars’ worth of
wood.
“These forest fires are sweeping over
hundreds of miles of virgin timber.
One patch reported burned south of
Dawson is said to be 8 by 50 miles. In
that area alone are thousands of gulches
each containing tens of thousands of
cords of wood. The loss there alone
easily mounts into many millions. Some
may say the timber burned was of no
value because it stood where it would
not be touched in many years, and
possibly never. I say it is all valuable.
The future of this region and the great
outside demand which is calling for
timber of the class we have here for
pulp and other purposes must be con-
sidered. The fine timber of Yukon now
destroyed by fire can not be replaced
in 100 years. True, the large trees are
fit for wood after the fire goes through,
but woodmen estimate that a fourth of
the good wood is consumed.
“Wood cut and placed on the river
bank costs the chopper $3 to $5 a cord.
To bring it to Dawson from near the
White costs $1.50 a cord. The large
contractor tries to clear about $1.50 per
cord on wood delivered here. Running
the risk of loss by fires of the kind
now raging, he is taking great chances.”
nad
}
j
PESY
ie
Range of the Chestout Tree Castanea Dentota) ”
: Chestnut trees practically exterminated by Blight
; RNY Practically Complete Infection
WB Generali infection
Infection 25% to 50%
WZ intectrion 1% to 25%
RSQ Scotterea Infections
MAP SHOWING RANGE OF THE CHESTNUT TREE AND COM-
PARATIVE PERCENTAGE OF THE CHESTNUT BARK DISEASE.
FIGHTING THE CHESTNUT TREE BLIGHT
By Otiver D. ScHock
HE Pennsylvania Chestnut Tree
Blight Commission staff of em-
= ployes numbers about two hun-
dred persons, including the executive
force, special, investigators, district
agents, field or county agents and
scouts. With additional expert helpers.
their work is being done in a syste-
matic and thorough manner, and it is
believed that the immensely valuable
native chestnut in Western Pennsyl-
vania can be saved from extermination
by the well-directed efforts of the Com-
mission, together with the willing co-
operation of timber owners and farm-
ers.
East of the Allegheny mountain
range and in eastern and southeastern
Pennsylvania, the chestnut blight has
been especially virulent, causing very
heavy damages. Its spread during the
past summer was both rapid and ex-
tensive, many new fields being reached
by the blight spores. Just how these
disease-bearing spores are disseminated
is the same puzzling question, and this
subject is now receiving most careful
attention. Whether the winds, birds,
rodents or insects are responsible, or
whether there is a joint responsibility
on the part of these various agencies or
elements, will soon be determined
through the medium of the interesting
investigations in progress at the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, Emilie, Mount
Gretna, Charter Oak, Martic Forge,
Connellsville and other points of ob-
servation. ‘The theory that the wind
carries the infection quite readily has
been advanced by those who noted the
rapid increase in the number of in-
fected trees that occupy an elevated
plateau, located near Hamburg, Berks
County, Pennsylvania, one observer ex-
pressing doubt as to the abundance of
animal life in sufficient numbers to
cause such a marked and rapid advance
as was noticeable in that district.
The original Pennsylvania plan to
stop the progress of the blight in its
575
576
has received much
A large majority of
westward stride
favorable support.
the field force in the employ of the
Commission are working throughout
the counties situated west of the Sus-
quehanna River, where only occasional
or sporadic infections are found. These
are speedily destroyed and the owners
instructed to watch carefully for subse-
quent infections. It is in this manner
that the fungus had been kept under
control, although not completely eradi-
cated in the district designated. There
are those who believe that the form
of Diaportha parasitica found on the
chestnut of western Pennsylvania coun-
ties may be less virulent than that
prevalent in sorely affected eastern
Pennsylvania counties, since it is less
common, and apparently, more readily
controlled. A stronger and more vig-
orous chestnut, under more favorable
climatic conditions, soil, etc., may af-
ford the power to add greater resistance
to the attack of) the funeus. vet. us
earnestly hope that Nature may come
to our help speedily in coping with the
chestnut blight, since tree-surgery, med-
ication, fertilization and experimenta-
tion, generally, has been comparatively
futile in those localities where, perhaps
relief is most needed.
SCENE SHOWING THE TOTAL
BY
STRUCTION
DE
THE
AMERICAN FORESTRY
The Pennsylvania authorities believe
in thorough work. Active scouting has
been followed by such practical work as
was deemed expedient. ‘The press of
Pennsylvania and adjoining States
heartily supported the Commission, and
the campaign of education and pub-
licity met with warm approval. State,
pomona and local grangers, agricultural
societies, etc., manifested their willing-
ness to co-operate in the task of sav-
ing the chestnut, and all of these or-
ganizations are doing splendidly for the
cause. The boy scout-masters are also
rendering valuable help, and their re-
ports afford interesting reading, since
the boys are in earnest and expect to
win for their troop one of the several
large flags that will be awarded to the
scout organizations that can show the
best practical results.
Another important branch is that of
the utilization of chestnut. It is well!
known that chestnut trees killed by the
fungus will deteriorate rapidly in qual-
ity, if not promptly marketed. It 1s
for this reason that especial attention
is being devoted to the subject of find-
ing a market for the chestnut tree
products. Large quantities of cord-
wood and other parts of infected chest-
nut trees will be sold to tannic-acid
OF CHESTNUT TREES
BLIGHT.
VG EN Ge Ewe
CHESTNUT
BARLY STAGES OF
TREE ON FARM SHOWING
BLIGHT.
factories, as the leading railway lines
conceded special low rates for carrying
blighted chestnut. The utilization ques-
tion is being investigated most carefully
and thoroughly. Another important
movement w “ill ‘be to display specimens
of the blight at the various county agri-
cultural fairs this fall. These will be in
charge of demonstrators who will fully
explain the nature of the blight and
suggest remedial measures so far as
practicable. As the fairs of Pennsyl-
vania during the season of 1911 at-
tracted 1,522,500 visitors, this educa-
tional plan needs no further commenda-
tion. Ihe farmers institutes of the
State will also afford an excellent op-
portunity to acquaint the people with
the absolute necessity for waging a con-
tinued and united warfare against the
blight if any chestnut shall be saved.
The Pennsylvania State Forestry De-
partment has rendered invaluable as-
sistance in combating the blight. The
State owns 1,000,000 acres of forest
lands, and the foresters in charge are
making every possible effort to eradi-
cate the disease. ‘Their efforts have re-
duced the percentage of infection on
State lands to a very small figure. A
greater and more earnest interest in
the work is needed in all the States
threatened by the disease. Pennsylvania
CEES TEND SiR,
~
-~?
BiIGE 5
does not believe in impossibilities, and
will continue to lead in this laudable
but difficult task of eradicating the
blight.
General Manager Carleton stated that
within two or three weeks every county
of the commonwealth will be repre-
sented by active agents in charge of
conservation work. General Superin-
tendent Detwiler has concentrated a
large amount of work in ree the
progress of the blight upon western
Pennsylvania counties, and 1s ae
encouraged by the prospect that the val-
uable chestnut in that section may be
saved.
The man who wears shoes, reads the
magazines, rents a house, uses the tele-
phone or telegraph, goes trolley-riding
etc, basal materiale smterese «m-mec
eradication of this new but deadly for-
est pest, hence, the vital importance of
general co-operation. As a producer of
lumber, the native chestnut tree has an
almost incalculable value, aggregating
many millions.
Lastly in its list of many virtues is
its immense value as a producer of food
sheep,
fOr) mans hogs and other live
IDV TEAS) 18; ZN AS) 18; ID) te RB, SHOWING
SHREDDED BARK AFTER TWO
OR THREE YEARS’ INFECTION.
578 AMERICAN FORESTRY
TYPES OF ORNAMENTAL CHESTNUT TREES KILLED BY THOUSANDS.
NOTE THE SMALL DISEASED BRANCHES. SCENE NEAR PHILA-
DEE PEHLTA, PA.
YOUNG TREES SHOWING POSTULES ON SMOOTH
BARK AND TYPICAL SPROUTS.
BIGH PEN Core bs CEs SiN Ds DREE BLIGE T
Ou
~~?
Ne)
POSTULES PRODUCING
stock. The total value of the tooth-
some chestnut grown in the chestnut
belt of the United States reaches al-
most stupendous figures.
The Secretary of the Pennsylvania
Game Commission in his preliminary
report for the present year refers to the
threatened be ee of our native
chestnut trees, through the ravages of
the chestnut blight, and the serious ef-
fect that this loss of food for wild
animals and birds would produce in this
State.
Another authority declared that un-
der proper care, our mountain lands
could be made to produce a sufficient
quantity of chestnuts to fatten all of
Pennsylvania’s hogs.
With ornamental chestnut trees sit-
uated on the lawns of country and
GELATINOUS
BEARING SUMMER SPORES (ENLARGED).
THREADS
suburban homes that no money could
buy, because of their historic associa-
tions, and allowing a minimum of only
fifty cents for every chestnut tree in
Pennsylvania, “there are millions in it,”
and it is no wonder that this State has
taken a commendable lead in the en-
deavor to prevent the total extermina-
tion of the chestnut tree.
It is a vigorous campaign, but thus
far Nature has succeeded in putting
even the best scientists to the test in
discovering a successful remedy. ‘The
pernicious *San- Jose scale threatened to
annihilate our wealth of fruit trees, but
was conquered by the simple lime and
sulphur solution; the codling moth and
curculio have been subjugated, but this
parasitic disease of the chestnut tree is
baffling our vaunted skill, although,
is believed, only temporaily.
55,000 FOREST FIRE FIGHTERS.
More than a million miles of territory in comparatively sparsely
will be covered daily by a forest fire preventive force of 55,000 men, as a result
country
of an order issued by Postmaster General Hitchcock.
settled sections of
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.
AMERICAN FOREST RY
PROTECTING ELK IN WYOMING
H. H. MILLER, of Cody, Wy-
oming, a recent visitor in Wash-
ington, said that Senator Warren
has solved a problem which has been
uppermost in the minds of the people
of Wyoming for a great many years.
Fle believes “that the W yoming senator
has hit upon a scheme which will pre-
vent the death of thousands of wild
elk from starvation every winter, and,
in addition, prevent these hunger-crazed
animals from destroying the ranchers’
haystacks and ruining their crops.
“For many years,” said Mr. Miller,
the Jackson Hole region in western
Wyoming has enjoyed the distinction of
harboring the largest band of wild elk
in the United States. ‘The number has
been variously estimated from 30,000
to 75,000. Each year has witnessed a
diminution of the natural elk range on
account of the influx of settlers, who
fenced up the lands and planted large
areas of crops. Each winter witnessed
the elk driven closer to the ranches,
and for the last five or six years the
starving creatures have crowded
through the ranchman’s strong fences,
laid waste his haystacks, and even de-
voured the rotting straw on the tops
of his thatch-roofed sheds. Driven
from the mountains by the heavy snows
of winter, the elk were forced to the
valleys to exist on swamp willows.
“To Senator Warren, of our State,
belongs the credit for not only satis-
factorily solving this problem, but for
ev olving a plan whereby the elk ranges,
long since barren, may soon become
populated with sufficient numbers of elk
to permit the hunter to have his annual
fall sport within the confines of his
own State.
“Senator Warren’s plan contemplates
the setting aside of a sufficient area in
western Wyoming as an elk refuge
where the animals cannot be hunted
and where they may be easily fed dur-
ing the severe snowstorms of winter.
Fach year a certain number of elk is to
be shipped to ranges in other States until
the number in the Jackson Hole region
has been reduced to the carrying ca-
pacity of the range, after which only
the increase will be taken away.
“Without disclosing the full scope of
his scheme, Senator Warren has gone
ahead working out its details and prov-
ing by actual demonstration the prac-
ticability of the plan. He first secured
an appropriation of $22,500 last winter,
which sum was to be expended in car-
ing for the elk and experimenting for
permanent relief: As’ a‘result,of this
appropriation, experimental shipments
of elk were made from Jackson Hole
last winter to the States of Oregon,
Colorado, Utah, Montana, and Wash-
ington. ‘The shipments were success-
ful, and the animals, turned loose on
new ranges under proper protection,
thrived.”
A BOOM IN
American manufacturers of sawmill and
LUMBERING
woodworking machinery will be interested in
the intense activity that prevails in the region directly adjoining the Ural Mountains, Russia,
where promoters have turned their attention toward the unexploited riches of the place, and
recently a number of companies have decided to work the immense timber areas on a
share- holding basis. Many of the old firms have become share-holding companies, and
others are forming every day. It is intended to develop the tiunber trade by the employ-
ment of up-to-date machinery. There is also a proposition to construct a rail line to convey
iu the pee the timber from the lands belonging to the Government in the Province of
urinsk
BOY SCOUTS OF MICHIGAN
into thirty companies of Forest
Scouts, with the motto, “Keep the
Right Trail,” are now watching, with
trained eyes, throughout the State of
Michigan for forest fires, and are pre-
pared, when any break out, to lend their
aid in fighting them. They are under
the banner of Michigan Forest Scouts.
are learned in woodcraft, know how ta
fight forest fires and are of valuable
service in preventing fires.
Michigan is the first State to put the
Boy Scout movement to a practical test
in this manner.
The suggestion came from Governor
Chase S. Osborn. Early in his admin-
istration he suggested that the Boy
Scout movement in general amounts to
but little except a pastime for the
youngsters. He suggested at the same
time that the movement could be turned
to practical advantage to the State and
to the boys themselves. He proposed
the organization of the Michigan For-
est Scouts, composed of the boys of
every school district in the State. He
proposed that they should be organized
into companies under officers of their
own selection and working in connec-
tion with and under the direction of the
Michigan State game and fish and for-
est warden’s department become of
practical service in preventing the for-
est fires which have annually devastated
the State.
The suggestion was made to William
R. Oates, the game, fish and forest
warden of the State, and C. A. Palmer,
the State fire marshal. They imme-
diately seized the idea and Mr. Oates
has now organized the service, which
is already an important and unique
factor in the affairs of the State..
At this time companies have been or-
ganized in Harrisonville, Oscoda, Al-
pena, Onaway, Cheboygan and the Soo.
Five hundred boys between the ages of
9 and 19 years are already enrolled.
Other companies are being organized
as rapidly as possible and 2,000 will
Cine ti thousand boys, marshalled
be in the service before the coming on
of the dry season.
The first company was organized at
Oscoda with Oscar Swanson, aged 16
years, as captain. That company has
already been hard at work and is an
efficient fire-fighting organization. J.
H. McGillivray has been appointed
supervisor in the field and is traveling
all about the northern part of the State
organizing companies and telling the
boys and their parents the purposes of
the organization. The forestry de-
partment of the Michigan Agricultural
college has offered Mr. Oates the serv-.
ices of its classes in the summer to be
camp supervisors in charge of com-
panies of scouts, and the big lumber
men and timber men from all over
Michigan as well as the department of
education are lending every assistance
to the work to make it a big success.
A pamphlet has been issued which tells
the purposes of the organization and
includes a manual and general informa-
tion as to the duties of the scouts and
best methods of combatting fire.
It is not the purpose of the organiza-
tion that any boy shall risk his life in
fighting fire. He is rather to be the
courier who shall notify the fire warden
in his immediate vicinity of the out-
break of a fire and give such informa-
tion as may be useful in locating it and
fighting it. However, if a smali blaze
is discovered and the company of
scouts puts it out, that redounds to the
credit of the company, and medals
given by the State are rewards to each
scout who does efficient service.
BECOME LOVERS OF NATURE.
But the scope of the organization is
wide. It is not confined to fighting
fires alone. The object as laid down
in the manual says:
“The primary, economic object of
this organization sha!! be the protection
of frontier life and property, and
reforestation. Its moral object the de-
velopment of health, chivalry and ap-
581
58%
preciation of the duties of citizenship ;
its general object, the dissemination of
a knowledge of the importance of pre-
vention of forest fires to the boys and
girls of the State and through them to
their parents.”
A knowledge of woodcraft, care in
the lighting of fires in the woods, pro-
tection of birds and animals as well
as life and property are necessary re-
quirements of the scouts. The real use-
fulness of the organization is best
shown by the examination a scout must
take before he can be enlisted.
He must pass a creditable examina-
tion on simple fire-fighting and first
aid. In the manual rules are detailed
and the scout must study and know
the first aid remedies for snake bites.
cuts, burns, poisons, sun stroke, drown-
ing, being overcome with smoke and all
dangers with which a person in the
woods may come into contact.
He must promise to observe the con-
stitution of the State and of the United
States and memorize the preamble of
the latter.
Know how to use properly knife
hatchet, axe, shovel, mattock, flails of
brush, sacks and blankets.
Know how to determine direction by
a watch.
Know how to determine height of a
tree.
Know how to tie a death grip, square
fisherman’s halter and lumber jack’s
single and double timber hitch.
He must either swim twenty yards
walk one mile in twelve minutes, row
an ordinary boat or paddle a canoe one
mile in acceptable time, according to
conditions.
He must know the general State open
season for the hunting of game and tak-
ing of fishes and his own county game
law exceptions, if any.
He must be able to distinguish and
name three indigenous forest trees
three indigenous water plants, three
indigenous ground plants, three domes-
tic game birds, three migratory game
birds that pass over Michigan, three
game fishes, six fur bearing animals.
Draw or orally describe tracks left
by three wild animals.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Name the approximate time for
spawning of one species of fish.
Name the approximate time when
one species of wild animal bears its
young.
Name the approximate time when a
deer’s horns are in the velvet.
Name the approximate time when a
deer sheds its horns.
Name the approximate period that a
fawn retains its spotted coat.
He must know and name three town-
ship, three county, three State and three
federal officers.
He must know the qualifications for
United States citizenship.
He must know the names and ad-
dresses of the deputy fire wardens in
his district.
These requirements, it is manifest.
will make a boy a fairly expert woods-
man, it will give him an education along
lines about which too few of the adults
of today know much.
MEDALS AS REWARDS.
Medals of various classes will be pro-
vided by the State to be given to the
individual boys for good service.
Medals of the first degree will be of
approved metal composition and design
and shall be known as the “honor
medal.” Medals of the second degree
will be of gold and alloy composition
and approved design and known as the
“hero’s medal.”
Honor medals will be conferred upon
scouts who have performed meritorious
service to the State of Michigan in
the saving of life or property, refores-
tation or advancement of the original
and acceptable plans for the preven-
tion of forest fires. This merit of serv-
ice shall be certified by majority of the
scout’s own company certified to by his
public school teacher and the supervisor
of his township and approved by the
field supervisor and the head of the de-
partment.
Heroes medals will be conferred for
conspicuous bravey or good judgment
in the saving of life or property.
Honor medals will also be conferred
for the six best stories by boys and
BOY SCOUTS OF MICHIGAN
girls of the public schools of Michigan
which shall tell of the Michigan Forest
Scouts or their work.
One honor medal of gold shall be
awarded to the boy and one to the girl
writing the best of the six stories, the
stories to be selected by the head of the
department.
Regulation honor medals will be pre-
sented by the field supervisor or an aid
Hero medals and first honor medals
will be conferred by the governor in
person or by a direct representative of
the executive.
In addition to this W. B. Mershon.
one man in Michigan who perhaps
more than anybody else is interested in
the protection of the wild life of the
State, has volunteered to provide
medals for essays on the conservation
of bird life.
There are still other ramifications
since various organizations interested
in some particular branch of the work
are planning to offer medals for essays
or for actual work along the lines of
protection of game, fish or tree and
plant life.
The Lower Michigan Protective As-
sociation is now being organized to
patrol forest lands and prevent fires.
Thomas B. Wyman, of Munising, is the
expert in charge of the work and it
is proposed to use the boys in con-
nection.
HOW TO ORGANIZE.
To secure a charter, to become an
enlisted company is an easy matter. It
is provided only that five or more qual-
ified applicants apply to the field super-
visor or the head of the department and
that one of the applicants chosen by his
school teacher and elected by a ma+
jority vote of his company shall be cap-
tain of the organization.
The names of the companies shall be
chosen from the names of distinguished
American soldiers, patrols, frontiers-
men, Indian chieftains, or of some
American plant, tree or animal.
The arms of the scouts are flails.
buckets, mattocks, axes and shovels
The ammunition is dirt, sand and
water.
583
The boys will be taught the first aid
methods of treating sunstroke, scalds
frost bites, snake bites, poisoning
drowning, wounds of all kinds. They
will be taught how to build safe camp
fires and instructed in the necessity of
extinguishing them. They will be in-
structed in how to cook in the woods,
how to extinguish a forest fire, the
methods in which forest fires run and
how to avoid being overtaken and over-
come. They will be taught the art of
back firing without damage to other
property, of building fire lanes and of
protecting property when fire bears
down upon it.
But his chief duty is to notify the
proper authority of the advance of a
fire. The chief township warden is
the supervisor of that township and
any justice of the peace is also a fire
warden in his township. The scout
is asked to bear in mind that the State
does not require nor ask him to risk
his life or limb in service. It is the
scout’s duty to care for life and prop-
erty. His own life is held by the State
to be vastly more valuable than prop-
erty and as valuable as that of any
other person.
If one or more scouts have knowl-
edge of a forest fire it is the duty of
the one having the first knowledge to
dispatch a warning to a township war-
den. He is asked to make an intelligent
report along these lines:
The kind of material in combustion.
The approximate area of destruc-
tion.
The probable area of destruction.
The possible area of destruction.
The establishment of a fighting line.
The means for fighting; water, sand
or earth, flails, brush or water soaked
sacks or blankets, fire lanes, etc.
FIRST FIRE EXPERIENCE.
Already Wolverine company, the
first to be enlisted and under the com-
mand of Capt. Oscar Swanson, has been
through the mill. It was in the district
controlled by this company that a great
fire swept all before it last year. Un-
told damage was done and hundreds
were left homeless and starving. Young
584
Swanson, but 16 years of age, already
knows the woods and knows the terrors
of forest fire-fighting. He is a self-
reliant lad and his company, the first
of the Michigan Forest Scouts, is care-
fully drilled by him every way he can
think of to make it an efficient fire-
fighting force.
He gave his company a little test
recently. A great pile of dead brush
was situated in a clump of pines. He
set it on fire in several places. Then
he gave the alarm.
“Secure shovels,” came his com-
mand.
The company promptly appeared in
good order and armed with their
shovels.
“Forward, at will!” he commanded.
The boys came down upon the blaze
like a Marathon.
“Shovels at will,” was the next com-
mand. In an instant every shovel was
dug deep into the snow and the snow
was sent hurling upon the blazing brush
pile. Like nailers the lads worked.
They know their business. They stood
on the windward side of the brush
heap, away from the smoke and flame,
yet where they could keep up that
shower of snow dealing death to the
flames. Two minutes and only steam
rises from the brush pile. The captain
stood back and proudly surveyed the
work of his company over which he
had command and which he had kept
well in hand.
“That’s the way we do it now,” he
said. “If it were summer time, sand
would do the work quicker than snow.”
Then he told of his plans for the sea-
son which all northern Michigan looks
to with dread.
“A grass fire? Yes, that’s the way
most of ’em start. But, pshaw! That’s
nothing, when you know how—provid-
ing it’s a small one of course. And
we figure on getting most of *em be-
fore they get any size. |
“We just cut or tear off a big pine
or cedar branch and whip ’em to a
frazzle. We get behind to the win’ard
where it’s safe. Then we whip along
the sides and it keeps a dying down as
we gain on it, till we meet in front.
Then it’s out.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
“What’ll we do with a great big fire?
Why, there won’t be any. That’s what
the scouts are for—to put em out when
they are small. But if there should
happen to be a big one, we would re-
port it to the township fire warden and
he would organize to fight the blaze.
Most of the fires start when it’s vaca-
tion in school and that’s when we can
watch for ’em.
“When there are no fires? Why then
we'll put in the time cutting fire lanes
to protect the towns and farm houses,
and trimming the useless branches off’n
the trees so the sap will go into the
trunk and make ’em grow faster.
Pretty soon we'll have our forests back
again.”
COST OF FOREST FIRES.
Young Swanson is an enthusiast and
it is apparent he has had the neces-
sary experience to make him an effi-
cient officer. Forest fires in Michigan
during the year 1911 did damage to the
extent of $3,567,438. They broke out
in thirty-six counties of the eighty-three
in the State. They left villages desolate
and resulted in tremendous loss of life
as well as property. They ruined thou-
sands of acres of hardwood, meadows,
slashings and swamp lands and made
it necessary to call out the National
Guard to care for the persons afflicted.
It is believed the organization of the
Michigan Forest Scouts will be a po-
tential force in preventing repetitions
of such devastations. All the benefits
will not be reaped in this generation
for one of the important features of
the work is to teach young men how
to build camp fires without endanger-
ing the surrounding growth. When
these boys grow up and become camp-
ers their lessons in woodcraft will have
been learned. They are taught to see
and extinguish the blaze in its in-
cipiency. This lesson will never be for-
gotten and in future generations the
people of Michigan will reap the re-
ward.
William R. Oates, State Game and
Fish and Forestry Warden, is most en-
thusiastic over the movement. So is
Governor Osborn, who devotes not a
Toe FOREST SERVE APPROPRIATION
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586
are not needed for public purposes, and
may list and describe the same by
metes and bounds, or otherwise.”
The only new element introduced in
the amendment passed is that it carries
an appropriation which will enable the
Forest officers to classify the lands
chiefly valuable for agricultural pur-
poses prior to the filing of application
for them by settlers. This is wholly
in accord with the policy of the Forest
Service, and only the lack of funds
hitherto has prevented any extensive
classification of such lands.
It was believed that the amendment
proposed by the Senate contained ele-
ments of vagueness which were capable
of endangering the interests of the pub-
lic. It seemed possible that lands chief-
ly valuable for timber, timber growing,
water power development, reservoir
sites and other uses, but possessing sec-
ondary or even slight agricultural possi1-
bilities might be required under a strict
interpretation of the proposed law to be
opened to private exploitation, in which
agricultural possibilities would be only
a pretext for acquiring title.
An improvement over past appro-
priation laws is in the provision that no
land listed for agricultural settlement
under the Act of June 11, 1906, shall
pass from the Forest until patent issue.
Formerly it was held that land thus
listed even though unoccupied or aban-
doned was forever alienated from the
Forest.
The new law carries an appropriation
for the administration of the Appalach-
ian forests now being acquired.
Although a number of Assistant For-
est Ranger positions have been dropped
from the statutory rolls the money
available for salaries will permit the
temporary employment of more than
that number of Forest Guards during
the fire season.
An analysis of the sums carried in
the appropriations shows a slight de-
crease this year, as shown in the fol-
lowing:
: 1911-1912 1912-1913
Sala itesy iat 2 3)h 2 aun Oe $2,318,680 $2,235,760
General Expenses ____ 2,714,420 2,707,285
Permanent Imp. —.2- 500,000 400,000
hs We $5,533.100 $5,343,045
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Permanent improvement money in
the new law is considered a part of the
general expense moneys, but for pur-
poses of comparison it has been segre-
gated.
Further comparison of sub-allot-
ments is as follows:
1911-12 1912-13
Fires and emergencies___-$150,000 $150,000
Equipment and supplies___ 198,080 155,000
Investigations in wood dis-
tillation, preservatives,
paper making, timber test-
ATO NEECH pases ee 177,040 170,000
Grazing investigations ____ 18,420 20,180
Market and miscellaneous
investigations
33,760 31,360
The 25 per centum of gross revenues
will be turned over to the States in
which National Forests are located to
be applied to the road and school funds,
as in the past. The new law provides.
“That an additional ten per centum of
all moneys received from National
Forests during the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1912, shall be available at the
end thereof to be expended by the Sec-
retary of Agriculture for the construc-
tion and maintenance of roads and trails
within the National Forests in the
States from which such proceeds are
derived, but the Secretary of Agricul-
ture may, whenever practicable, in the
construction and maintenance of such
roads, secure the co-operation or aid
of the proper State or Territorial au-
thorities in the furtherance of any sys-
tem of highways of which such roads
may be a part.”
While the ten per centum will be ex-
pended in building roads and trails pri-
marily for the use and convenience of
forest users and those traveling across
the Forests, in most instances these
public improvements will greatly assist
the Forest officers in transacting their
business and in further protecting the
Forests and rendering them of wider
use.
While a larger appropriation could
have been wisely used, the new appro-
priation law, carrying practically the
same sums as last year, is probably suf-
ficient to the Forest Service.
INSTRUCTIONS IN TIMBER ESTIMATING
By Epwarp C.’M. RicuHarps, Ph. B., M. F.
E of the Senior Class of the Yale
Forest School had always heard
that timber estimating was a very
peculiar part or branch of the lumber
business. There seemed to be something
mysterious about it. We had always un-
derstood that the best cruisers were
men who had lived in the woods for
the greater part of their life and per-
haps had even been born there. It
seemed hardly possible that a lot of
men who had lived in cities and large
towns for the most part could reach a
point where they could claim even a
fair knowledge of the art. For besides
the seeming necessity of having to have
lived in the woods for the greater part
of one’s life, still there seemed to be
something weird connected with the
work. We could not have told just
what it was or where we had gotten the
impression, but it was there neverthe-
less. Imagine our surprise, therefore.
when one morning last spring while
we were camped along the I. & G. N.
Railroad near Trinity, Texas, our in-
structor told us that anyone with care-
ful attention to detail and a lot of
hard, but carefully directed work, could
gain a very fair knowledge of cruis-
ing as it is done by the best of the
men who make it their life work. He
said that it was not necessary that men
live in the woods all their life to gain
skill and accuracy, but that one thing
amongst others that men of this class
had which fitted them for the work bet-
ter was the experience which they had
had as regards the allowance for the
defects which are found in timber. This
would have to be learned by experience.
that all of the methods of work and
a considerable amount of the skill re-
quired to carry out these methods could
be learned by us in the time which was
allotted for this purpose.
A fairly brief summary of the course
of instruction which we went through
is as follows:
The country about Trinity had never
been covered by the Government in
their rectangular survey, and, therefore,
all of the surveying which had been
done had been done in small and very
irregularly, shaped areas. Some of
these surveys were as much as a hun-
dred years old and in many cases it
was very hard for us to locate the old
lines. A regular crew had been at work
at this for some time, however, before
the estimating started and the boun-
daries had assumed a recognizable as-
pect in practically all cases. But for the
practice work in cruising we laid off
two sections of land which were as-
sumed to be numbers 1 and 36. This
made the line separating them a town-
ship line and the east end of this line
was the township corner. ‘The lines
around these two sections were blazed
as were the lines in each, dividing them
up into ‘forties,’ and ten-acre plots.
In this blazing work the trees were
blazed on the side facing the line and
a single horizontal crayon mark was
made on each line blaze. Trees which
were directly on the line—“line” trees—
were blazed “fore and aft.” The cor-
ners of the forties were staked and
each stake was marked with crayon so
as to locate it with regard to its po-
sition in the section. Along the lines
dividing the sections up into forties,
stakes were set at distances of 330, 660
and 990 feet from the corners and each
stake here was also marked, giving the
position as regards its location in the
forty. These stakes were for the pur-
pose of enabling a compass man run-
ning across the forty to check himself
up quickly and easily during the prac-
tice work. All of this work was done
with a steel tape and a staff compass
and care was taken to do the work
of setting stakes correctly as we all
were to use this sample area for some
587
588
time and therefore it was best to take
pains and lay the work out well.
As all of the work in the field had
to be done by pacing, therefore of
course the work on the practice sections
had to be done in the same way, ‘ But
most of us had not paced very much
and those that had done so had gotten
out of practice. Professor Chapman
therefore placed the corner of the imag-
inary township exactly one mile—by
steel tape—from a certain point on the
railroad track in front of the cook
shanty, and set a stake at each quarter
of a mile. Every morning as we went
to work and every night when we re-
turned we paced off that mile, and as
the work lasted for a number of weeks,
by the time we were ready to go out
on the actual field work we knew our
pace very well and, what is much more
to the point, we became used to pacing
and had learned a lot about regulating
our pace over different kinds of ground.
After laying off the forties crews
were sent in on each of them to tally
the merchantable timber. In this work
the crews worked in strips calipering
every tree of merchantable species—
short leaf or loblolly pine—of a diam-
eter greater than 10” at breast height.
One man of the crew tallied the diam-
eters of the trees as they were calli-
pered by the others. As a tree was
calipered the man who calipered it
called out the diameter to the tally-
man and then blazed the tree to show
that it had been tallied. The trees
were blazed on the East side for the
West half of the forty and on the
the West side for the East half of the
forty, so that any tree which was above
10” D. B. H. and which had not been
calipered and tallied could be easily
found by walking down the central line
of the forty and looking on both sides
of the line. In measuring these diam-
eters the scale of the calipers was read
only to the nearest inch.
While this work was going on two
men of the crew were taking height
measurements with Faustman Height
Measures, recording the merchantable
height of the trees along with their
D. B H. In doing this work the men
AMERICAN FORESTRY
were cautioned to get as many heights
as possible but to be sure to get the
heights of all of the very large trees
and to distribute the rest of the heights
over as wide a range of diameters as
convenient. These heights were in the
form of the number of sixteen foot
logs in the tree allowing about sixteen
inches for the average stump height.
Every man on every crew had to per-
form each of these jobs so that we all
had a fair chance at the work as it
progressed.
The idea of doing all this blazing and
measuring was to get as accurate an
estimate of the standing timber on each
of the forties as possible. From the
D. B. H. tally we got a complete tally
of the number of trees of each diam-
eter on the forty and from the height
measurements we got an excellent idea
of the number of logs in trees of all
diameters.
From the above data estimates on the
contents of the different forties were
worked out by means of a volume table
based on the D. B. H. and the number
of logs in a tree, and this set of esti-
mates was assumed to be as nearly cor-
rect as it was possible to get them with
reasonable amount of work. And in
addition to the estimate, a tally was
made of the number of trees of each
diameter and of each height—in num-
ber of logs—on every forty. This was
used as a checking system for our work
and proved very valuable.
When all of the above work had been
finished, the actual work on the prac-
tice forties began. ‘The method was
about as follows:
At first crews of six men were sent
out on the sections. These crews con-
sisted of a compassman, a checker and
four estimators. Each crew ran
strips ten rods wide back and forth
across the forty, making one strip just
touch the next one and in this way
covering the entire area the first time
the forty was run. After the forty had
been run once, the crew turned about
and re-ran the same forty again. The
reason for this was because on the
first running the cruisers walked on
one side of the man with the compass
INSTRUCTION IN TIMBER ESTIMATING
and stayed on that side while the forty
was being run. He tallied the diameter
and number of logs of every tree on
the strip between himself and the com-
passman of all trees which had blazes
on them—showing that they were
above 10 in diameter. At the end of
the forty each estimator had the com-
plete tally of all of the trees on half
of the area. On the re-running of the
area the men changed over to the other
side of the compassman and in this
way got a tally of the rest of the forty.
The compassman merely had to run
the compass and pace off the different
distances across the forty so as to check
up on his pacing, while the sixth man
or checker carried a pair of calipers
and a height measure and his work
was to check up the estimates made by
the others in diameters, heights and
in the width of the strips which they
were running—i. e. the distance be-
tween the estimators and the compass-
man. At the end of the day’s work
each of the estimators worked out his
own tally and determined his own es-
timates of the amount of standing tim-
ber on the forty. He also had to add
up on his tally sheets the number of
trees in each height and each diameter
class. When he had done all of this he
went to the instructor to check up his
work. This checking was very well
arranged, for by this system a man was
not only able to find out how nearly his
total estimate of the stand came to the
assumed true estimate, but he was able
‘by comparison of the tallies of the
diameter and height classes, to get a
very good idea as to the errors that he
was making in his work and what he
had better do to correct them. For in-
stance a man might come out fairly
close in his total estimate for the forty,
but, on checking up his work with the
diameter and height tally, might find
that he was over estimating his diam-
eters—which gave him larger logs—
and underestimating his heights—which
diminished the number of logs just
enough to make the total estimate look
very well, whereas the real work was
far from being good. In this way we
were checked up day by day and the
improvement in the work of the men
589
was marked after we had got the hang
of the methods.
This sort of work was, of course,
altogether too slow for practical cruis-
ing and was really used with the idea
of getting our eyes trained to the esti-
mating of the diameters, heights and
distances and to give us a little idea of
of the sort of work we were to do. It
lasted only a short time, for within a
few days we began to alter the method
by which we ran the strips across the
forty and to use some of the other sys-
tems of covering the area. The differ-
ent time-saving methods which we took
up and gave a good trial were some
of those well known to cruisers such
as the “log run” method, methods of
widening or narrowing the strips,
counting all of the trees on the strips,
but tallying only one in five; making
of a topographical map by the com-
passman while the work was going on
and other methods and schemes to help
make a cruise more speedy and more
useful. All this work was done on the
sample forties and of course we were
shifted about every day so that we
should not have to use the same forty
twice in succession. The check man
soon was eliminated and each esti-
mator had to carry his own calipers
and do his own checking. And always
we had the checking up system with
the instructor in the evening.
Finally individual cruising was intro-
duced and we had to run the compass,
keep track of the pacing, count and
tally the merchantable trees all by our-
selves. Here we also tried the sample
acre system, the “Ward” method, and
cther schemes of getting the contents
of stands. But through it all we had
to check our pace twice a day, our es-
timates of diameters with calipers and
our tally of heights and diameters in
the evening.
At the end of two weeks of this prac-
tice work the actual work of cruising
the timber for the Lumber Company
began. A somewhat brief outline of
this work is as follows:
As stated in another part of this ar-
ticle, the country around camp was not
surveyed by the governmental rectan-
gular survey and was broken up into
590
countless small irregular surveys rang-
ing from patches of fifty to sixty up to
tracts covering several hundred acres.
Much time had to be spent by the
‘“Jandline crew” in re-running the
boundaries of these tracts and as in
many cases the original work had been
done a great many years before, a
good deal of trouble resulted. Finally
all of this work was done and the
whole region which was to be estimated
was mapped to the scale of 2,000 feet
to the inch. Then small maps or trac-
ings were made of the different areas
which each crew was to cover in de-
tail. These tracings covered on the
average about three sections of land—
1920 acres—and the crew was required
to estimate the timber, make a topo-
graphical map to the scale of 2,000 feet
to the inch and which gave the eleva-
tions in 10-foot contours, collect a de-
scription of the different types of the
forest found on the area, and hand ina
written report on all of this material.
The time allowed for the whole work
was one week.
In doing this work the tracing map
area was divided up into “blocks” of as
nearly 160 acres in size as possible.
Each of these blocks was estimated
separately—using different tally sheets
for each, but running the compass lines
right through all of them, and then by
adding up the different estimates for
the blocks, the contents of the whole
area was gotten.
The crews were made up with three
men in them as a rule, but in a couple
of cases two men crews were used.
Each crew had for equipment a staff
compass, two pairs of calipers, a trac-
ing map of the area to be covered
note books for the daily tally of trees,
erasers, pencils, scales graduated to
decimals of an inch, canteens, blazing
hatchets and haversacks for carrying
lunch.
One man ran the compass for one-
third of the time while the other two
estimated and took notes on the forest.
The former also had to make a topo-
graphical map as he went along. The
cruisers—as differentiated from the
cuimpassmen—had a tally sheet made
out in their note books in which they
AMERICAN FORESTRY
recorded the trees tallied under diam-
eter breast high and the number of
sixteen foot logs to half log lengths.
The method used was the parallel al-
ternate strips and 50% of area was to
be covered. The various shapes of the
areas covered necessitated running the
strips in various ways, but the per cent
covered had to remain approximately
the same. For the two-men crews,
however, the per cent covered was only
25. The compassman ran the lines
across the tract parallel to each other
and the two estimators walked on
either side of him, each counting all
of the trees on the strip lying between
himself and the compassman—5 rods—
and also on a 5-rod strip on the other
side, of 10 rods in all and 20 rods for
the crew. All merchantable trees were
divided into two classes—‘Pine” and
“Others.” In the case of the former
or the “Pine,” every fifth tree counted
was tallied, the tree nearest the cruiser
being the one tallied in every case, ac-
cording to the diameter breast high and
the number of sixteen foot logs. In
the class of “Others” belonged the
gums, cottonwoods, sycamores, oaks,
etc., and they were tallied log by log,
the number of trees being so much less
than in the case of the “pine” that the
“one in five” system was not necessary,
and also as we had no volume table
adapted to such trees every log had
to be tallied separately.
In addition to the above data, it was
necessary to take notes for a forest
description. This was to cover the per
cent of the different species present,
the average clear length of bole, the
form of- the timber—whether knotty,
crooked, etc-——the amount of damage
done to the forest by fire, insects and
rot and data which might come up in
the course of the cruise. The amount
and condition of the young growth
both of pine and others both in the
forest proper and on any old fields or
deserted clearings also was required.
And finally the condition of the repro-
duction—as_ differentiated from the
young timber—and some idea as to
how the different species reproduced
themselves in different parts of the
area covered.
CANADIAN FORESTRY MEETING 591
It was found that in working of the
shortleaf pine uplands it was possible
to .run about four miles of line in a
day and collect all of the above data,
thus covering 320 acres.
From every standpoint the work was
a success. We had a chance to learn
a great deal about locating old lines
in the woods, of mapping in a wooded
country, and other things which go far
in making a man efficient in woods
work. But most of all we gathered an
idea of how timber estimating ought to
be carried on, and found ourselves
finally able to make a respectable show-
ing in the work. We had a very fair
idea of the shortleaf pine country when
we finally said good bye to Trinity and
started for the North.
CANADIAN FORESTRY MEETING
be held at Victoria, B. C., Sept. 4,
5 and 6, is the Fourteenth Annual
convention of the Canadian Forestry
Association which meets in British
Columbia upon the invitation of the
Government of that province. This is
the first time since 1906 that the Ca-
nadian Forestry Association has met
further West than Regina, its gather-
ings having been held in the interval
in the big eastern lumber centers such
as Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec,
and Fredericton.
One of the chief subjects of discus-
sion will be furnished by the new forest
law which has just been enacted by the
Government of British Columbia, and
the organization and scope of the
British Columbia Forest Service now
being established. The relation of this
law and this service to the lumbermen
in the mountains and on the coast, and
to the railways will be set forth, and
some points, no doubt, keenly debated.
The Government is taking a keen in-
Ce Forestry meeting which is to
terest in this convention owing to the
immense importance of the forests of
British Columbia and the large revenue
which they bring in to the province. Sir
Richard McBride, the Premier, and
Hon. W. R. Ross, the Minister of
Lands, will address the Convention
upon the law as it affects their depart-
ments. The lumbermen and the rail-
ways will be well represented by those
qualified to speak from their respective
positions. Quite a large number of
prominent men in forest administration
and lumbering are expected to attend
from Eastern Canada, as well as from
points nearer the Pacific Coast, and a
number are also expected. from the
United States.
It is proposed to begin with a re-
ception on the evening of Sept. 4, fol-
lowed by regular sessions in the morn-
ings and afternoons of September 5 and
6, concluding with a banquet on the
evening of September 6. Delegates
from the United States will be cordially
welcomed and given full opportunity to
participate in the discussions.
IRRIGATION FOR NEW SOUTH WALES
Mr. N. R. W. Nielsen, formerly minister for lands, who represented the New South
Wales Government at the Chicago Irrigation Congress and afterwards conducted) an in-
vestigation into the irrigation methods of the United States, has issued a report in which
he says that the eastern coast of Australia can be made quite as productive as any similar
area in the United States or Canada.
He recommends that the Government undertake
extensive irrigation works, declaring that the cost of these would be amply repaid.
, WON FOREST FIRE FIGHT
HE story of a strenuous and
stubborn fight against a forest fire
which raged over 24,000 acres
and did damage to the extent of about
$30,000 is that brought back from the
Sitgreaves National forest of Arizona,
in the Third district, by Assistant Dis-
trict ‘Porester’ FP: (C’Paoler,“ tas 2
story which includes an eighty-mile gal-
lop from Snowflake, Arizona, by a
dozen rangers in twenty-four hours
over rough country, a night and day
struggle amid sizzling heat and acrid,
blinding smoke to drive back fierce
flames which, driven by high winds,
often leaped hundreds of feet at a
time. As high as forty men, including
assistants from ranches and cow camps,
were engaged for many days trying to
head off the fire, and the entire ex-
pense to the service in extinguishing
the blaze was about $1,700.
Putting out the fire, which had a cir-
cumference of some thirty miles, was
made the more difficult by the fact that
the scarcity of rain had made things
extremely dry and that the sheep had
not yet been brought in to this district.
the Chevalon district, of the forest for
their grazing; and because only from
fifteen to eighteen ranchers reside in
the whole district.
The fire was started by lightning and
because of the sparsely settled nature
of the country would have swept an
enormous area but for the forest serv-
ice organization and the fact that sev-
enty miles of telephone line have been
installed in this region by the govern-
ment in the past year.
The Sitgreaves forest is 893,720
acres in extent and the density of the
timber is indicated by the fact that half
a million dollars worth stood on the
burned area, the total loss being com-
paratively small in proportion to the
aggregate of standing timber. A few
cattlemen joined the forest service em-
ployes in the fight, although it is said
592
one large outfit that could have fur-
nished a dozen men failed to do so.
Delay in reporting the fire resulted
from a curious incident. The lookout
who climbed with his spiked climbers
to the top of a 110-foot tree to take his
daily reconnaisance saw and reported a
fire on the Coconino forest, adjoining,
on June %. Directly in line with this
fire was the smoke from the incipient
conflagration on the Sitgreaves, which
smoke appeared to be a part of that
from the Coconino and it was not until
the next day, June 8, that the lookout
telephoned in the report of his own fire
which by that time was well under
way.
The first report came in to the
ranger station at 8 p. m. and next morn-
ing at 1 o’clock a force of fire-fighters
was on the scene, the aid of a few local
residents being secured. June 10, after
the rangers had been fighting desper-
ately night and day to head off the
blaze, a call for help was sent in to
Snowflake and Supervisor Jennings, of
the Sitgreaves, with Mr. Pooler and a
dozen rangers, hastily saddled up and
“hit the trail”—and a very rough trail
at that—for the fire, making the eighty
miles in twenty-four hours, arriving at
4 in the evening, eating a hasty lunch,
starting to work and eating nothing un-
til well into the next day. All that
night, all the next day and all the next
night the little force worked without
rest. The fire was burning on about
5,500 acres when the officials arrived.
The fire would apparently be checked
when at noon every day a high wind
would spring up and by 3 o’clock the
heat would be so intense that the fire-
fighters could not approach it, blazing
bark being hurled five hundred feet be-
fore the wind to start a hundred new
fires ahead of the main front. Finally
a fire line a quarter to half a mile
wide was run from Leonard canyon
to Willow creek, which checked the ad-
WON FOREST FIRE FIGHT
vance of the flames, this fire line being
about four miles in length. All this
was cleared out in one day’s time, which
is believed to be about the record time
for such a performance over so large
an area. For three days a total of forty
men was at work, when the force was
then cut to fifteen or twenty.
The damage to green timber is esti-
mated at $15,000, and in reproduction
at $15,000, a total of $30,000.
While the forest service men don’t
say much about the details of the fight
1. few meagre particulars indicate that
it was a fierce one. Camp was pitched
at what was considered a safe distance
from the fire, which, however, was
right on top of the bivouac in an amaz-
ingly short time, strenuous work being
necessary to keep the camp site and a
square mile of feed for the horses free
of fire. On every side of this square
mile the fire was raging. No serious
injury to any of the fire-fighters, how-
ever, is reported. The task which con-
fronted them is shown by the estimate
that an army of 400 men could not
have checked the advance of the flames
in the afternoon when the wind was
fanning it.
The army emergency ration was
tried out at this fire but found unsat-
isfactory for fire-fighters while at work.
because of its dryness. Water had to
be hauled some distance to supply the
rangers and they drank gallons of it
Spellmire and Lyons, of Winslow, fur-
nished a part of the force of men at
work.
Supplies and tools which had to be
hauled part of the way and packed part
of the way were on hand and ready.
Arrangements are now being made for
connections with the military telegraph
line which runs through this section,
and the installation of the telegraphones
throughout the forest for use on that
line. Last year there was no telephone
wire on the forest and the building of
seventy miles this year indicates the
extent of the fire protection measures
being taken by the service.
The supervisor at present can call up
any of his rangers over the telephone,
but the telegraphone service will make
593
communication much more complete. A
considerable sum will be spent this year
in further trail building and improve-
ment.
The number of tree lookouts will be
increased and these will be supple-
mented with lookout towers with tri-
angulation to secure exact location.
How useful these lookouts are is dem-
onstrated by the fact that in another
district of this same forest where there
are natural points of vantage in the
shape of bare peaks, twelve fires were
reported by the lookouts and extin-
guished with a total expense to the
government of $50 and damage only
nominal.
Six rules have been printed on
placards and sent out from _head-
quarters to be placed in hotels at the
Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Williams
Santa Fe and other places where the
forest-using public may see them. The
placard is as follows:
The Six Rules for Care With Fire
in the Mountains:
If every member of the public strict-
ly observes these simple rules the great
annual loss by forest fires will be re-
duced to a minimum.
1. Be sure your match is out before
you throw it away.
2. Knock out your pipe ashes or
throw your cigar or cigarette stump
where there is nothing to catch fire.
3. Don’t build a campfire any larger
than is absolutely necessary. Never
leave it, even for a short time, without
putting it out with water or earth.
4, Don’t build a campfire against a
tree or log. Build a small one where
you can scrape away the needles, leaves
or grass from all sides of it.
5. Don’t build bonfires. The wind
may come up at any time and start a
fire which you cannot control.
6. If you discover a fire, put it out if
possible; if you can’t, get word of it to
the nearest United States forest ranger
or State fire warden as quickly as you
possibly can.
A TREE
By Burt W. JOHNSON
N front of a roaring fire an old
i man sat watching the flames that
devoured the huge knotted back
log. Little flashes of light danced across
his stern features as the flames leaped
savagely over that piece of the fallen
monarch. And as he sat, the old man
mumbled to himself: ‘That sugar-tree
ought to keep me warm nigh on to
Thanksgivin’.” Giving the log a vigor-
ous poke he leaned back contentedly in
his armed rocker. He had cut the
tree and piled its wood in the shed, and
maple surely does make a good fire.
Suddenly the old man ceased rocking
and the firm lines of his face softened,
a slight flash of pain crossed his fea-
tures. His gray eyes were looking far
beyond the flames from the log. He saw
a tall, majestic tree standing near the
middle of the road, its thick branches
reaching beyond a rail fence on the
other side.
Then he thought of the little yellow-
haired boy who had so often climbed
among its branches in search of a fork,
or only to see how many eggs the
robins or doves had. Of the kindly old
man who had said with pride: “Ain’t
she a beauty, Jamey, I tell ye, my boy,
she ain’t never agoin’ to be cut while
I am here. No siree, for Lord, where
would the birds build their nests next
spring? Just think of lame Tom a
comin’ up the dusty road all hot and
clean tuckered out a peddling of his
trinkets. Where would he rest? She
is a friend in need, my boy, and they
are mighty few these days, a shelterin’
bird, beast and man.”
The man before the fire began to
rock slowly. Yes, that old gentleman
had been his father, and he the boy.
Now the boy had grown to be an old
man, and some said like his fathe-
They looked alike, to be sure, the same
thin nose, square chin, and eyes—no,
the eyes were not the same, for the
father’s had been of softest blue that
were filled with tenderness and sym-
594
pathy, and the son’s a cold, steel-grey
without a trace of pity.
Yes, this is the same stern man sitting
in his easy rocker, gathering memories
from the glowing coals of a fire; yet the
eyes are no longer steel, but soft and
tender. Tears have stolen from a for-
gotten source down upon the grim old
cheeks, and glisten in the firelight. Tak-
ing the tongs from the hearth-stand he
slowly turned the burning log over,
bringing a large knot into view, so
shaped as to form a pocket with the
body of the tree. In this same pocket
he had once found a wren’s nest and
in it two speckled eggs.
“Guess no wren will build in that
hole next year. You were a fine big
tree.”
The old man’s voice trembled as he
addressed the now smouldering re-
mains of the tree. ‘That artist fellow
that painted ye seemed almost to wor-
ship ye. I recollect his sayin’ suthin’
‘bout ye bein’ an inspiration to man-
kind. He went on like that for quite
a spell. Guess he thought quite smart
on sich things.”
For a long time the only sound in the
toom was the sizzle of sap in burning
wood, and the creak of rockers on the
floor. Outside the wind blew cold
around the corners of the house and
through the naked trees. A long cold
winter was expected and started. “It
keeps a body busy fightin’ off the cold.
Haven’t time to think how things look.”
The cold wind outside had caused these
thoughts. The memory of the summer
brought others, these he began to
mumble alound, breaking the silence.
“No, it won’t make much difference
now. but when the sap begins to run,
the birds come huntin’ a place to build
in—it’ll be burnt and the ashes layin’
out in the orchard. Wonder what that
artist will say? He said he would be
back next summer. Well,’ and the old
man put his feet down with a thud,
“whatever he says I’ll tell him that the
NORTHWESTERN FOREST FIRE CONDITIONS
tree was in the way and—lI needed
wood.”
He carefully covered the coals with
ashes and started for bed. It was
late. He could not remember sitting up
so late for years.
The winter, as predicted, was a
“freezer” even for New England, And
Spring, late in coming, was welcomed
by all. Soon the bitterness of winter
was forgotten. The summer became as
hot as the winter had been cold. The
old bachelor’s house stood back among
the locusts as always. The little vine-
covered porch was the same. There
was the orchard behind the arbor.
598
Something seemed wrong to the travel-
er as he plodded up the dusty road in
the merciless sun, looking expectingly
for shade. Now he understood the
change in the familiar old place. A
landmark, a pioneer of the country, a
friend, had been taken from this place.
There was the stump. The sun seemed
to beat down even hotter where the
branches had once shaded.
“Who could have done it? That old
heartless skinflint? What would his pa
say?” The traveler looked bitterly to-
ward the house. “What is that?” Near
the edge of the road, carefully pro-
tected by white stakes, a young sugar
maple had been planted.
NORTHWESTERN FOREST FIRE CONDITIONS
ULY passed practically without
forest fire loss, August begun with
unusually favorable conditions.
and better equipment than ever before
by all protective agencies except the
federal forest service, which is ham-
pered by congressional delay in acting
upon its appropriation, is the summary
of a statement issued early in August
by the Western Forestry and Conser-
vation Association upon advices re-
ceived from all protective headquarters
in the Pacific northwest. Due partly
to the weather but also to the perfec-
tion of preventive measures which, like
the block signal system on railroads
safeguard without being spectacular
the situation is novel in that the mid-
dle of the usual four months fire season
has arrived and there is not a single fire
of importance to report.
Although small fires are becoming
numerous, green timber is not dry
enough to carry them unless strong
wind prevails and the patrol forces are
handling them promptly. The season
has been favorable for disposing of
dangerous slashings and never before
has there been such system and success
in extinguishing smouldering logs and
snags left after burning to become a
menace later. On the other hand, the
growth of grass and underbrush has
been so heavy as to threaten peculiar
danger from now on. Marked improve-
ment in care with fire is reported, al-
though there is considerable complaint
against careless leaving of deébris by
county road builders and against the
operations of small and irresponsible
loggers.
The State Forester of Montana has
received $3,500 from the federal gov-
ernment through the Weeks law to be
used outside the national forests in the
territory protected by the State and
the Northern Montana Forestry Asso-
ciation.
Idaho has had a few small slashing
and lightning fires but practically no
damage. The co-operative patrol asso-
ciations have completed several new
telephone systems and are rapidly in-
creasing patrols to meet expected dry
weather.
Washington reports no fuly fires of
consequence, but the laws are being
enforced rigidly to prevent danger
later. Several attempts to burn with-
cut permit or operate unguarded en-
596
gines have been followed by prompt
arrest and conviction. The Washing-
ton Forest Fire Association has 90
patrolmen out and is devoting special
attention to finding and extinguishing
any fire left after spring slash burn-
ing. The State Forester has 27 regular
wardens on duty and is increasing this
force gradually, besides having a spe-
cial force of 35 secured by govern-
ment aid under the Weeks law.
Oregon had but one fire worthy of
mention in July and this was speedily
extinguished, without loss, by the
Columbia County patrol association.
About 350 wardens are on duty in the
State outside the national forests, em-
ployed by State, counties and private
owners.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Although the usual fire season is half
over, Congress has made no appropri-
ation for the federal forest service.
The national forests are being guarded
on a deficiency fund, which it is said
would be wholly inadequate in an or-
dinary season, but so far there has
been little loss.
It is emphasized by all authorities
that, while the immunity enjoyed so
far shortens the dangerous season and
has permitted careful preparation, a
few hot drying days may bring the
maximum hazard at any time now. All
persons are urged not to attempt slash
burning and to exercise great care with
sparks, matches and camp fires.
a
EARLY LUMBERING
lumberman are told by John
Swan, of Clay, W. Va, in a letter
to the editor, in which he contrasts the
past with present conditions. He says:
“T was born in Clearfield County,
Penna., December 4, 1845, and my
father was a lumberman. I followed
his foot steps. Father’s first experience
was making square timber from the
white pine forest in the old home
county, which was covered with the
finest trees that man ever looked at.
Father made his timber 30 to 50 feet
long and they were almost perfect.
When he came to the knot he cut it
off, and what a waste there was left to
rot and make food for the forests’
great enemy, fire. Father hauled his
product to the Susquehana river, rafted
it to Port Deposit. There it was made
in to floats and taken to Philadelphia
and New York through the canals, and
was sold for 6 to 8 cents per cubic foot.
Then the men who helped do the work
walked back to their forest homes, 200
to 800 and more miles. When I was a
man the same process was gone over
with this addition: we ran the lengths
from 30 to 90 feet long and hauled to
the same beautiful Susquehana river
only the distance was from four to
eight miles and we received anywhere
Crm early experiences of an old
from 15 to 35 cents per cubic foot. We
then got into a train and rode to within
eight to ten miles of our homes.
The mighty giants are all gone now
and when I pay a visit to the old home
I find the beautiful forest destroyed.
fire havng eaten up what man left.
In my more mature manhood I made
spars and we put 20 of these into a
raft. These spars were from 82 to 100
feet long, 17 inches up at the top. The
butts were dressed down to the same
size, 12 feet from the butt. We often
sold each stick for as high as $150 to
$175. I remember one stick in particu-
lar that was 100 feet long, 22 inches
at the top, straight any way you looked
at it. This tree or spar brought $500
in the New York market.
Alas, these are all gone from that
grand forest of years ago. There is
such a small area of virgin forest left
in the Eastern, Middle and Southern
States that in a very few years there
will be none left to look upon. I was
very glad to see a law that made it
possible for the Government to secure
a large area and preserve the beautiful
trees. I would be glad to help care for
some of the lands, as there is nothing
so beautiful to me as an undisturbed
forest.
$20,000,000 YEARLY FROM ONE FOREST
Cine Forest of Campiégne, France,
though a realm of beauty and en-
chantment to its lovers, is yet
made by the State to yield an annual
income of one hundred million francs
($20,000,000), writes Lillie Hamilton
French in the September Century. For
this purpose it appoints seven brigadiers
and twenty-seven gardes-forestiers be-
sides several gardes-cantonniers. ‘The
cantonniers look after the roads, the
guards protect the rights rented to the
sportsman and wood-cutter—the two
great clients from whom these revenues
are derived—two hundred thousand
francs a year being paid by the sports-
man and eight hundred thousand francs
by the wood-merchant. The guards
must also see that these two groups of
clients never encroach on each other’s
rights, for though the sportsman may
hunt on the wood-merchant’s land, he
cannot carry from it a splinter of green
wood; while the wood-merchant would
have a suit brought against him if he
were to pocket so much as a rabbit
found burrowing under one of his dear-
ly purchased trees. And some of these
trunks are dear, one of oak frequently
costing him a thousand francs.
So far as the question of revenue is
concerned, Ja chasse is made to desig-
nate every right, whether of fishing or
hunting, which is rented to the sports-
man. As a diversion, however, it means
to its votaries two distinct kinds of
hunting, the most important and pic-
turesque being the chasse a courre, or
hunt by pursuit, and in whatever direc-
tion the stag may lead. This takes place
twice a week after the cold has set in,
and always on horseback, with a follow-
ing of hounds. This chasse a courre is
never rented except to a single person.
and usually for six years, at an annual
rate of 17,300 francs ($3,460). When
the lessee is frugal, as he occasionally
is, he sublets it.
On the other hand, the chasse a tir
or hunt with fowling-pieces, is divided
into twenty-five “lots,” and rented for
various prices from twenty francs or
more, and includes the right to shoot,
within certain limits, hare, rabbits, doe.
pheasants, and wild birds. The open-
ing and closing of the chasse is decided
every year by the prefet, as our
Thanksgiving day is by our President.
though it is generally on the last Sun-
day of August that one hears the re-
port of the first authorized gun. The
event is one of almost national import-
ance, chronicled by every newspaper in
the land, and discussed by every
Frenchman, high or low, rich or poor.
OLDEST LIVING THINGS
HE oldest living things in the
world are the sequoia trees in the
General Grant and Sequoia Na-
tional Parks, California. ‘The Forest
Service recently issued a bulletin telling
all about them and how to get to them
These trees are also the tallest treey
known. Within the two parks there
are thirteen groves containing over 12,-
000 trees larger than ten feet in diam-
eter.
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.
The great pines of the Pacific coast,
597
598
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 are 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 be-
cause of their giant size.
In the giant forest in Sequoia Na-
AMERICAN FORESTRY
tional Park, where the giants are
named for men who have been promi-
nent in public life, the General Sher-
man 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 prin-
cipal trees are the General Grant, 264
feet high and 35 feet in diameter, and
the George Washington 255 feet high
and 29 feet in diameter.
THE TALLEST TREES
HE big tree supremacy of
California is being disputed by
Australia. The tallest tree yet
discovered in California
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
was found
81 feet in girth near the root. Another
found in the same locality was 414
feet high, with a circumference of 69
feet at the base. Mueller refers to this
species as “the highest tree on the
globe, surpassing the famous California
sequoia and Wellington pine.” In 1889
G. W. Robinson, civil engineer of Ber-
wick, in a journey from Gippsland to
Mount Baw, measured a tree 471 feet
high. The height of this specimen had
previously been estimated at not less
than 500 feet.
PINE LANDS OF NICARAGUA
ONSUL ARTHUR J. CLARE
Cio: Bluefields reports that “the
pine belts on the Atlantic coast of
Nicaragua extend north from the Rio
Grande along the 84th meridian, west
longitude, following the coast line into
Honduras, and vary in width from 10
to 30 miles. This territory is traversed
by the Walpasixa, Prinzapulka, Kukal-
laya, Wawa, Sisin, Awastara, and
Wanks rivers and incloses the lagoons
of Pahara, Twappi, and Beymona.
“All the above-named rivers are
navigable, but bars across their mouths
prevent large vessels from entering
and navigation at present is carried on
by gasoline boats, canoes, and ‘pit-
pans.’ The latter are large, built-up
canoes capable of holding several tons
of freight each.
“The land for a few miles on each
side of the rivers mentioned is a dense
jungle, where mahogany cutting is now
carried on, log rafts being easily floated
downstream. Inside from these jungles
and around the lagoons the pine lands
extend, and to obtain the best results
railroads must be built to carry out the
logs or sawed lumber.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Philadelphia.
Epitor AMERICAN ForEstry.—Can you
supply me with a copy of the works of Prof.
J. Franklin Collins and Howard W. Pres-
ton? Illustrated Key to the Wild and Com-
monly Cultivated Trees of the Northeastern
United States and Adjacent Canada, bound
in leaher, also identification of the Econom-
ic Woods of the United States, by Samuel
J. Record, M. A., M. F., bound in leather?
A. J. BoNnsAtt.
The book to which you refer by Professors
Collins and Preston is listed as The Key to
New England Trees, Wild and Commonly
Cultivated, and is published at Providence,
R. L, by the firm of Preston and Rounds.
I think you can get full information in re-
gard to it from them. The other book,
Identification of the Economic Woods of
the United States, by Prof. Record, may be
obtained from Messrs. John Wiley & Sons,
43 East 19th Street, New York City—
Editor.
New Orleans, Louisiana.
Epitor AMERICAN Forestry.—lInsects are
injuring my fine ash trees by boring into
them. I inclose description. Will you kindly
tell me what to do?
Joun B. Fercuson.
“In the absence of specimens of the in-
sect which is injurious to the ash trees, I
am unable to name the species. There are
two insects which are injurious to ash by
boring through the bark and into the heart-
wood, and I judge from the description
which you give that the species concerned
is probably the lilac borer (Podosesia
syringae.) The remedies to apply are prac-
tically the same as for the leopard moth,
considered in Circular 109, which will be
ordered sent to you by the Division of Pub-
lications. If you are in doubt about the
species I would advise that you send living
specimens, if possible. I inclose franf and
franked envelope to be used without post-
age in accordance with directions given in
the inclosed circular letter. [I am not quite
certain that the species I have mentioned
occurs as far southward as New Orleans,
hence the advisability of obtaining speci-
mens.”
F. H. Crivrenvden,
Bureau of Entomology.
New York City,
Eprtor AMERICAN Forestry.—The Legis-
lative Drafting Department, attached to
Columbia University, is at present investi-
gating the question of restrictive legislation
for the preservation of forests in New York
where the maintenance is necessary for the
protection of, mountain sides, or for the
existence of springs and streams, or for the
prevention of erosion or floods. We should
greatly appreciate your assistance if you
could give us any information concerning,
or direct us to, any such or similar legisla-
tion that has been proposed, or recom-
mended, or already enacted in any of the
states.
LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING RESEARCH FUND.
“The question raised by this request is
almost as broad as the whole subject of
forest legislation, for the various reforesta-
tion acts and fire protective measures of
whatever sort have for their purpose the pro-
tection of soil from erosion, prevention of
floods, and the like, though they do not ex-
press it in so many words. The nearest
approach to restrictive legislation of this
sort would be those laws concerning the es-
tablishment and management of state or
federal forest reserves such as have been
passed by Massachusetts, New York. Penn-
sylvania, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, and the
Federal Acts of June 4, 1897; May 23, 1908
and March 1, 1911, to mention the principal
ones. So far as restrictive legislation, which
applies to all forest lands, private as well as
state, no state has as yet such a.law on
its statute books, although legislation of this
character has at different times been under
consideration in the States of Vermont, New
York, Mississippi, Louisiana, and California.
T will call your attention in this connection
to an opinion submitted to the Senate of
Maine by the Supreme Judicial Court of
Maine on March 10, 1908 (103 Maine, 506),
upon certain questions concerning the power
of the Legislature to restrict and regulate
the cutting of trees on wild or uncultivated
land by the owner thereof, in order to regu-
late waterflow, in the interest of the general
public. While the opinion of the court was
favorable, no action, so far as I know, has
resulted. Messrs. Gifford Pinchot and
Overton W. Price have recently completed
a very careful study of the forest conditions
in the Adirondacks for the “Camp Fire
Club.” and in connection therewith went
into the subject of restrictive legislation
very thoroughly. I would therefore sug-
gest that you consult them concerning fur-
ther data.
I would,suggest that the Forest Service
is engaged in making a compilation of the
forestry, timber and tree laws of all the
states and that copies for such states as
are now available or which may become so
from time to time in the future will gladly
be supplied them, provided they should have
a special need for such a compilation. The
number of copies for each state are only
so many as can be made by one set of car-
bons on the typewriter. Their distribution
has therefore generally been limited within
the state to which they applied, and they
are usually sent only to such persons or
599
600 . AMERICAN
institutions as are more than passively in-
terested in forest legislation.”
Louis S. MurpHy.
Acting Chief of State Cooperation Forest
Service.
Mr. N. T. Dowtine,
Legislative Drafting Research Fund,
Columbia University, New York City:
Dear Mr. Dowling.—In reference to your
recent request for information for the
Legislative Drafting Research Fund of the
University, I am appending the following
opinion, given by Mr. Louis S. Murphy, of
the Forest Service. I hope this will be
satisfactory.—Editor.
Pottsville, Pa.
Eprror AMERICAN Forestry.—I am inclos-
ing in a small bottle some insects found on
my maple trees. Please tell me what they
are:
S. M. ENTERLINE.
The insects inclosed in a vial consist of
two species. The most abundant form is
the Norway Maple aphis, Chaitophorus aceris.
Another species represented by one specimen
is a tingitid, or lace-bug. The former
species is undoubtedly the one causing the in-
FORESTRY
jury to the maple leaves. This species has
been very abundant over the eastern part of
the United States during the past cool spring
and summer, causing considerable injury
to maple trees in some localities. Their
habit of gathering on the leaves where they
breed in extreme numbers, sucking the sap
from the foliage and causing it to curl and
turn brown, has attracted much attention.
At the present time, however, very little
complaint is experienced, as the insect has
become well under control of its natural
enemies and has, to a large extent, disap-
peared, owing, probably, to this cause and
to the hot weather of the later summer.
Trees are rarely killed by his pest, although
at times appearing seriously injured and, as
the insect rarely occurs in numbers for. two
successive years in a given locality, it is un-
likely that remedial measures will be re-
quired.
Should it appear a second year, an appli-
cation of whale-oil soap at the rate of five
pounds to fifty gallons of water to the under
surfaces of the leaves bv means of a spray
pump will prove effective in its control.
F. H. CHIrrenbDEN,
In Charge Bureau of Entomology.
BOOK REVIEWS
ForsTAESTHETIK. HEINRICH VON SALISCH.
Tuirp EDITION. ILLUSTRATED: VII+434
PP, JULIUS SPRINGER, BERLIN. 8 MARKS
($2.00) ; POSTAGE, EXTRA.
Foresters, lanscape architects, educators
and all those who wish to bring about the
highest forms will welcome the third edi-
tion of a classical work on one of the most
fascinating branches of forestry.
The first edition of Forstaesthetik, or
Forest Aesthetics, appeared as a small duo-
decimo volume in 1885; the second, much
enlarged and improved, in 1902. The third,
1911, is still broader in its scope and has
been re-enforced by twelve new chapters
and sixty additional illustrations.
Part I deals with fundamental principles ;
Part II discusses their practical application.
Each part is divided into two sections
Section A of part I embraces a discussion
of terms and fundamental ideas, justifies
the consideration of aesthetic values in
practical forestry, and determines the posi-
tion of forest aesthetics in the curriculum
of forest schools. Section B of part I
gives us an insight into the components of
the forest as elements of beauty and lets
us understand how effects of a higher order
are produced by their combination. The
discussion aids us to appreciate the beauty
of expression of trees and woodland veg-
etation, the scenic values of mountain, valley
and plain, the character of rocks, the fauna
and flora of the forest, light and shade,
color, sound and all that appeals to our
senses and the imagination in the atmos-
phere of the forest. This section includes
some references to American species that
have been introduced into Germany.
(oe der)
Part II is likewise divided into two sec-
tions. In section A the ideas set forth in
part I are applied to the actual work of
the forester, to the construction of road
systems and the several systems of manage-
ment, including the questions of rotation,
compartments, thinning, pruning and re-
generation.
Finally, in section B of part II the author
goes a step further and discusses the pos-
sibility of forest ‘“adornment” by way of
the beautification of roads, openings, views,
the preservation of historic landmarks and
individual old trees, etc. He is careful here,
as in other passages of the book, to make
a careful distinction between the economic
forest and the park.
From the preceding outline the reader
will conclude that this is not a mere theo-
retic or philosophic inquiry. He will find
throughout this book a thorough and mas-
terly treatment of the subject. He will find
that both theory and practice have been
BOOK REVIEWS
given full consideration. The scenic value
of trees and forests and the intimate rela-
tion that forest aesthetics bears to prac-
tical forestry are matters, it will be admitted,
that have hardly, thus far, been clearly
understood or even considered by the aver-
age forester. This neglect may be due to
force of circumstances—the forester, indeed,
needs about all his strength and nerve to
cope with the problems that immediately
confront him—or the condition may be
the result of that common impression,
though false, that forest use and forest
beauty are incompatible, and that these are
matters that should be handed over ex-
clusively to the landscape architect and the
lover of nature, Such readers, if there are
any, will find a strong argument to the con-
trary in the opening chapter of this book.
The main object of the author is to show
the feasibility of a practical application of
his researches to economic forestry. He
endeavors to prove that beauty and use can
be made not only to harmonize, but that
each is complementary to the other and that
forest aesthetics is, in fact, an essential and
indispensable part of the highest develop-
ment of forestry. A marked characteris-
tic of the work are the ample explanations
and analysis of the ideas that are advanced,
and the innumerable citations from the
writings of other authors.
The author’s thorough knowledge of
aesthetics as well as of forest science in all
its branches, his excellent taste and insight,
and the actual application of his ideas,
carried out by himself during the past thirty-
five or forty years on his own forest
estates in East Prussia, have given him a
wide and thorough grasp of the subject. It
is a mark of the highest commendation that
the Prussian government has recently pro-
vided for the introduction of this work into
the libraries of all its forest reserves, some
eight hundred in number, besides thirty
others in those of the Province of Alsace
and Lorraine.
The illustrations are clear and suggestive
although one regrets the absence of the at-
tractive heliotypes that were included in the
second edition. The exclusion in the present
edition appears to have been necessary to
keep the price of the book within reasonable
limits. An American or. English reader
might urge the desirability of some conden-
sation in form and substance. Yet when
these and minor objections have been made
the essential excellence of the work remains
and it will take its place as one of large
scope and usefulness in the literature of
forestry.
While it is true that much in this book is
applicable mainly to European forest condi-
tions and particularly to those of Germany,
it is very rich in suggestions for the Amer-
ican forester and many of the measures
explained might even today be applied with
us, where conditions and opportunities are
601
in many respects even more varied than
those of Europe.
Forestry. By Pror. HErmMaNn H. CHAPMAN;
CLOTH $1.25, POSTPAID, PUBLISHED BY THE
AMERICAN LUMBERMAN, CHIcaAco, ILL.
This is one of the most valuable of the
essentially practical publications on forestry.
because it obtains a great store of informa-
tion which can be read with interest and
readily assimilated by lumbermen, timber-
land owners and others who with little or
no technical knowledge of the subject desire
plain, clearly understood information upon
it. No forester in the United States is
better fitted for writing such a book than
Professor Chapman, and each chapter is full
of logical statements of the progress of
forestry i in this country. T he first part of the
book treats of the growth of the different
species, tells of the influences of the sea-
sons and the latt temperature; another sec-
tion deals with natural reproduction and tells
how it may be encouraged. Silviculture,
forest mensuration, taxation, fire protection
and prevention are all discussed in a man-
ner which cannot fail to be interesting to
the reader and student. In fact there is
no phase of forestry which is overlooked
and the book should be in the hands of
every lumberman, timberland owner, student
and all jovers of trees and advocates of
forest conservation.
IDENTIFICATION OF THE Economic Woops oF
THE Unitep States, including a dis-
cussion of the Structural and Physical
Properties of Wood, by Samuel J. Rec-
ord, Assistant Professor of Forest
Products, Yale University, 1912, 8vo, vii
+117 pages, text figures 15, half-tone
plates 6, New York, John Wiley & Sons.
Price $1.25.
Students and teachers of forestry will
welcome this little book, which deals in a
very clear and detailed manner with the
structural and physical properties of the
commercial woods of the United States. It
is designed primarily as a manual for stu-
dents of forestry, yet with a little study of
the text and illustrations laymen will find
it advantageous in the identification of our
native woods. Other published information
en the North American woods is very limited
aud scattered. Forest Service Bulletin 10,
entitled ‘Timber,” by Professor Roth, is the
only publication that directly approaches this
work in character. Proaiessor MRecord’s
book is not only an amplification of in-
formation contained in this bulletin, but it
embodies also much additional material of
interest and practical importance.
About one-third of the text is devoted to
the anatomy of the woods of both conifers
and hardwoods. This includes a discus-
sion of the gross features of the stem from
pith to bark inclusive, and the microscopic
602 AMERICAN
features of the secondary wood. Sufficient
detail is given to make the subject clear
and comprehensive. This part of the text
contains practically all of the information
essential in the use of the key for indenti-
fication of woods. For further detail and
research the reader is directed by an ex-
tensive bibliography to other works on the
subject.
A discussion of the physical properties
of wood comprises another one-third of the
text which together with the structural
qualities already mentioned constitutes
part I. Under the physical properties at-
tention is given to density, water content.
shrinkage, hygroscopicity, penetrability, con-
ductivity, resonance, color, gloss or luster,
scent or odor, and taste, giving the relation
of these properties to the usefulness of
wood and to their adaptability to some ex-
tent as aids in identification. Where so
much is excellent as the detailed discussions
of the chapters above referred to, it may
seem ungracious to suggest possible improve-
ments; and yet one can not but regret that
the author omitted under this part a general
consideration of the mechanical and chemi-
cal properties of wood, both of which are
very important in determining the usefulness
of wood. Flexibility, toughness, and cleav-
ability are features of invaluable assistance
in identification. Yet the book gives quite
as much as can be mastered by the student
of forestry in the time usually allotted to
the subject. As is almost unavoidable in
the first edition of a work of this kind, a
FORESTRY:
and some typographical errors have crept in.
Part II is a key specifically identifying al-
most 100 woods; others as the pines, firs.
oaks, hickories, and poplars have not all
been separated into species because they do
not present sufficient apparent structural dif-
ferences. However, by knowing where a
piece of wood originated, the distribution
area indicated after each species, may help
in separating a species from a group. The
key is far more detailed and comprehensive
than any other yet devised for American
woods. It is upon this part of the book that
the author has spent his force, and in the
main he has accomplished a most admirable
task. The distinctions in the key are based
on gross features as far as is practicable, a
hand lens and a sharp knife constituting the
only equipment necessary to distinguish
most of the species. Quite often, however.
the author found it necessary to add
microscopic features to distinguish two or
more closely resembling woods. The writer
has tried out the key on a large number of
woods, and found it clear and correct in
every case.
Thirty excellent reproductions of photo-
micrographs of sections of native woods are
added as aids to the key. The illustrations
in the text are mostly diagrammatic draw-
ings, and they serve the purpose much better
than photographic reproductions.
The many references cited by the author
show his broad range of study, and are a
wonderful time-saver to the student en-
gaged in further research.
Ay
few omissions of words may be _ noted,
PRIZES FOR CANADIAN SEED GROWERS
The Canadian Seed Growers’ Association (address, Ottawa) gives notice that prizes
in the form of cash and special trophies are offered for seed grown in the Province and'
exhibited at the next annual winter fair or Provincial Seed Exhibition. The date of this
exhibition will be made public later.
MR. SEWALL’S ACTIVITIES.
Messrs. Kenneth M. Clark and James A. Conners, of the forestry staff of James W.
Sewall, Old Town, Maine, have gone into northern Maine to take charge of the mapping,
surveying and exploring of a large tract of land for the Great Northern Paper Company.
Mr. Sewall is on a short trip in the upper Penobscot region of Maine, in the interests of
one of the timberland owners of that State. Last year Mr. Sewall had charge of the com-
plete mapping, estimating and surveying of approximately 500,000 acres of land, in both
Canada and the United States.
MacMILLAN INSPECTING.
Tel ce MacMillan, who was appointed to the position of Chief Forester for British
Columbia, recently visited the Sooke, Goldstream and Cowichan district on Vancouver Island
in order to see how the work of forest protection was progressing there. He was accom-
panied by Mr. H. K. Robinson, the chief of the surveys branch of the forestry department
Divisional Fire Warden Markland, and District Fire Warden Bittancourt. é
EDUCATIONAL
Of all the five Pacific Coast timbered
states there is not one which possesses
greater natural advantages for maintaining
a live, practical, well-equipped school of
forestry than does California—a state of
unlimited resources, a wonderfully rich and
progressive state, that in most matters is
foremost in a policy of aggressive develop-
ment, and alert to the best interests of its
citizens. This brings out in more striking
contrast its short-sighted policy in the lack
of forestry school in connection with its
university. The nearest approach to it of
which the university can boast, is the For-
estry Club, organized by a body of its mem-
bers, who are putting forth herculean efforts
to promote the movement toward the es-
tablishment of a forestry department at the
university, through conducting a_ publicity
campaign and bringing all the support they
can to securing a state appropriation for
the department. The State of California
ranks third in its amount of standing tim-
ber; there are 28 millions of acres in the
National Forests in which practical forestry
is being conducted; has nearly a half-mil-
lion acres of delinquent tax land, much of
which will develop into state forests; it also
has much logged-off land that is fit only
for reforesting. There is, and will be for
many years to come, an unsupplied demand
in the state for trained foresters, skilled
logging engineers, and expert knowledge of
the entire operation from tree to finished
product. But it takes money to maintain
such training schools, and in a state where
lumber is one of the main industries, con-
tributes so large a volume of taxes for its
support, and is the paramount community
builder, it is the duty of the state to help
supply the technical training needed in this
industry, by making an appropriation that
will build, equip, and maintain an adequate
forestry department in connection with its
university.
Boys’ Forestry Camp
The New York State College of Forestry
at Syracuse University is to maintain a
forestry camp for boys at Saranac lake next
summer. “This will not be a ‘kid glove’
deal, but a real educational proposition
which will give boys of, say, between 15 and
20 years of age, practical experience in
forest life,’ says Dean Baker. “It will cure
a lot of them of the forestry bee, and at the
same time fix a love of scientific forestry
in the minds of others.” The tuition and
board will be small enough so that boys
whose families are in moderate circum-
stances can afford to join the camp. “We
will teach a great deal of woodcraft, some
forestry and a little botany and geology,”
the dean added.
LUMBER ASSOCIATIONS INTERESTED.
The National Hardwood Lumber Association, with headquarters in Chicago, with 800
members; the National Wholesale Lumber Dealers’ Association, with offices in New York,
with 425 members, and the West Coast Lumber Manufacturers’ Association of Washing-
ton State, with 129 members, have now been elected to membership in the Chamber of Com-
merce of the United States of America.
THE PROUD BOAST OF MEMPHIS.
Declaring that Memphis holds undisputed title to supremacy as the leading hardwood
lumber market of the world the Committee on Statistics of the Memphis Lumbermen’s Club
has compiled an interesting report on the lumber situation here in 1911.
RAILWAY REGULATION TO PREVENT FOREST FIRES.
Order 16570 of the Dominion of Canada Board of Railway Commissioners covers the
method of equipping locomotives so as to prevent them from being a cause of forest fires,
and at the same time lays down the liabilities and requirements of railway companies in the
event of such a conflagration occurring.
A LARGE PURCHASE.
_ The Laurentide Company, Ltd., Grand Mere, P. Q., have purchased a large tract of ter-
ritory consisting of 398 miles of forest, from the Calvin and Power Companies, on the Upper
ye Maurice river. The Laurentide Company already own over 400 miles of territory in the
district. An addition to the sulphite mill is being erected by the directors.
603
NEWS AND NOTES
The Cannon Ball Tree
One of the most remarkable plants in the
world is the cannon ball tree, to be found in
British Guiana. The natural height of the
tree reaches to eighty or a hundred feet or
even taller. The fruit is a hard globular cap-
sule, seven inches or more in diameter, con-
taining numbers of flat, circular seeds rather
larger than a dime. It resembles a thirty-
two pound shot, is brown in color and very
rough.
Famous Pine Gone
The famous De Lancey pine in the Zoo-
logical Park, New York, one of the most
widely known trees in the East, has been cut
down. The tree stood within the boundaries
of the New York Zoological Park. It was
150 feet high, and could be seen for a long
distance. The pine, according to Mr. Merkle,
forester of the New York Zoological So-
ciety, died from old age. By actual count
of the rings the tree was 260 years old.
“The pine had been dying for the last
fifteen years or more,” said the forester yes-
terday, “and it was a source of danger.
large part of the trunk has been left stand-
ing, and ivy will be planted beside it so
that at least that part can remain as a re-
minder of its historic significance.”
Under the historic pine was reared a man-
sion presided over by one of the De Lancey
family, Colonel James De Lancey, of the
Westchester Light Horse, who was High
Sheriff from 1770 to 1777, and who sided
with the King. He was the son of Peter De
Lancey, known as Peter of the Mills.
Watching for Forest Fires
The newly-established fire observation on
Mount Pisgah is doing good work and al-
ready some thirty forest fires have been
discovered. The attention of the fire war-
den of the town where the fire was in
progress is in each case called to the facts
and by the timely observation was soon
under control.
The observer on the tower is Ira Chase
and he is a man well-fitted for the work in
which he takes a great interest. The present
tower is situated upon the top of a high
pine tree, on the summit of the lofty rise
of land known as Mount Pisgah.
Mr. Chase is supplied with a chart of the
surrounding country and he is connected
with the world by telephone, so that he can
get into communication when occasion de-
604
mands. The towns over which he is keep-
ing watch are Amherst, Bedford, Brook-
line, East Ridge, Greenfield, Greenville,
Hollis, Lyndeborough, New Boston, New
Ipswich, Mason, Merrimack, Milford, Mount
Vernon and Wilton.
The following Massachusetts towns have
asked to be taken in under this supervision
and this has been done: Ashby, Ashburn-
ham, Townsend, Pepperell and Winchendon.
The entire district is in charge of Fire
Warden Worcester L. Winslow, who for
thirty years or more has been connected
with the Milford department for fighting
fires, and is one of the most skilled fire
fighters in the State.
Trees to Check Floods
The New York Commercial says: ‘When
Congress comes to consider the problem of
checking the spring floods in the Mississippi
Valley, the reforesting of the hills and moun-
tains in the valleys of the Ohio and its
tributaries will no doubt receive much at-
tention. In these regions are the former
sources of supply of our most valuable hard-
woods, the growing scarcity of which is
threatening the prosperity of many important
industries. Hardwoods are superior to pines,
firs and spruces, for forest reserves, be-
cause they are less liable to be devastated
by fire. Extensive fires in hardwood forests
are practically unknown and are easily
checked and put out with little damage; but
a fire will race through the tops of pine trees
as fast as the wind can carry it, and in
many cases man is helpless and only rain
can stop the loss. Scientific planting with
areas for fire breaks free from pine or other
coniferous trees could be introduced where
the soil is not suited for hardwood, but the
demand for the latter is more pressing for
industrial purposes.
Remarkable Trees
There are being brought to the United
States Plant Bureau seeds of two rather re-
markable trees.
One seed comes from the southern part
of the Island of Luzon in the Philippines.
It is from the pill nut tree, and is said to
be extraordinarily rich in flavor. The tree
is a very large one, and the Americans in
the Philippines think the nut is the finest
grown. If a lighted match be held to a nut
when roasted it will burn like a lamp, so
rich is it in oil.
The other tree is found on the ‘Isthmus
of Panama and is one of the most interest-
NEWS AND
ing trees of the tropics. It is called the
candle tree, and it is quite worthy of its
name, for when its fruit is ripe its branches
appear as though covered with candles, for
all the world like an old-fashioned Christ-
mas tree.
A Wew Surrender Tree
The famous old apple tree near Appo-
mattox Courthouse, Virginia, under which
Lee surrendered to Grant, long since car-
ried away piece by piece by souvenir hunters,
is to be replaced by a tree planted by Wood-
row Wilson, Colonel Armes, U S. A., owner
of the Appomattox farm announced that
the Democratic presidential nominee had
accepted an invitation to visit the historical
place to plant the new tree within the next
few weeks.
National Forest Changes
President Taft has just made consider-
able changes in national forests in Mon-
tana, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and California
through presidential proclamations modify-
ing the boundary lines. By these changes
nearly 275,000 acres of land are eliminated
from the forests, about 65,000 acres are
added, and about 55,000 acres are trans-
ferred between two forests, while a new
forest is created by the division of an cld
unit into two.
The net result is to bring down the total
gross area of the national forests to about
187,400,000 acres, of which nearly 27,000,000
acres are in Alaska. To a considerable ex-
tent, however, the reduction, so far as land
actually owned by the government is con-
cerned, are apparent rather than real, owing
to heavy alienations in the tracts eliminated.
Some 22,000,0000 acres of the national forest
gross area are not owned by the government.
Japan is Years Ahead
Just at the time when this country is
beginning to struggle with the problem cf
husbanding its forest resources, of protect-
ing its mountain slopes, and of improving
the waterways, it is interesting to know that
the Japanese have successfully attacked the
same problem, before the land suffered
severely from the evil effects following de-
forestation. "The far-sighted people of Nip-
pon have foreseen results of the destruction
of their extensive mountain forests, and
have safeguarded themselves by placing all
of these under goverame2nt control. ;
The practice of forestry has been carried
on in Japan for a longer time than in any
other country. For 1,200 years the people
of Japan have been planting and growing
forests, with a success that has been a little
short of marvelous. Under careful manage-
NOTES 605
ment, the Japanese forests yield very high
financial returns. This high yield is only
made possible by the close utilization of
every bit of the trees so that scarcely a twig
is wasted, and by the improvement of the
growth of their forests by carefully con-
ducted thinning and tending. The woods
are first thinned at the age of thirteen years,
and then every five years after that up to
the time of the final harvest, at 120 years.
Seeking German Bugs
Germany’s forests are being searched by
the officials of the American Forestry
Service for ichneumon fly eggs. It is pur-
posed to breed these flies in American for-
ests in the hope of killing off gypsy moths.
The ichneumons lay eggs in the larvae
of other insects, especially of the gypsy
moth, and it is hoped that they will rid the
United States of these pests.
Sequoia Sempervirens
Walter B. Parks, of the California Nur-
sery Company of Niles, Cal., writes to
AMERICAN Forestry as follows: On page
414, June issue, you speak of transplanting
young trees of Sequoia gigantea from our
State Redwood Park in Santa Cruz County
to Florida. There are no native trees of
Sequoia gigantea within a hundred miles
or more of there as the only Sequoia in the
Coast Ranges is Sequoia sempervirens or
“Redwood,” the Sequoia gigantea or “Cali-
fornia Big Tree,” as it is commonly called
here, growing naturally only in the Sierra
Nevadas. So if the trees came from the
State Redwood Park or “Big Basin” they
are, of course, Sequoia sempervirens.
Conserving Alabama’s Forests
Alabama contemplates the enactment of
measures conserving the forests, mines,
waterways, and other kindred natural re-
sources and Commissioner John H. Wallace,
Jr., has written to the Secretary of Com-
merce and Labor for Federal Statutes and
State Laws bearing on the subject. In an-
swer to him Philip P. Wells, chief law
officer of the U. S. Reclamation Service,
has sent him general information on the
subject, and in addition says:
“Further information may be obtainable
from the columns of American Forestry,
the organ of the American Forestry Asso-
ciation, Maryland Building, this city.
“There has been much activity by the
states in forest legislation, and. some in
other conservation legislation. Most of the
advanced State forest laws have been
drafted in co-operation with .the United
States Forest Service. Such a law was
606 AMERICAN
drafted for Alabama in 1907, if I remember
the year correctly. Similar laws have been
drafted and enacted in Maryland and Ten-
nessee, and you could probably secure the
text by writing to the proper authorities
in those States. I think the same is true
in Louisiana. The New York State Library
published for many years an annual bulletin
entitled ‘Review of State Legislation. The
Review was arranged by subjects among
which was Forestry and, I think, Fish and
Game as well as other phases of conserva-
tion. Under each of these topics there was
a summary of the legislation in all States on
that topic for the year in question. You will
find this a valuable guide for your purposes.
Presumably the text of the laws there sum-
marized may be found in vour State Library.”
Library.”
Pacific Logging Congress
At a recent meeting of the Pacific Log-
ging Congress at Tacoma, Wash., the fol-
lowing resolutions were passed:
“The Congress believes that the growing
of timber is a National and State function
and each state should make a careful ex-
amination of its cut-over lands unfit for
agricultural purposes and better adapted for
reforestation, with a view of purchase
through condemnation or otherwise, and
proceed to the creation of State and Na-
tional forests.
“The Pacific Logging Congress believes in
the expenditure by the various states and
provinces of liberal and adequate appropri-
ation for forest fire protection. To this
end we endorse the efforts being made for
the creation of field military posts near the
National forests, with a view of utilizing
the National troops when emergencies arise
in the protection of the National forests
from fire.”
Railroad Reforesting.
The Delaware & Hudson Railroad has now
taken up the problem of reforestation. C.
S. Sims, Vice-President and General Man-
ager of the company, is devoting much of
his personal attention to reforesting the
lands owned by the company throughout the
Adirondacks and the coal region. The Dela-
ware & Hudson Company has a well estab-
lished nursery on the grounds near Hotel
Champlain, and more than 3,000,000 seedlings
are being cultivated there. The company
FORESTRY
owns 200,000 acres of land in the Adiron-
dacks and coal region, which are in proc-
ess of planting with trees. More than
600,000 trees will be planted this year. In
the Adirondacks Scotch pine will be planted,
and in the coal region red oak.
This extensive work conducted by the
Delaware & Hudson Company will not only
have the practical effect of immediate ad-
vantage but also has much educational force
as an example to be imitated. With large
corporations leading the way in this man-
ner, and with the rising generation instructed
through textbooks and the object lessons of
Arbor Day, there should be a great impulse
given to that very vital and essential phase
of conservation of natural resources which
is represented by the planting of new trees
to take the place of those which have been
consumed by the needs of a _ growing
country.
Enforcing Plant Quarantine.
Preparations are being made by the De-
partment of Agriculture for the immediate
enforcement of a part of the national plant
quarantine law just passed by Congress. The
bulk of the provisions of this quarantine law
will not be enforced until October 1, but pro-
vision is made for the immediate enforce-
ment of the restriction against the importa-
tion of plants liable to harbor the
Meditteranean fruit fly. This will affect
the importation of orange and lemon stock
from the Mediterranean region.
The United States until recently was the
only first-class power that had not a national
plant quarantine law, and efforts have been
made by the Department of Agriculture for
several years to get such a law enacted. Sev-
eral of the individual states have effective
quarantine laws and efficient inspectors, and
through co-operation it has been possible to
head off a number of plant shipments that
would have been highly injurious. About
two years ago there was a large shipment of
nursery stock from France that was infested
with nests of the brown-tailed moth.
Through the State inspectors 800 parcels
were found and destroyed in thirty-six dif-
ferent States. The enforcement of the new
law will be under a commission of five ex-
perts of the Department of Agriculture, who
were appointed recently.
They are C. L. Warlatt and A. F. Burgess,
cf the bureau of entomology; W. A. Orton,
plant pathologist; Peter Bisset, bureau of
plant introduction, and George Sudworth, of
the forest service.
STATE NEWS
Massachusetts
The watch for forest fires in this state—
The Boston Chamber of Commerce News
is impressed with the results already ob-
tained through the system of forest fire pre-
vention which followed last year’s appropria-
tion of $10,000 for a forest fire warden.
It is believed that the difference between
$500,000 and $30,000 represents the saving
of forest property in Massachusetts in the
year. State Fire Warden Hutchins is in
charge of the work, assisted by 14 men, one
at each of the stations in operation. Before
the stations were established last year the
damage by forest fires amounted to $501,944,
while during the same period this year the
damage reported was only about $30,000.
Ohio
“We must either reforest our denuded
acres in Ohio or build cyclone cellars to pro-
vide safety from the windstorms that are
becoming common in the state.”
This is the conclusion of A P. Sandles,
secretary of the Ohio State Board of Agri-
culture, after a careful investigation of
storm damage through the state during the
present year.
Sandles, who always is digging through
the facts connected with agriculture in the
state, is strong for more trees. He is firmly
convinced that, with thousands of acres of
trees growing, there would be less storm
damage, more surplus moisture stored up
in the earth for the benefit of the growing
crops and a better condition generally for
all the people. His first advice is to plant
trees. If he has anything further it would
be to keep on planting trees.
“The storage of surplus moisture for the
growing crops is largely dependent on the
timber area about the headwaters of streams
and near the farms,” Sandles claims. He
insists that, with more trees in the state,
there would be more and better corn, oats,
wheat and hay and even the high cost of
living would be given a fatal thrust if the
trees were planted and natural conditions
for this climate restored.
“The state ought to have thousands of
acres of new growing trees planted next
year, he says. We ought to increase the
acreage of trees planted every year until the
denuded hills again are covered with the
trees that were supplied by nature when the
country was wild. With that will come the
restoration of natural conditions and the
state will be much more prosperous. Plant
the trees, fertilize the acres that have yielded
uncomplainingly for over a century, use
sound judgment in the rotation of crops
and Ohio will again produce a score of
bushels of wheat per inhabitant and the
question of the high cost of food stuffs in
that line, will have been settled.”
Washington
Campers who carelessly start forest fires
in Washington state will be prosecuted.
They ought to be prosecuted, and they ought
to be convicted and punished in all cases
where the proof shows that a lack of care
on their part is responsible for forest fires.
Annually, during the dry season, forest
fires cost the state of Washington millions
of dollars. Forest fires exact a more pre-
cious toll in human lives also. Not infre-
quently, too, homes are swept away, and it
is all because of a lack of care and caution
on the part of persons who frequent and use
the woods of this state.
It is easy to guard against forest fires.
When citizens break camp they should not
leave any fire behind them. By the use of
water or dirt they can extinguish the camp
fire; it will take only a few minutes to do
it, and if campers will stop long enough
to think that they may thus save millions
of dollars in property values and at the same
time prevent many hardships, and possible
tragedies, they will not begrudge the time
spent in this way.
Kentucky
Under the Federal statute providing $200,-
000 annually for the purpose the United
States Bureau of Forestry will co-operate
with the Kentucky State Forestry Com-
mission. Either Chief Forester Graves or
Assistant Forester Greeley probably will
visit the State Commission in launching its
work.
A statement to this effect was made by
Governor James B. McCreary after he had
had a lengthy interview in Washington with
the United States Chief Forester and his
first assistant. It is believed that either J.
E. Barton, a native of Michigan, whose wife
was a Princeton girl, or a Mr. Lafon, na-
tive of Mercer County, both now in the
government forestry service, will be ap- -
pointed Kentucky Chief Forester by Gover-
nor McCreary following his return to Frank-
fort.
607
608 AMERICAN
Massachusetts
To encourage the reforestation of Essex
County is a task on which W. P. Dilling-
ham is now at work. He is assistant secre-
tary of the Massachusetts Forestry Asso-
ciation, an organization that hopes to have
1,000,000 acres of now waste land planted
to trees.
Mr. Dillingham would have each town and
city convert the waste land about it into
a forest, and thus insure fuel and building
material for the future. He declares that
- each town could actually net from $3 to
$5 annually from each acre of such forests
and backs up this statement with figures
showing that Baden, a European city, with
a population of 16,000, has a forest of more
than 10,576 acres, which nets $6.25 per acre
each year, while Zurich, Switzerland, is
said to clear $12 per acre annually from
its town forest.
“Our manufacturers,” says Mr. Dilling-
ham, “are paying from $2 upwards more per
thousand feet for timber imported from
other states than they have to pay for the
home grown product. If our now waste
land was put under sylviculture, it would in-
crease the lumber industry in the state by
an amount netting from three to five mil-
lions of dollars annually and furnishing em-
ployment to thousands of our citizens.”
Florida
On the grove of O L. Whidden, one of the
prosperous fruit growers out east of
Arcadia, are to be seen some grape-fruit
trees of immense size. ‘These trees were
planted nearly forty years ago. They meas-
ure from sixteen to twenty-four inches in
diameter and from six and seven feet in
circumference. The trees bear each year
from twenty-five to forty boxes of delicious
fruits. Located as they are, and being old
and hardy, they went through the freeze of
94 and ’95 without any material damage.
Texas.
The Etude Club, composed of the leading
society women of Denison, will go down in
history as the first organization of women
ir Texas to take up the plan, originating at
Sapalpa, Okla., for the planting in Texas of
pecan or other nut bearing trees along the
right-of-way of the Canada-to-the-Gulf high-
way, which will extend from Winnipeg, Can-
ada, to Galveston, Texas, passing through
the various places of interest and principal
cities of North Dakota, South Dakota, Ne-
braska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, and
will rival in symmetry, length and beauty,
when completed, any public pike in the
world.
The magnificent highway will follow closely
the banks of the beautiful Red River of the
FORESTRY
North, and will have the distinction, too, of
crossing the Red River of the South at
Denison, which is the largest Southern tribu-
tary of the Mississippi, the Father of
Waters. ‘The great transcontinental boule-
vard will also follow along the Missouri
River, where the landscape is unsurpassed,
beginning its stretch across Oklahoma at
Caney, Kan., thence to Denison, Tex., where
its course will be wended to the balmy
waters of the Gulf of Mexico at Galveston,
entering that delightful Southern port over
the new concrete causeway.
New York
Oscar Bravo, a representative of the Chil-
ean Government, who is making a tour of
the United States and various other coun-
tries for the purpose of securing information
relative to Forestry matters, has called on
the New York State Conservation Commis-
sion. Commissioner Bravo secured a large
fund of valuable information in regard to
New York State’s forestry work, which is
far in advance of sister States. The Chilean
representative was so well pleased with what
he learned here, that he decided to make a
tour of the Adirondacks to look over. the
State lands, nurseries and _ reforestation
operations. He is especially interested in
New York’s forest fire protective system and
will give that careful study.
Fish and Game Commissioner of Alabama
John H. Wallace has written the Conserva-
tion Commission of New York State advis-
ing it that the State of Alabama “contem-
plates the enactment of measures conserv-
ing the forests, mines, waterways and kin-
dred natural resources,’ and that it has in
view “the creation of a conservation com-
mission to have supervision and charge of
ali matters relating to the natural rights of
our people.’ He asks the New York Com-
mission for copies of the New York State
Laws bearing on this matter. The request
was cheerfully complied with.
Oregon
A Salem (Ore.) dispatch says: “Lightning,
according to advices received by the Forestry
Department, has been a great factor in pro-
ducing forest fires this season. Advices re-
ceived today from field men in Klamath
County state that five fires were started dur-
ing the last storm there, and advices from
Eastern Oregon say that many were started
there in the same way. The wardens, how-
ever, had but little trouble in controlling
them, and little damage was done. So far
the damage resulting from forest fires has
been light.”
CURRENT LITERATURE
MONTHLY LIST FOR AUGUST, 1912.
(Books and periodicals indexed in the
Library of the United States
Forest Service.)
Forestry as a Whole
Proceedings of associations
Royal Scottish arboricultural society. Trans-
actions, vol. 26, pt. 2. 120 p. Edinburg,
1912.
Forest Education
Ellis, Don Carlos.
for schools.
A working erosion model
ible foe wy ye WWaiginy, © IDL (Ce
1912. (U. S—Dept. of Agriculture—
Office of experiment stations. Circular
UTD)
Arbor day
Tllinois—Dept. of public instruction. Arbor
and bird day, 1911. 96 p. il. Spring-
field, Ill, 1911.
Forest Legislation
Belfield, H. Conway. Report on the legisla-
tion governing the alienation of native
lands in the Gold Coast colony and
Ashanti; with some observations on the
“Forest ordinance,’ 1911. 121 p. Lon-
don, Published by His Majesty’s sta-
tionery office, 1911.
Kalbfus, Joseph, ed. Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania; digest of the game, fish
and forestry laws, 1911. 290 p. Harris-
burg, Pa., State printer, 1911.
Silvics
Studies of species
Phillips, Frank J. Emory oak in southern
Arizona, 5p: pls |Wash Dy@eio12,
(U. S—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. Circular 201.)
Silviculture
Planting
New Zealand—Dept. of lands. Report on
the dune-areas of New Zealand, their
geology, botany, and reclamation; by L,
Cockayne. 76 p. pl. Wellington, N. Z.,
1911.
Pruning
Selby, A. D. Dressings for pruning wounds
of trees. 8 p. Wooster, O., 1912. (Ohio
—Agriculural experiment station. Cir-
cular 126.)
Forest Protection
Insects
Chestnut tree bark disease conference. The
conference called by the governor of
Pennsylvania to consider ways and
means for preventing the spread of the
chestnut bark disease. 253 p. pl. Har-
risburg, State printer, 1912.
Hopkins, A. D. Damage to the wood of
fire-killed Douglas fir, and methods of
preventing losses in western Washing-
ton’ and (Oregon..-'4 p.) | Wash; (DiC;
1912. (U. S—Dept. of agriculture—
Bureau of entomology. Circular 159.)
Stebbing, E. P. The bark-eating and root-
boring beetles of the babul, Acacia
arabica. 9 p. pl.. Calcutta, 1912.. (In-
GRA aa dept. Forest bulletin No.
12.
Webb, J. L. A _ preliminary synopsis of
Cerambycoid larvae. 7 p. pl. Wash,
D: C., 1912. (U. S—Dept. of agricul-
ture—Bureau of entomology. ‘Technical
series no. 20, pt. 5.)
Lightning
Stahl, Ernst.
schiedenen baumarten.
Fischer, 1912.
Die blitzgefahrdung der ver-
75 p. Jena, G.
Forest Management
Hawley, Ralph Chipman, and Hawes, Aus-
tin Foster. Forestry in New England;
a handbook of eastern forest manage-
ment. 479 p. il, maps. N. Y., J. Wiley
& Sons, 1912.
Mulford, Walter. The improvement of the
woodlots 124. punilen ithaca Nave On
(Cornell reading-courses, vol 1, no. 12;
farm forestry series, no. 1.)
Secrest, Edmund. Co-operative forestry
work. 3 p. Wooster, Ohio, 1911. (Ohio
—Agricultural experiment station. Cir-
cular 119.)
Forest Administration
United States—Forest service. July field
programy i910) -29etnn Washes |).
1912.
National and state forests _
United States—Forest service. The Crater
national forest. 6 p. map. Wash., D.
@.01912.\
United States-—Forest service. National
forests; location, date, and area, June
.30, 1912. 4 p. Washington, D. C., 1912.
609
610 AMERICAN
Forest Economics
Statistics
Macmillan, H. R. Forest products of Can-
ada, 1911; pulp wood. 17 p. Ottawa,
1912. (Canada—Department of the in-
terior—Forestry branch. Bulletin 30.)
Forest Utilization
Lumber industry
National lumber manufacturers’ association.
The American lumber industry; official
report, 10th annual convention. 238 p.
Chicago, Ill., 1912.
Wood-using industries
Armstrong, Andrew K. Wood-using indus-
tries of Calitornia, (114 ip.) plo Sacra-
mento, Cal., 1912. (California—State
board of forestry. Bulletin 3.)
Dunning, C. W. The wood-using industries
of Idaho. 4 p. - Seattle, Wash., Pacific
lumber trade journal, 1912.
W ood-preservation
Winslow, Carlile P. Commercial creosotes,
with special reference to protection of
wood from decay. 38 p. il. Wash.,
D. C., 1912. (U. S.—Dept. of agricul-
ture—Forest service. Circular 206.)
Auxiliary Subjects
Botany
Brush, Warren D. The formation of me-
chanical tissue in the tendrilis of Passi-
flora caerulea as influenced by tension
and contact. 25 p. il. Chicago, Univ.
of Chicago, 1912.
Clements, F. E. and others. Guide to the
spring flowers of Minnesota. 2d ed.
40 p. Minneapolis, 1910. (Minnesota
Geological and national history survey.
Minnesota plant studies, no. 1.)
Clements, F. E. Guide to the trees and
shrubs of Minnesota; 2d edition. 30 p.
Minneapolis, 1910. (Minnesota—Geologi-
cal and natural history survey. Minne-
sota plant studies, no. 2.)
Clements, Frederic E. Minnesota mush-
rooms. 169 p. il., pl. Minneapolis, 1910.
(Minnesota—Geological and natural his-
tory survey. Minnesota plant studies
no. 4.)
Correa, M. Pio. Fibras texteis a piteira
Sigante: 15) pilose Meat oun reaztl:
Ministerio da agricultura, industria e
commercio, 1912.
Correa, M. Pio. Plantas fibrosas da restinga
do estado do Rio de Janeira. 67 p. pl.
Rio de Janeira, Ministerio da agricul-
tura, industria e commercio, 1910.
FORESTRY
Rosendahl, C. O. and Butters, F. J. Guide
to the ferns and fern allies of Minne-
sota. 23 p. il. Minneapolis, 1909.
(Minn.—Geological and natural history
survey. Minnesota plant studies, no. 3.)
Climatology
Smith, J. Warren. The climate of Ohio.
25 p. il. Wooster, Ohio, 1912. (Ohio—
Agricultural experiment station. Bulle-
tin 235.)
Clearing of land
Sparks, H. W. Methods of clearing logged-
off lands. 28 p. il. Pullman, Wash.,
1911. (Washington—Agricultural ex-
periment station. Bulletin 101.)
Periodical Articles
Miscellaneous periodicals
Agricultural gazette of Tasmania, May 1912.
—Tree planting on the farm, by L. A.
Evans, p. 165-8.
American newsboy, June
cating the forests, by
Graves, p. 8-9.
Atlantic monthly, July 1912—Aesthetic value
of efficiency, by E. P. Howes, p. 81-91.
Country gentleman, July 27, 1912—The
home acre shade; the best varieties of
poplars for ornament and shelter, by
Clarence M. Weed, p. 15.
Craftsman, July 1912—Trees for
breaks, by M. Campbell, p. 450-3.
Field and stream, Aug. 1912.—The birches,
by Warren H. Miller, p. 424-7.
Gardeners’ chronicle, June 15, 1912—Ma-
nuring forest trees, p. 395.
Gardeners’ chronicle, June 29, 1912.—Paul-
ownia imperialis, by R. Irwin Lynch, p.
431.
Journal of the Linnean society; botany,
June 28, 1912—An investigation, of the
seedling structure in the Leguminosae,
by Robert Harold Compton, p. 1-22.
National geographic magazine, July 1912.—
The fight against forest fires, by Henry
S. Graves, p. 662-83.
Outing magazine, July 1912—By the light
of the fire, by F. Farrington, p. 488-93.
Saturday evening post, Aug. 17, 1912.—
“Farms” in the national forests, by
Henry Solon Graves, p. 30-2.
Scientific American, Aug. 12, 1911—The
conservation of the forests; a national
duty to protect the 80 per cent of stand-
ing timber now in private hands, by
Gifford Pinchot, p. 135-7.
Scientific American, supp., June 15, 1912.—
Turpentine from dead and down tim-
ber, p. 373-4; The commercial develop-
ment of India rubber, by S. Franken-
burg, p. 378.
Trade journals and consular reports
American lumberman, July 13, 1912—Some
1912.—Domesti-
Henry Solon
wind-
CURRENT LITERATURE
construction timbers of the Philippines ;
euijo, by H. N. Whitford, p. 27; Taxation
of our forests and forest lands, by C. H.
Goetz, p. 30; Getting down timber from
African tableland, p. 40-1; Logging
methods new and old, p. 42-3.
American lumberman, July 20, 1912—Some
construction timbers of the Philippines ;
yacal, by H. N. Whitford, p. 27; Soil
fertility and forest fires, by Leo M.
Geismar, p. 37; Timber and lumber of
the Balkan states, by C. A. Schenck,
p. 52-3.
American lumberman, Aug. 10, 1912—Some
construction timbers of the Philippines ;
palosapis,. by H. N. Whitford, p. 29;
Citizens’ interest in protecting and per-
petuating forests, by E. T. Allen, p. 38.
Canada lumberman, July 15, 1912.—Private
enterprise in fire prevention, p. 32; The
making of quartered-oak stock, by Chas.
J. Brey, p. 43-4; Application of elec-
tricity to logging, by Frank MacKean, p.
46-7.
Engineering and mining journal, June 22,
1912—Mininge on forest reserves, by
Merritt Booth, p. 1215-16.
Engineering magazine, June 1912.—Cross-ties
for preservative treatment; sawed versus
hewed ties and the distribution of sap-
wood, by H. F. Weiss, p. 453-6. ;
Hardwood record, July 25, 1912.—Tyloses in
wood pores, by S. J. R., p. 29-30; Woods
used in measures, p. 35; Transmutation
of woods, by S. J. R., p. 39-40; Lumber
piling, p. 41-2.
Hardwood record, August 10, 1912—Wood
growth and properties, by Samuel J.
Record, p. 37-8; Broom handle manu-
facture in sawmills, by H. B. A, p.
38-9: Utilizing minor hardwoods, by
Samuel J. Record, p. 39-40; Curly and
wavy grain in wood, by Samuel J. Rec-
ord, p. 41; The true cork wood of India,
p. 45. J
Lumber trade journel, July 15, 1912.—Louis-
. jana timber tax placed at one-half of
one per cent on gross value, p. 16; Possi-
bilities of increased utilization of yellow
pine waste, p. 16-17; A new profession
at home for young farmers; agricul-
tural blasting, p. 20-1.
Lumber world review, July 25, 1912—Wood-
working safeguards for employees, by
David Van Schaack, p. 22-3.
Mines and minerals, July 1912.—Antiseptic
treatment of mine timbers, p. 706.
Pacific lumber trade journal, July 1912—
Timber resources and wood-using indus-
tries of state of Idaho, by J. B. Knapp,
p. 23-6. }
Paper, July 17, 1912—Scientific cellulose in-
vestigation, by C. F. Cross, p. 17-18.
Paper, July 24, 1912—-The microscopy of
bast fibers, p. 17-22.
Pioneer western lumberman, July 15, 1912.—
The first redwood operations in Cali-
fornia, by E. C. Williams, p. 9-13.
611
Pioneer western lumberman, Aug. 1, 1912.—
Fourth session of the Pacific logging
congress, p. 9-21.
Railway and engineering review, July 20.
1912.—Timber treatment at the Forest
products laboratory, Madison, Wis., p
668-9; Results of treated tie experi-
ments, Gulf, Colo. & Santa Fe railway.
p. 671; Building railroads to develop
lumber districts in Arkansas, by A. M.
Van Auken, p. 678-9; Timber consump-
tion and reforestation, p. 679, 683-4.
St. Louis lumberman, July 15, 1912.—AlI-
berta’s new forest fire laws, p. 22; New
uses of sawdust, p. 48.
St. Louis lumberman, Aug. 1, 1912.—Live
stock on cut-over lands, by D. O. Lively,
p. 60; The maintenance of power in a
logging camp, by R. T. Earle, p. 60-1;
Electric logging, by Jas. R. Thompson,
p. 61; The tilting dump, by James
O’Hearne, p. 61-2; The utilization of
logging wastes, by H. K. Benson, p. 62;
Loading logs, by O. J. Evensen, p. 62-3;
Rough ground logging, by Fred R. Olin,
p. 63; Clearing logged-off lands, by
Walter H. Graves, p. 63-5; Topographi-
cal surveys and logging plans, by H. P.
Henry, p. 65-6; The lumbayao of Min-
danao, by H. N. Whitford, p. 73.
Southern industrial and lumber review, July
1912.—Methods for utilization of wood
waste, by George Walker, p. 70-1.
Southern lumber journal, Aug. 1, 1912.—
Method of utilization of wood waste, by
George Walker, p. 40-2; The taxation
of timber lands, by Fred Rogers Fair-
child, p. 50.
Southern lumberman, July 20, 1912.—Plea
for yield tax on timberlands, by Fred
R. Fairchild, p. 28; Some furniture and
cabinet woods of the Philippines; acle,
by H. N. Whitford, p. 32.
Timberman, July 1912.—Utilization of elec-
tricity in the lumber industry on the
Pacific coast, by E. H. Barry, p. 34-5;
Electricity to solve difficulties in apply-
ing power. to haulage cables, by C. O
Cole, p. 36-7; New and novel patented
device for the felling of trees by elec-
tricity, by T. C. Burdick, p. 38.
Wood craft, Aug. 1912.—Elizabethan interior
woodwork; its characteristics and con-
struction, by John Bovingdon, p. 135-9;
Primitive working methods and toois in
China, by F. A. Foster, p. 140-2; Pith
flecks found in fine-textureé woods, by
Samuel J. Record, p. 143-4.
Forest journals
Allegemeine forst- und jagd-zeitung, July
1912.—Tiefpflanzung als beférderungs-
mittel des anwachsens und gediehens der
eichenheisterpflanzungen, besonders auf
trockenem boden, by Tiemann, p. 231-6;
Wahrnehmungen tiber die waldverhalt-
nisse in der gegend von Abbazia in
Istrien und tber das verhalten mehrerer
holzarten gegen den salzgehalt der luft
612 AMERICAN
an den klippen des Quarneros, by An-
derlin, p. 236-9.
Bulletin de la Société centrale forestiere
de Belgique, July 1912—Quelques ex-
périences et observations en matiere for-
estiére; expériences sur l’origine de la
graine, p. 402-10; Incendies de bois, p.
410-19; Sur une théorie nouvelle de la
captation de l’azote atmosphérique par
les plantes, by E. Henry, p. 419-31.
Canadian forestry journal, July-Aug. 1912.—
The British Columbia forest act, Pp.
88-91; Experiment needed in pulp mak-
ing, by H. R. MacMillan, p. 92-97; Gov-
ernment forests in Saxony, by W. G.
Wright, p. 105-8; The aspen tree in the
northwest, by A. Knechtel, p. 109.
Centralblatt fiir das gesamte forstwesen,
June 1912.—Ueber die wahl der schirm-
schlag- und femelschlagformen nach der
bestandeszusammensetzung, by Micklitz,
p. 251-65; Neuere bestrebungen auf dem
gebiete der holzkonservierung, by E. F.
Petritsch, p. 265-82.
Forest leaves, Aug. 1912—Narrative of the
Bushkill meeting of the Pennsylvania
forestry association, p. 146-9; The possi-
bility of reproducing our eastern for-
ests by natural means, by Nelson C.
FORESTRY
Brown, p. 149-51; The effect of trees on
health, by Alexander Armstrong, p.
151-3; Forest taxation in Pennsylvania;
proposed legislation, p. 153-5.
Indian forester, June 1912.—Turpentining in
Florida on an American national forest,
by Theodore S. Woolsey, p. 280-6.
Quarterly journal of forestry, July 1912.—
The crown woods of the Isle of Man,
by E. W. Hasell, p. 179-83; State re-
afforestation in New Zealand, by B.
Hill, p. 184-7; The nun moth problem
in Saxony, by C. F. C. Beeson, p. 189-94;
Japanese v. European larch, by Charles
P. Ackers, p. 195-200; Effects of the
drought of 1911, by Fraser Story, p.
206-19; Competition of plantations and
home nurseries in Yorkshire, by Chas.
Hankins and W. Somerville, p. 220-45;
The black Italian poplar as a timber
tree, by R. M. Gibbon, p. 263-4.
Schweizerische zeitschrift ftir forstwesen,
June 1912.—Bestandespflege, nachhaltig-
keit und reservefonds, by G. Z., p. 177-
81; Die durchforstung im gebirgswald,
by B. B., p. 181-5; Die entwicklung des
aargauischen forstwesens, p. 189-93;
Neue verpackungsmethode ftir pflanzen,
by Neuhaus, p. 195-6; Die neue forst-
gesetzzebung Italiens, p. 196-8.
REDUCED FOREST FIRES.
The adoption by Massachusetts of observ
ation towers at a cost of about $20,000 ts said
to have cut down the forest fire loss from $530,426 last year to $50,000 this year, the figures
in-both cases applying to the first seven months of the year.
The towers are scattered all over the State.
Each has a watchman with a telescope on
duty daily looking for signs of a forest fire and ready to telephone the forest warden of the
vicinity.
Of 1,500 fires recorded the present year 1,300 were first reported by the tower watchers.
Nearly one-third of the total number are ascribed to locomotive sparks, and they burned
over 3,586 acres, causing a loss of $19,167 and a cost in putting them out amounting to $2,598.
In the other two-thirds of the total 11,381 acres was burned over, causing a loss of $30,824
and a cost for putting out of $9,171.
TRANSPLANTING IN WASHINGTON.
During the fiscal year ended June last, 3,824 trees were transplanted from the District of
Columbia nurseries to permanent places along the streets, according to the annual report of
Trueman Lanham, superintendent of trees and parkings.
More trees were destroyed by leakage of illuminating gas than by any other cause, 320
shade trees having been killed in ihis way. Superintendent Lanham places the blame on
local gas companies, who do not repair their mains promptly.
American Forestry
VOL. XVIII
OCTOBER, 1912
No. 10
WHY DO LUMBER MEN NOT APPLY FORESTRY?
By Dr. B. E. FERNow
University of Toronto
T is precisely thirty years, a gen-
eration, since the forestry move-
ment was publicly started in the
United States by the Forestry Congress
meeting in Cincinnati.
What success has it had in persuading
timberland owners to apply forestry
methods to their holdings? Outside
the Federal Government, which has
actually and on a large scale begun to
introduce forest management on_ its
timberlands, outside of a few half-
hearted and small beginnings of some
of the States to bring their few acres of
timberland under some systematic treat-
ment, how many private owners and
on how many acres have they made even
such beginnings in changing their atti-
tude towards their timber properties
and cut-over lands, such as forestry
implies ?
When it is realized that the private
ownership represents about three-quar-
ters of the total timber supply and for-
est area of the country, the importance
of the attitude of the owners becomes
apparent.
Whatever some hopeful enthusiasts
may think of the situation, to the cold-
blooded reasoner from facts, there is as
yet little cause for congratulation visi-
ble. ‘There is, to be sure, little infor-
mation published on the subject, but we
may be quite sure that everything worth
noting is on record regarding private
endeavor in introducing forest manage-
ment, and in what is on record the most
comprehensive construction has been
given as to what includes forest man-
agement.
The results of an inquiry reported in
the second volume of the Report of the
Commission of Conservation show that
out of around 600 firms, representing
not as much as 3% of the total privately
owned acreage, hardly one-fifth in num-
bers uses some conservative methods,
one-quarter is held for a future crop,
and only a little over one-third in acre-
age reports even measures taken for
protection against fires! In another
inquiry, the acreage reported protected
against fire rises to as much as 50 per
cent of the reported ownership. If
these reported conditions were at all
representative, they would show, that
still most owners of timberland do not
even take precaution to protect their
property against fire. In this respect,
however, great strides for the better
have been made lately, and, if a new
inquiry should develop that really effec-
tive measures are in operation on half
the acreage of cut-over lands—the most
important part for the future—our
hopes for the eventual application of
forestry would rise one hundred per
Cents
This leads us to the question: is pro-
tection against fire forestry? Is the
surveying and mapping, atid more care-
ful estimating and locating of timber,
and systematic arrangement of logging
operations, forestry? Is even, holding
for a future crop forestry? Indeed,
what is forestry?
It seems rather late in the day to
raise this question, and yet even pro-
fessional foresters have hazy notions
as to how to answer the question; the
incidents of forest management appear
to them principal issues! Of course,
613
614
protection against fire is necessary in
order to carry on forest management.
So in any other business protection of
the property is a first essential; it 1s
merely a general, not a specific, meas-
ure, belonging to any one business.
Of course, it is wisdom to base log-
ging operations on systematic plans
based on accurate information, as in any
other business. ‘This also is merely a
general prerequisite of scientific, 1. e.,
rational management not specific to
forestry except in the method of ascer-
tainment. It is, to be sure, also an in-
cident to forest management, but not an
essential. Lumbermen have done similar
things without any thought or knowl-
edge of forestry, in a cruder manner,
and may now find that the foresters do
it better and cheaper than the old
cruisers, hence may be inclined to em-
ploy foresters.
Lumbermen that will make plans to
protect their property will map and plan
the operations on their holdings sys-
tematically, they will adopt measures
to reduce waste in the logging, to utilize
more closely, etc., merely because they
find that it pays in the present. The
cutting to a diameter limit, which is ad-
vocated as a forestry measure, is also
commendable to the lumberman only
when he has figured out that his present
business of exploiting the forest pays
better if he delays for some years the
cutting of smaller sizes until they have
increased in diameter and value; it is a
short time financial calculation that in-
duces him which has not necessarily
anything to do with forestry. Even
the “holding for future crop” will, we
suspect, be found in most cases to re-
duce itself to the same position, namely,
a waiting for increase in size and value
of the present immature crop which
Nature had provided.
Finally, we must declare, that leaving
mature timber standing is no more for-
estry than storing and keeping locked
up goods in trade!
Some of my professional friends will
take issue with these declarations, since
all these measures are incidents or may
be turned into useful adjuncts to for-
estry management. But I take the posi-
tion that from the broad standpoint of
AMERICAN FORESTRY
political economy the idea of forestry
involves an attitude of the owner to-
wards his property, which either makes
these measures a part of a forestry pro-
gram or excludes them from such desig-
nation.
The forest can be looked upon either
as a mine, the stored material of pre-
ceding ages, which the lumberman ex-
ploits, or else it may be conceived as a
crop, which the forester harvests and
reproduces. Reproduction is the key-
note of forestry; it denotes the differ-
ence between the exploiter, the con-
verter of material into serviceable form,
and the forester, the crop producer.
How many of the timberland owners,
even those who adopt the measures
enumerated above for improving their
business conduct, look at their property
as a means for continuous crop produc-
tion, for sustained yield? I do not
mean the strict economic sustained
yield, but the silviculturally sustained
yield, i. e., the deliberate, intentional
devotion of the soil to the production
of wood crops. I venture to assert that
there are as yet not as many as can be
counted on the fingers of two hands who
would affirm that they had deliberately
started into the business of wood pro-
duction—which is forestry!
Even those, who have started plant-
ing their waste places—and we are glad
to see their number growing rapidly—
will be found often dubious as to their
purpose.
At any rate, we come back to the
original statement that attempts on the
part of corporations and individuals to
start in the forestry business are so
sporadic and few that it is worth while
to inquire for the cause of the failure to
follow our advice.
There is one simple answer, the one
condition by which forest cropping dif-
fers from all other business: the time
element and the many uncertainties
which that involves!
It takes 60 to 100 years and more to
grow saw timber from the seed—as a
rule, varying with locality and species,
1 inch in 5 to 10 years in diameter may
be secured on the average; the sower
rarely is the reaper. During all this
time there is the fire risk, and the risk
WHY DO LUMBER-MEN NOT APPLY FORESTRY?
from wind and insects; there is the
capital invested without a chance of
changing the investment. Will, so long
hence, wood, or this particular kind of
wood be wanted in the market? Will
substitutes have replaced wood? What
will be the wood prices? Will our pres-
ent outlay be returned to us with proper
interest earnings?
We may point to Europe and show
that forest property after all is on the
whole not necessarily so hazardous as
with us at present—with us it is still
more hazardous than any other and for
reasons must remain so for some time;
that, in spite of substitutes, wood con-
sumption has continuously increased;
that wood prices have continuously in-
creased; that excellent returns have
come from persistent forest manage-
ment.
All this occurred under other condi-
tions of civilization, and in the past,
who can assure us of the future? For-
estry deals in futures, and if it is haz-
ardous to deal in futures in Wall
Street, so the forester owner thinks it
is wiser to secure the present dollar in-
stead of waiting for the possible two.
The disposition of all our people is to
live for the present, and the timberland
owner is naturally not an exception.
615
This sounds altogether pessimistic.
It is not intended to be so, but is to
bring home the fact that forestry as
defined above is a business sui generis,
that it can be successfully carried on
only under special conditions, and that
private, present interest is not likely to
enter it with ardor and persistency.
One of the important conditions for its
successful conduct—we leave out of
consideration the farmer’s wood lot—
1S siZe.
Some twenty years ago I was asked
whether I thought that forestry could
be profitably practised in the United
States at that time. I did not hesitate
to state the conditions under which, in
my opinion, it could be practised. Give
me two million acres of southern pine
and three million dollars of capital, and
it would not be difficult to demonstrate
that a real forestry practice, i. e., de-
liberate, systematic reproduction of the
cut areas will pay in the long run.
Altogether, forestry is a business for
the long run, hence persistent corpor-
ations, municipalities, States who live
into the future are the proper persons
to engage in it. Until we wake up to
this realization much energy to induce
small forest owners to go into the busi-
ness will be wasted.
AIS WISDOM.
Te didn’t know how to handle a rod, nor how to attach a fly;
He didn’t know how to catch a trout in the brook that went flowing by;
When he wounded a buck he didn’t know whether to run or stay and fight,
And he didn’t know how to make a temporary camp at night.
He didn’t know how to tell the time by looking at the sun;
He didn’t know how to take the shells out of a loaded gun;
He got so turned around he didn’t know what course to take,
And he didn’t know what to do when he was bitten by a snake.
He didn’t know what it was once when he handled poison oak;
Ile didn’t know how to build a fire, nor how to conceal its smoke ;
3ut he was wise—of that fact there can’t be the slightest doubt.
When he broke camp he knew enough to put the fire out!
Pasadena, Cal.
Howarp C. Keciey.
NEW YORK’S LUMBER INDUSTRY.
New York is credited with having 2,263 lumber and timber plants, employing an average
of 27,471 people.
The value of the product for the year was placed at $72,530,000.
There
were 674 independent planing mills, 1,389 lumber mills and 200 packing box factories.
AFTER THIS
UNDERCUT.
RK CUT AWAY A SAW IS USED.
G THE
LERS MAKIN
~}
FEL
REDWOOD LOGGING.
BAI
AND THE
HAS BEEN DONE
LOGGING ENGINEERING
By Gro. M. CorNWALL,
Editor The Timberman, Portland, Oregon
Bye need creates the man. The de-
velopment of the lumber business
of the States of California, Ore-
gon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and
the Province of British Columbia, has
necessitated a type of rugged woods-
men for the removal of the timber from
the hills and valleys to the mill pond
at a minimum expense. Nature grew
lavishly a timber crop in the great West.
Here are approximately the figures
which denote Nature’s generous gift:
British Columbia_300,000,000,000 to
400,000,000,000 ft.
Washington ___-- 391,000,000,000. ft.
Montana ===. 65,000,000,000 ft.
Orecont 225 = 545,000,000,000 ft.
lidatioe=aae<- == 129,100,000,000 ft.
Calitoruiae22 = 381,000,000,000 ft.
Potala 1,811,100,000,000 ft.
These figures indicate that the lum-
ber business of the Pacific Coast States
will endure for a long time, the present
output being in ther neighborhood of
about eight and one- half billion feet
annually.
The timber of the West is found for
the most part in comparatively inac-
cessible rugged mountain ranges, thus
involving ‘difficult engineering prob-
lems. In the early stages of the indus-
try when the timber lined the banks of
the numerous water courses, logging
was rendered a comparatively simple
and cheap operation. But this condi-
tion has passed forever.
The enormous size of the timber lying
directly along the Pacific Coast, includ=
ing the towering redwoods running up
to 300 feet without a limb, and a di-
ameter of 18 feet and over; the Douglas
fir (Oregon pine), Menzies’ tideland
spruce, cedar and hemlock of the Coast
regions of California, Oregon and
Washington; and the pine family to be
found east of the Cascades and Sierra
Nevadas, in Northern California, Cen-
tral and Eastern Oregon, Eastern
Washington, Idaho and Montana, and
the interior of British Columbia, present
topographical features that require a
bold, daring, aggressive brain to suc-
cessfully convert Nature’s forest cover
to the uses of mankind.
The primitive picturesque ox team
has given way to the steam road. There
are approximately 450 logging roads in
the West, with an aggregate mileage of
about 3500 miles. The number is con-
stantly increasing. These roads cost
with equipment, from $10,000 to $15,-
000 per mile, thus indicating the enor-
mous investment in logging railroad
equipment, and the necessities for the
future. The cost of building these
roads has a most direct bearing on the
profit of the operation. Here is where
the practical logging engineer is invalu-
able. His experience ‘enables him to
gauge with certainty the factor of safety
required, yet keeping the initial cost
down to a minimum. The railroad en-
gineer generally fails when assigned to
this task, as experience has abundantly
borne out. He was trained in a differ-
ent school. His factor of safety would
spell financial ruin to many an oper-
ation. He forgets to take into account
the temporary character of the time he
is building; for, outside of the main
lines, the roads are temporary, being
moved from time to time as occasion
requires.
These natural conditions have re-
sulted in the creation of a type of log-
ging engineering unknown anywhere
the world. There. are no
The systems have evolved
sheer necessity. Brawn has
else in
parallels.
through
617
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been forced to yield to brain. Not only
has the Pacific Coast developed a log-
ging system indigenous to itself, with
the application of steam, but it has gone
a step further and has begun to employ
the white coal of commerce—electric-
ity—in its operations. An elimination
of the fire hazard; a reduction in fuel
costs, and a surcease from engine water
troubles are some of the advantages to
be gained through the substitution of
electricity for steam.
With the modernizing of equipment
comes the vital need for a more tech-
nical knowledge on.the part of the men.
It was considered quite a step from an
ox team to a logging locomotive (yet
a knowledge of steam was not uncom-
mon) ; it was a greater step to the utili-
zation of an electric motor in log
haulage.
Compressed air and hydraulic en-
gines to lower logs down the steep
mountain sides, for distances up to 3500
feet and over, have come into use. Here
again the broader knowledge of me-
chanical engineering in its varied phases,
at once becomes a necessity. As an in-
LOG SUSPENDED EN ROUTE TO THE
AMERICAN FORESTRY
stance in the use of a steam lowering
rig whereby logs are lowered 8600 feet
on a grade approximately 77 per cent,
at the plant of the Yosemite Lumber
Company, Merced, California, gives a
vivid and concrete idea of some of the
difficulties which must be overcome in
successfully handling coast logging op-
erations.
A knowledge of civil engineering that
makes possible an accurate topographi-
cal survey by which the proper location
of the roads is determined before com-
mencing operations, involves more than
a rudimentary knowledge of surveying.
We have now reached a stage where
relief maps in plaster of Paris, showing
the topography of the country, are now
employed in definitely determining the
laying out of the operation.
This knowledge of mechanical and
civil engineering must necessarily be
combined in one individual before he
can successfully lay claim to the title of
a logging engineer.
With the broadening of knowledge
incidental to the modern complicated
logging operation has been brought
a
Fe
Bia
ir
LANDING.
LOGGING ENGINEERING
LUMBER FLUME
FEET HIGH,
forcibly to the front the necessity for
a greater and more intelligent care for
the men who bear the burden and heat
of the day. It is claimed that statistics
show that we are only securing about
70 per cent results in our mills and fac-
tories, due almost entirely to a lack of
physical efficiency. Here is a demand
for a knowledge of the underlying prin-
ciples producing efficiency. If better
food, better housing, and adequate bath-
ing facilities are the prerequisites—and
they are—why should not a portion of
the time spent in executive effort to in-
crease the efficiency of the machinery
x, \ 2 7
- IES CF Ay ,Ore
SUPPORTED s BY Ay DRE ST bate
FALLS CITY, ORE.
be spent to increase the
the men?
Now, how shall we make it possible
to provide this necessarily composite
knowledge for the logging engineer?
Taking the agricultural college as a
basis, we find that the course of study
was literally made by the farmers; the
result has been practical education.
The graduates make farmers
than their fathers.
Adopting the same line of reasoning,
the lumbermen should draft the courses
of study in our colleges and universities
where logging engineering is taught.
efficiency of
better
624
AMERICAN FORESTRY
FALLING MENZIES TIDE LAND SPRUCE.
The course would embrace three
branches: First, a knowledge of prac-
tical logging, by a preceptor who could
hang an ax and fall a tree accurately,
yet might not be able to conjugate the
verb ‘“‘amo” to save his life, nor be very
proficient in the modern languages.
A practical cruiser or estimator of
timber is essential. A knowledge of the
amount and character of timber is the
basis of operations. The third in-
structor should be a skilled civil and
mechanical engineer, with technical and
practical knowledge in equal ratio.
The course of study should involve
at least six months in each year in the
woods, carrying forward practical log-
ging operations under the guidance ot
the preceptors. In the winter time,
courses in civil and mechanical engineer-
ing would be pursued. Each man
should attain proficiency in ordinary
machine shop practice, coupled with a
knowledge of blacksmithing.
On the Pacific Coast at the Univer-
sity of Washington, a practical forestry
course has been pursued for several
years. The Oregon Agricultural Col-
lege, and the universities of Idaho and
Montana have also provided such
courses. In California, and: Britism
Columbia plans are being formulated
for the establishment of logging en-
gineering courses.
sade
oe ‘i
Crea
ee
SOOO SON Sa
xe 5
ee acne 8
FIVE YOKE OX TEAM, OVER 12,000 POUNDS OF BEEF, USED IN HAULING LOGS.
626
There is a broad and growing field
for the logging engineer in the West.
Every other large industry can point
to its leaders: In electricity, Edison; in
AMERICAN FORESTRY
canal building, Goethals; in railroad
building, Hill. Why not in the great
lumber business which ranks among the
first of the world’s mighty industries ?
OUR TIMBER EXPORTS
forest products from United
States ports during the year end-
ing June 30, 1912, show an increase in
value of over $4,000,000. The total
value for the year under review
amounts to $96,782,186, as compared
with $92,225,951 for the preceding year.
The increase is due to expansion of
trade in boards, deals, planks, joists,
and scantling which account for more
than half the total export; the figures
are 2,340,909,000 ft. for 1912, against
2,060,965,000 ft. for the preceding year.
The advantage thus gained not only
makes up for the decrease in the ex-
port figures for timber but shows a
substantial increase on the combined
figures. Timber, hewn and sawn, has
One. statistics of exports of
fallen from 531,634,000 ft. exported in
1910-11 to 438,021,000 ft. for last year.
The loss is not attributable to any
marked individual reduction, but is
spread over all the consuming markets.
In lumber the figures for Canada show
the large increase of 49,736,000 ft. over
the 403,285,000 ft. of the preceding
year ; South America took the enormous
addition of 139,683,000" ft. over 1911;
British Oceana 31,937,000 ft.; Nether-
iands 20,728,000 ft.; United Kingdom
10,104,000 ft. (from 216,433,000 ft. to
226,537,000 ft.). On the other hand
shipments to China show a falling off of
37,945,000 ft.; Africa a loss of 10,001,-
000 ft.; Cuba 8,925,000 ft. ; Italy 5,818,
000 ft.; Belgium 4,466,000 ft.; France
3,758,000 ft.; Germany 2,983,000 ft.
BOY SCOUTS TO PLANT TREES
H. McGILLIVRAY, Deputy
Forest Warden of Michigan, un-
der the direction of Major Will-
iam R. Oates, who organized the Mich-
igan Forest Scouts, including the Boy
Scouts of America, has worked out an-
other plan for showing the boy scouts
how to be of help to the nation. Mc-
Gillivray is planning to have 5,000 boys
plant pine seedlings next year. The
planting will be done on the land from
which trees have just been cut down.
The seedlings are secured from the
Agricultural College plantation, and the
railroads deliver them to the boy scouts
free of charge. ‘When a scout or a
company of scouts,” writes McGilliv-
ray, “makes a showing in planting the
seedlings we put an honor medal on
each scout for service.
“Permit me to suggest that it would
be a splendid thing if you could work
your scouts with the State Forestry
Warden of the forest districts in fire
protection and reforestation. Here in
Michigan, for the present at least, we
must maintain the integrity of our
State organization, but there is no
reason why you could not line up all
the other States in this service.”
WOOD PRESERVATION AS A FACTOR IN FOREST
CONSERVATION
By. E,. A. STERLING
President, American Wood Preservers’
HE preservative treatment of
timber against decay has de-
veloped rapidly into a very im-
portant industry, the broad significance
of which is not fully appreciated. The
industry has assumed large proportions
primarily because of its commercial
value; but, in addition, it has a very
broad bearing on questions of forest
conservation. It helps all wood con-
sumers directly by insuring longer life
of material and less frequent renewals;
while indirectly it is of value to every
citizen because it is a factor in keeping
down lumber prices and in conserving
our forest resources. To the timber-
land owners, from lumber magnate to
farmer, it means a new and better mar-
ket for wood material.
The forest propaganda movement of
the past twenty years has emphasized
the need for fire protection, more equi-
table forest taxation, closer utilization,
and the production of successive forest
crops on land unsuited for agriculture.
In other words, it is urged that we per-
petuate our forest resources by protec-
tion and wiser use, so that they will
serve our needs. The rapidly increas-
ing consumption of timber—the amount
used per capita being about seven times
that in Europe—makes the task of pro-
viding definitely for our growing re-
quirements almost a _ hopeless one.
Without a material decrease in con-
sumption, the spectre of a future timber
famine, which has been marched out at
opportune times to arouse latent public
sentiment and hasten forest legislation,
may actually materialize to the extent
of high prices and a distinct scarcity of
certain grades or species of timber.
High grade white pine, for example,
aleeady, commands famine prices, and
white oak is rapidly approaching the
same condition. An actual timber
Association
famine is not likely to come in the life-
time of men now living; yet it is quite
probable that a crisis will be reached
which will affect national prosperity to
such an extent as to force a solution of
our timber supply problem.
Wood preservation at present is the
strongest factor in the reduction of our
annual timber bill, which, for lumber
and wood in all forms, reaches an enor-
mous total equivalent to at least one
hundred billion board feet, worth over
CREOSOTED BEECH CROSS-TIE SHOWING
IMPERVIOUS “RED HEART.”
one and one-quarter billion dollars at
point of manufacture. Nearly half of
this is manufactured lumber produced
in mills sawing more than 50,000 feet
annually. Preservative treatment not
only reduces this drain on the forests
by increasing the life of timber and
making one stick do the work of two or
three, but it permits the use of many
inferior woods which would be useless
without treatment. Fer the eastern
railroads it has kept the source of cross-
tie supply nearer home through the
use of non-durable woods, such as
beech, maple, sap pine, etc., instead of
the more expensive white oak and long-
leaf pine, which have to be shipped long
distances.
627
‘Vd ‘VIHd’TAGVIIHd LV LNV’Id DNIAMHSHAYd GOOM “AY AU VINVA’IASNNAd AHL JO MAIA TVAANAD
at
A CHARGE OF TIES READY TO BE PUT IN THE TREATING CYLINDER. SEVEN OF THE CARS MAKING UP THE CHARGE: ARE OUT OF SIGHT IN
TLR CYTLINDER.
630
In Forest Service Bulletin No. 78 it
is stated that ‘Nearly ten billion feet
board measure of structural timber are
destroyed each year in the United
States. * *~* Tf allithestimber were
treated which it is practicable to treat,
and which could be treated at a profit,
nearly six billion feet board measure,
or over sixty per cent, could be saved.
This saving would represent the annual
growth on twenty million acres of well-
stocked timber land.’ In cross-ties
alone, the Government estimates that
proper preservative treatment would re-
duce the annual cut to the extent of
nearly 60,000,000 ties per year, which
is the equivalent of two billion board
Leet.
The first wood-preserving plant in
this country of which there is record
was built at Lowell, Mass., in 1848;
while the first railroad plant was erected
by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad
at West Pascagoula, Miss., in 1876.
Between these dates and the late 80’s
there was little development. In 1900
there were only eleven plants in opera-
tion, but by the end of 1911 the num-
ber had grown to one hundred and one.
Of these twenty-four are owned and
operated by railroad companies, while
the remainder do a general commercial
business in the treatment of a large
variety of timbers.
The capital invested in these plants
is certainly not less than $10,000,000,
while the value of the wood material
carried in stock for seasoning would
run into many more millions of dollars.
The initial cost of the plants, however,
is comparatively low, considering the
enormous volume of material handled
and its cost value-when treated. A
$100,000 plant, for example, will treat
each year material worth from one-half
to three-quarter million dollars. On the
basis of the output of treated timber
in 1910, which are the latest figures
available, the value of the cross-ties,
lumber, poles, and other timbers which
received treatment approximated $35,-
000,000.
Great as has been the progress in
preservative treatment, a large per-
centage of the timber is still used in
its natural state. The industry has been
AMERICAN FORESTRY
built up largely on railroad cross-ties;
yet, out of the 148,000,000 used in 1910,
only 30,000,000, or about 21 per cent,
received preservative treatment. This,
however, is an increase of 275 per cent
over the number treated in 1905. Dur-
ing the same year 133,000,000 board
feet of lumber and timber were treated,
which represents less than one-third of
one per cent of the total consumption.
The total output of all kinds of treated
material in 1911 amounted to slightly
over 110,372,000 cubic feet, which is
over 500 per cent more than was treated
in 1904.
It is very difficult to appreciate ex-
actly what cross-ties and lumber, when
stated in units of millions, mean in
terms of volume. Some idea may be
gained if we consider that the 30,000,-
000 ties treated in 1910 would, if piled
20 ties high, according to the usual ar-
rangement in a treating plant yard,
cover an area of over 600 acres, or
practically a square mile. If laid one
deep side by side, these same ties would
cover 10,000 acres with a solid wooden
floor the full thickness of the ties.
It certainly must pay to inject timber
with preservatives, or the railroads and
other commercial concerns would not
undertake it. The theory, which is very
old, has become an established practice
of unquestioned merit. Owing to the
comparatively short time treated timber
has been used in this country, and the
long time required to get results from
service tests, many of our conclusions
are based on European results. We
have, however, records in this country
of creosoted piling resisting teredo and
decay for twenty-five and thirty years
in waters which would destroy un-
treated timber in a few years; while
many treated cross-ties have been in
track ten to fifteen years without signs
of deterioration. In France, an average
life of about twenty-eight years is ob-
tained from creosoted beech ties, which
would not last over four years, un-
treated.
Experimental preservation of woods
was attempted in England more than
one hundred years ago, and commercial
treatment of timber has been practiced
in Europe for over fifty years. Out of
os
WOOD PRESERVING PLANT YARD.
foe
CROSS TIES PILED FOR SEASONING IN
632 AMERICAN FORESTRY
the large list of preservatives which
have been tried, long experience has re-
duced the number which are of accepted
value to two; namely, coal tar creosote
and zinc chloride. In 1910 the con-
sumption of creosote in the United
States totalled 63,266,000 gallons, of
which 38,640,000 gallons, or 69 per cent,
were imported; while zinc chloride was
used to the extent of 16,802,500 pounds.
The latter, which is a soluble mineral
salt, leaches out of the wood in wet
climates, and is of greatest value in
arid regions. Creosote is the preserva-
tive most generally used, present de-
velopments indicating the decreasing
use of zinc chloride alone : although in
mixture with creosote, or with some
heavy oil as a seal, it promises excellent
results.
The methods or processes by which
preservatives are introduced into wood
involve many technical details which
are not of general interest. Preserva-
tives are applied by pressure, open tank,
end brush application. Of these the
first is of greatest value and most wide-
ly used, open tank and brush treatments
being superficial and of value mainly
CROSS SECTIONS OF BEECH TIE TREATED BY THE REU
where low cost 1s essential and facilities
for thorough treatment are not avail-
able.
The usual type of wood-preserving
plant is equipped with from one to five
heavy boiler plate cylinders, from six
to seven feet in diameter and about
130 feet long. The additional equip-
ment necessary to operate the plant in-
cludes steam boilers, pressure and
vacuum pumps, air compressor, storage
tanks, etc. The cylinder has a heavy
door which can be tightly closed by
heavy pivoted bolts, tight-fitting gaskets
preventing the escape of the preserva-
tive under pressure. The ties or timber
for treatment are loaded on narrow-
gauge steel cylinder cars, and a whole
train—usually fifteen cars—is run bod-
ily into the cylinder; tracks being pro-
vided inside the cylinder and the cars
designed so that they just fit the avail-
able space. The heavy door is then
closed and the hot creosote introduced
from overhead tanks. Pressure is then
applied and increased up to 160 to 200
pounds per square inch, or until the
desired amount of absorption is ob-
tained. The oil is then dropped into
¥
PING PROCESS AT STENDAE;
GERMANY.
WOOD PRESERVATION IN FOREST CONSERVATION
633
RENE, SLL See WAksEN
SERVICE.
CREOSOTE.
an underground receiving tank, or
forced back by compressed air, and the
charge withdrawn. ‘This covers the
essential steps of the so-called full cell
or Bethell process. Various modifica-
tions are made for special purposes,
such as preliminary steaming, followed
by a vacuum, to remove the saps; initial
vacuum, before introducing the oil; and
a final vacuum to recover surplus oil.
An economical process, known as the
Reuping, requires an initial air pres-
sure, followed by the introduction of
the oil without relieving the pressure.
At the end the compressed air in the
FROM
TRACKS
STATE RAILWAY AFTER TWENTY-THREE YEARS’
OF PRUSSIAN
TREATED WITH ZINC CHLORIDE AND
wood forces out 40 to 60 per cent of
the oil originally injected, leaving only
the cell walls impregnated; hence the
name “emtpy cell” process. Another
process designed for a reduction in
initial cost is a mixture of creosote
and zine chloride in solution, the two
liquids being agitated and kept in emul-
sion by a rotary pump, through which
the entire mixture, in the cylinder,
passes every seven to ten minutes, even
while under pressure.
The tendency in this country, where
timber is still comparatively cheap, is
to economize in the treatment by using
654
partial doses of oil, or mixtures which
are cheaper than pure creosote. In
Europe much heavier treatments are
given, the practice on most of the
French and English railroads, for ex-
ample, being to impregnate sleepers
practically to refusal. ‘The Prussian
State Railways, on the other hand,
have recently adopted an empty cell
treatment. The amount of preserva-
tive should be determined largely by
the traffic and maintenance of way prac-
tice. On most American roads where
cut spikes are used and the tie-plates
are small or eliminated entirely, it
would be folly to inject enough preser-
vative to protect the tie from decay for
thirty years and have it wear out in a
third of this time. In Europe, where
screw spikes and heavy plates or chairs
are standard equipment, mechanical
wear is reduced to a minimum and a
more expensive treatment is justified.
It will be a mark of distinct progress
when American roads protect their ties
from wear as well as from decay.
All woods do not have the same
capacity for absorbing preservatives,
owing to differences in the wood struc-
ture. Red oak will treat readily, while
white oak and chestnut absorb only a
superficial coating, even under high
pressure. The sapwood of most species
AMERICAN FORESTRY
treats easily, but the heartwood of most
timbers is resistant. The best results
can be obtained only by thorough
knowledge of the characteristics of
various woods and manipulations of the
treatment accordingly.
Wood preservation has become a
commercial necessity, and because it
saves the wood consumer dollars and
cents, will remain an important indus-
try. The railroads and other large wood-
consuming corporations incur heavy
initial expenses for plants and increase
their current costs on wood material in
order to profit by reduced annual
charges through the longer life of the
material. The small wood consumers
cannot take advantage of the pressure
treatment unless near a commercial
plant; but the brush and open tank
treatments are available to farmers,
fruit growers, and others who need to
preserve their posts, stakes, lumber, etc.
Whatever is done by corporations or
individuals, the broader aspects of wood
preservation should not be overlooked,
since any reduction in the drain on the
forests will tend to conserve the timber
supply and keep prices down. Low
lumber prices, in turn, mean conserva-
‘ion in the pocket-book of every indi-
vidual citizen.
PENNSYLVANIA’S TRADE.
Lumber and timber industries in Pennsylvania employed on an average of 32,073. In the
census of 1859 the lumber industry of Pennsylvania ranked first among the States. In 1909
the production of lumber was 1,462,771,000, which was a decrease of 36.3 per cent. from 1899.
About 56 per cent. of the lumber manufactured was soft wood; oak 20 per cent.
KENTUCKY’S STATE FORESTER.
Ata recent meeting of the Kentucky State Board of Forestry, Mr. J. E. Barton, formerly
connected with the U. S. Forestry Service, was elected State Forester for Kentucky.
FIRE PREVENTION.
The Pacific Logging Congress believes in the expenditure by the various States and
Provinces of liberal and adequate appropriation for forest fire protection.
To this end the
Congress has indorsed the efforts being made for the creation of field military posts, near
the national forests, with a view of utilizing the national troops where emergencies arise in
the protection of the national forests from fire.
METHOD OF FORESTRY CAMPAIGNING
By E. T. ALLEN
Forester Western Forestry and Conservation
or methods of better forest man-
agement, but means of making
propaganda for these things effective,
or, in other words, the technique of the
publicity and educational work that is
almost as important as forestry itself.
The Western Forestry and Conserva-
tion Association has probably devoted
more effort to developing this line of
action than any other agency. Its suc-
cess in moulding public and legislative
sentiment is the reason I have been
asked to describe some of its methods
in the hope that they may suggest some-
thing of help elsewhere.
It may be well to begin by describing
our organization itself, both because it
might be duplicated in some localities
and to show wherein its methods may
not be practicable for ordinary forestry
associations dependent upon small dues
from a large but somewhat passive
membership. It has no individual
members, but is a league of over a dozen
local organizations extending from
Montana to California. Two are State
conservation associations with miscel-
laneous membership, but the rest are all
working patrol associations maintained
by timber owners. These constituent
locals are actual protective agencies,
spending from $250,000 in a favorable
year to $700,000 in a year like 1910 for
patrol, fire-fighting and building trails
and te lephones. They patrol nearly 20
million acres and with remarkable suc-
cess, for being unhampered by politics
or the economical vagaries of appro-
priating legislatures or congresses, they
have developed probably the most ef-
ficient and perfectly-equipped systems
in the United States. They are financed
by pro rated assessments upon the mem-
bers’ acreage, varying from 2 to 10
cents an acre, according to season and
locality.
Attending to local field work inde-
| to discuss not needs
Association
pendently, these fire associations levy
an additional acreage assessment for
the Western Forestry and Conservation
Association in order to have a clearing
house for ideas and experience in fire
matters, facilities for cheaper and more
effective educational work than they
could do alone, and a medium for de-
veloping co-operation with State and
Government. The leading State and
Federal forest officials are members,
ranking in its meetings and on its com-
mittees with the delegates sent by the
constituent private organizations. ‘The
result is a triple alliance; working in
the utmost harmony for the common
end of forest preservation, accorded
thorough public confidence, and financed
chiefly by forest owners for utilizing
opportunities afforded by all three. It
has a voice in all official councils and
measures, as well as in the press and
with lumbermen and public, because it
is non-partisan and particularly because
it represents those who spend money
and do things rather than those who
merely ask others to do and spend. An
illustration of our standing was afforded
in 1910 when, upon the request of our
president, Mr. Flewelling of Spokane,
President Taft ordered out the army to
fight fire.
In gaining this power and in using it
our first principle has been never to
seek any end not of general benefit or
to show discrimination for or against
State, Government, lumbermen or pub-
lic. We are equally without sympathy
for the propagandist yee locates all
forest evils in the greed ef lumbermen
and seeks remedy by re a econ
impracticable compulsion, or for the
unreasonably individualistic lumberman
who does about equal harm by his own
bad methods and the retaliation he
draws upon his industry. We recog-
nize no difference of importance be-
tween increasing the lumberman’s de-
9
635
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FOREST
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638
sire to protect and properly utilize the
forest resources he holds in trust and
increasing the public sentiment which
will encourage him to do so. We be-
lieve that mutual beneft hes in mutual
understanding, confidence and co-oper-
ation.
In bringing before forest owners the
actual profit of better forest manage-
ment and the equal advantage to them
of earning popular credit by it, we de-
pend little upon the conventions, asso-
ciations and publicity methods com-
monly used to arouse forestry senti-
ment in the general public. We break
into his own trade meetings and jour-
nals, where he has to listen, and take
care to show that what we say is with
full knowledge of his many problems.
We write him letters and circulars, but
do him the honor of making them as
thoroughly his as would be a talk across
his own desk. We ask him to make no
sacrifices for posterity that we are not
making ourselves, but we do try to show
him that he can do much without sacri-
fice or at a profit. Particularly, when
we do get his money or backing, we
try to give him tangible return in some-
thing he really wants, like fire protec-
tion, as well as in things we think he
ought to want.
If he wants to interest his neighbors
in protection, we help him get them to-
gether, draft one or two prominent men
who have tried it to go along and tell
how it worked, carry. with us an array
of practical figures on cost elsewhere,
and practically bulldoze the gathering
into organizing a modern co-operative
patrol. After they try it, they continue,
and we see that they get a copy of
every new idea in fire work that is ever
evolved afterward anywhere. If a new
spark-arrester is invented, they get a
description of it. If someone discovers
that powder will throw a trench faster
than shovels under certain conditions,
we tell them about it. If a supreme
court passes on some doubtful point of
a fire law, we analyze the decision and
send it around. If a law is inefficient
generally, we write a new one, organize
a. eens for its passage, and pay the
bi
But probably you are more interested
AMERICAN FORESTRY
in methods of general public education.
In this we follow the advertising prin-
ciples of continual effort to keep the
impression from fading, and of novelty
to insure attention. Probably the first
form of anti-fire publicity was the old-
fashioned fire-warning synopsizing the
law and its penalties and printed on
cloth for durability. We originated de-
parture from this to a poster saying
little of the law but bearing catchy epi-
grammatic appeals to the reader’s com-
mon sense and personal interest, and
printed on paper so it can be replaced
with a new one next year. Each year
we use different text, type and color,
and are now branching into pictorial
signs depending little upon text of any
kind.
Fach spring we issue immense num-
bers of short circulars, with paper,
colors and picture covers so attractive
that they are not quickly tossed away,
taking up in some new form the im-
portance of forest protection to com-
munity welfare. One year it may be
straight narrative, another a cathecism
with answers, another a parallel column
device. Always different, always catchy.
These are distributed in countless
ways—as letter fillers by business
houses, in railroad folder racks in pub-
lic places, handed out or enclosed in
packages by merchants, attached to
documents and licenses by county of-
ficials, distributed from pulpits by min-
isters, dropped in rural mail boxes by
riders, left at houses and on hotel tables
by hundreds of fire wardens. Almost
anyone will help if you give him the
material and suggest how.
Similar distribution is given small
gummed labels bearing terse sentences
or symbolic pictures and issued by hun-
dreds of thousands. They are placed
on envelopes, advertisements and the
like, also stuck on walls, signs and
posts.
Every spring we get out something
especially designed for school children,
both to get them thinking rightly and
to be shown their parents, and the State
school authorities instruct the teachers
to distribute these. Last year it was a
sort of catechism with a picture cover,
this year a little story investing a tree
TON.
%
2 aoe sete
ASTERN WASHING
DP
ra
PINE
YELLOW
A STAND OF
OF
PART
640
with personality and carrying it through
all its forest struggles. These reach
hundreds of thousands of children and
the distribution of so many tons of ma-
terial to the teachers by small mail and
express packages is a serious under-
taking. We also find a good oppor-
tunity in Arbor Day ceremonies, pre-
paring material to be issued by State
school superintendents in a special bul-
letin to teachers with instructions to
make it part of the regular program.
One of the most pretentious projects
we have undertaken is a technical man-
ual of forest management for the Pa-
cific Coast. Dealing not only with for-
est economics and protection, but even
more with silvicultural problems and
reforestation possibilities, it is practi-
cally the first western book of the kind
and has wide circulation. It is used as
a text-book in every American forest
school, is in most important libraries,
and was listed by New York State
among 1300 best books out of 11,000
printed in 1911. Peculiar value of such
a book as a sentiment-maker lies in that
it carries forestry to the lumberman
who would not read it elsewhere and
carries his practical problems to the
technical forest school.
We find both daily and technical press
of value almost exactly in proportion
to our systematizing its use. It is of
great importance to reach the small
country papers whose readers both use
fire and exert much influence in legis-
lation. To keep their interest we give
them real news, using it as a peg on
which to hang propaganda matter, and
do this regularly. We send out to all
our local associations and to State and
Government officials blank forms ask-
ing for information, as for example on
the fire situation at given times, and
havethese returned to us simultaneously
so we can compile accurate up-to-date
bulletins. These are so written that
they can be shortened without rewriting
and go promptly to about 800 papers
with a release date like Associated
Press dispatches. The papers know
they can depend on these bulletins and
use them widely. Occasionally we ac-
company them with lighter material like
verse, which is very effective, or with
AMERICAN FORESTRY
editorials. I have yet to see a single
unfavorable expression upon the West-
ern Forestry and Conservation Asso-
ciation in any newspaper and we get
many letters and notices of approval.
I attribute much of this good will to
our systematic way of giving them news
that they cannot get elsewhere, when
it is new and in newspaper style.
Another publicity method both cheap
and effective is to furnish material to
others who will use it at their own
expense over their own name. We
send copy for fire warnings to State
foresters and associations, suggest no-
tices to be put up by railroads in cars
and stations, and devise mottoes to go
on checks and stationery. Every trans-
continental railroad traversing our terri-
tory has our fire warning material in its
summer time-folders. Telephone com-
panies print it in their directories, and
tell readers that exchange operators
will put them in touch with fire war-
dens. Counties put guide-boards at
road-crossings saying it is 10 miles ‘to
a certain town and do not start fires on
the way. Many official State reports by
boards and commissions present for-
estry material exactly as we write it for
them. Speeches and reports before
women’s clubs and miscellaneous con-
ventions are often supplied by us in
full to the speakers or committees
called upon to investigate the subject.
Let any agency establish willingness to
furnish such matter, and a reputation
for absolute reliability and impartiality
and it soon reaches audiences it could
not appear before in any other way.
Similarly it is often better to give a
good article to a staff newspaper or
magazine writer than to submit it your-
self. He makes the money, but your
doctrine appears without the discount
of your own known special interest.
I could continue the list of such sug-
gestions almost indefinitely, including
calendars, framed pictures teaching
some fire lesson to be put up in school
houses, special folders to be handed
patrons of garages and livery stables,
combination game and fire law cards to
be given sportsmen by gun-stores and
license officials, the printing of like ma-
terial on guide maps, stamped plates to
gy ae
set
nie
fi
FOREST OF NOBLE FIR, HEMLOCK AND RED FIR IN OREGON
642
be attached to logging engines, cards
bearing fire wardens’ addresses to be
tacked up near telephones, and many
others. I think, however, that those al-
ready recounted will be sufficiently sug-
gestive and I want to use the time re-
maining in speaking of the highly im-
portant subject of getting better legis-
lation.
Neither my topic nor the time avail-
able warrants discussion of the policies
to be expressed by forest laws, but with
respect to engineering their passage, I
can say that our experience teaches two
cardinal principles of success. Har-
monize and organize your support early
and thoroughly. Do not depend upon
lobbying, but exert your pressure
through the legislators’ constituents at
home. Were | to outline a legislative
campaign it would be about as follows:
Complete your bill two or three
months before your legislative body
convenes, but not before you have asked
advice of all factions it affects and made
it satisfy the sane majority of each. If
it doesn’t, the chances are either that
it is not a good bill or that you have
not learned to extol its merits con-
vincingly. Then print it, with an attrac-
tive cover bearing the official endorse-
ment of all the influential agencies you
can elist. This disarms suspicion, also
the human tendency to tinker with it
which will keep cropping up till it is
either dead or signed. Precede the bill
itself by a lively argument to engage
interest, follow every section with full
explanation of its particular need and
meaning, and finish the booklet with a
dire prophecy of what will happen if it
is not supported.
Send this circular to everyone you
can think of; lumbermen, ministers,
women’s clubs, bankers, merchants,
newspapers and, of course, the legisla-
tors themselves; always with a special
letter making an individual appeal for
support based upon the recipient’s voca-
tion, and asking if he has any changes
to suggest. He seldom will have, so
you take few chances, and the majority
are pleased. Anyway, you are out in
the open. No one can say later he
does not understand the bill. By time
the fight is really on you have discov-
AMERICAN FORESTRY
ered your opposition and how to meet
it—a most important point.
In the meantime you have been per-
fecting mailing lists of two kinds. One
is the widest possible, classified by voca-
tions or other distinctions suggesting
special arguments, and the stationery
and signatures of the letters you send
are as varied as the institutions you can
get to let you use their prestige in this
way. These addresses are classified
again by their representation in the leg-
islature and each receives at least one
letter containing stamped addressed en-
velopes to his own representatives, with
a request to write these demanding sup-
port of the bill unchanged. The ma-
jority will comply just because you have
trusted them with a few postage stamps.
The second list is of one or more people
in each town whom you appoint local
agitators to follow your instructions at
any time without question. It is not
hard to get such a list of lieutenants if
you start your general letter writing
campaign early enough. It develops
through the replies you receive.
When the bill is introduced, do not
lobby—at least not much. Ask every
member whether he is for or against it,
give him another of your printed ex-
planations of it, and leave him pleased
because you do not talk him to death
when he has important business on
hand. This is practically the sole job
of your lobbyist: to advise you who is
so sure to support you that he can be
safely neglected, who needs pressure,
and the stage of your bill every min-
ute—its progress through committees,
etc. With this information you marshal
pressure from outside. What the re-
luctant members need is not your argu-
ments for the bill, but expression from
their constituents. You keep on writing
letters by the hundred or thousand,
occasionally sending out a flurry of
telegrams to indicate urgency, always
telling the recipients the particular
members they are to write or wire to
and what is needed, even if it is only
to hasten the bill through a committee.
And always emphasize that the bill is to
be left unchanged.
If you have never tried such a cam-
paign, two things will surprise you—
FIRE DAMAGE SMALL
the readiness with which people will
respond to suggestions that are exceed-
ingly definite and somewhat flattering
in assuming their influence is valuable,
and the effect of this home endorse-
ment not only in passing a measure but
also in keeping it unchanged. One of
the greatest perils of a forest bill is
that it may be modified to make the
resultant system a political machine. In
dealing personally with members who
attempt this, you are almost helpless if
they make it a condition of their sup-
port. It is very different when they
are obliged to offend constituents by
defying their specific requests.
There are, of course, many additional
devices to be employed. Wholesale and
banking houses may be induced to re-
quest help for your bill as a personal
favor of all their out of town connec-
645
tions. Friendly newspapers may use
editorials to be clipped and sent each
legislator. We once successfully killed
a charge that a fire appropriation would
benefit timber owners at the expense of
the farmer by having placed on every
member’s desk a cartoon of a settler’s
house being destroyed by fire, sur-
rounded by reproductions of dozens of
actual clippings all describing loss of
life or property by settlers, and bearing
the legend “to vote against the fire bill
is to vote for this.” I cannot review
all such devices, but the summing up is
this: Do not rely on eleventh-hour lob-
bying with a busy legislature. Give
your measure the earliest and widest
explanation and systematize to the last
degree getting the effectively applied en-
dorsement of every man, woman and
child you can reach.
FIRE DAMAGE SMALL
HERE has been less fire damage
to timber in the Northwest this
year than any previous year since
the Western Forestry and Conservation
Association has been organized, accord-
ing to a statement by A. L. Flewelling,
president of that organization. This
year, he says, the fire loss has been
practically nothing, in June there were
a few fires on the coast, but in the
Inland Empire, Montana and Oregon
the damage has been almost nothing.
Continuing, Mr. Flewelling said:
“The fact that the summer season
has been a moist one is, of course, one
of the principal reasons. There are,
however, three other reasons that may
help to explain the condition of affairs
this year. ‘The patrol system and or-
ganization of the timber protective as-
sociations have been perfected to a de-
gree never attained before. Most of
the railroads have adopted oil fuel, do-
ing away with the locomotive spark as
a fire cause. The campaign of educa-
tion that the association has been carry-
ing on for years is beginning to bear
fruit.
“Settlers and campers are exercising
more care in leaving fires and are more
ready to co-operate with the lumber-
men in reporting them.” The cost of
the patrol service maintained this year
has ranged from 2 to 3 cents per acre
in north Idaho. Mr. Flewelling said:
“A year ago the average assessment
was 3 cents, while in 1910, the year of
the big fires, the cost ranged from 12
to 15 cents per acre. This year most
of the patrol forces have been used in
building telephone lines. These lines
and lookout stations have been estab-
lished in sections reached be-
fore.”
never
EC) PEGG APPOINTED:
Ur. Ernest C. Pegg has been appointed instructor in forestry at the University of Mis-
souri Mr. Pegg was graduated from Wabash College and from the Yale Forest School in
1911 with high honors.
Since graduation he has been in the employ of the U.S.
Forest
2 y “fore > 7 ae y , , vest, Ariz nd.
Service, with headquarters on the Jemez National Forest 1s
HENRY E&. HARDTNER,
PRES:
LOtl
ISIANA FORESTRY
ASSOCIATION.
SOUTH’S TIMBER DISAPPEARING
By HENRY
T
[ resident Louisiana
is a well known fact that the
forests of the South will be com-
pletely exhausted inside of fif-
teen years at the present rate of cutting.
~~"
-
ave studied forest conditions in
very Southern State and have con-
sed wit ‘Il informed lumber oper-
‘Sia ber owners and am fully
“ hat the present supply of
virgin timber is nearing exhaustion. It
s sad for one who has grown up in the
F.
‘orestry
HARDTNER,
Association
forests and who saw them in their vir-
gin splendor to witness their complete
destruction. Yet, we must consider that
the trees are ripe and full grown and
should be utilized to the best advantage,
and that it is not criminal to denude
these magnificent forests. Where we
deserve censure is in failing to enforce
reforestation on lands chiefly valuable
for timber culture.
The present rate of cutting timber for
A FOREST SAW MILL IN THE HILLS OF EASTERN TENNESSEE.
646 AMERICAN FORESTRY
ERODED SLOPE, FORMERLY HEAVILY WOODED, IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA.
the market will decrease from year to
year from now on. The highest aver-
age has been reached—the forests are
now in the hands of actual operators
who of all manufacturers are forced to
purchase raw material for years in ad-
vance in order to insure a safe return
on’ the great ‘cost: of* erecting. mills,
houses, railroads, etc. ‘There will be
few if any sawmills erected by new
companies. A number of large mills
will go out of commision year after
year because of the exhaustion of their
timber supply—the companies now op-
erating will not increase their output—
consequently the life of our virgin for-
ests will be prolonged. Another factor
in prolonging the life of virgin forests
will be a reasonable price for lumber
which will enable the operator to make
a profit. A reasonable price for lumber
will enable a mill man to cut 25% more
timber from his lands. ‘There will be
no more profit for the manufacturer
on the actual cut when the average
price f.o.b. mills is $20.00 than when
the average price is $15.00 for this
reason—it will be more expensive to
save the extra 25% increase in stump-
age which is now wasted because it can
not be profitably handled. The average
lumberman is a true conservationist.
He does not wish to waste any product
of the forest—but he can not operate
his mills many years at a great loss.
So when the average price of lumber is
$15.00 he is forced to leave 25% ‘of
very low grade lumber in the woods.
His average per cent of upper grades
is much larger on a $15.00 average than
it is on $20.00. A $20.00 average for
next three years—a $25.00 average for
the five years thereafter and a cor-
responding increase from year to year
will enable a person to reforest his de-
nuded lands and grow trees at profit
and as a safe business investment.
To sum it all up—an average price
of $20.00 will enable the lumberman to
get 25% more lumber from his lands,
IS LUMBER A CRIME? 647
thus increasing the life of the virgin
forests ten years. It will also enable
and encourage the land owner to grow
trees for the market so that when the
virgin timber is gone there will be new
forests to take their place. The cost of
growing timber where the State fixes a
valuation of one dollar per acre for tax-
ation purposes on the land for thirty
or forty years and does not tax the
growing timber is as follows:
Assessed value $1 acre for 30
years and compound interest
IS LUMBER
By GEORGE
NE man has made a_ national
newspaper reputation by declaim-
ing against the “Criminal Match.”
Another has made a tour of the coun-
try to exploit his catch phrase, ‘“The
shingle roof is not a covering, but a
Grimes:
The Fire Insurance propaganda with
its ninety-odd class-periodicals is pro-
moting mass meetings in every State
and city denouncing all forms of wood
structure and utility as guilty of the
“National Disgrace” of fire waste, and
denouncing all responsible officials as
criminals who do not use their official
positions and power to prohibit its use.
The sensational press has heedlessly
and ignorantly joined in the hue and
cry, and the unenlightened portion of
the “dear people” which takes its tone
from head lines is hurling stones and
clubs and epithets at the “Lumber
Trust’’—that mythological, disembodied
Banshee—in blissful ignorance of the
facts and of its own best interests.
Our natural enemies, the purveyors
and manufacturers of competing ma-
terial, and novel, untried substitutes,
are spending mints of easy money in
advertising and promoting the sale and
use of their pet fads, and are not con-
science-smitten when they decorate
their pronouncements with all the lurid
colors which they can borrow from
their evil-disposed or ignorant collab-
orators.
AOI oin= 22 si thao aaa ee $1.67
Present valiuenor land] 3.00
Cost of planting trees per acre__ 5.00
Compound interest for 29 years 37.94
Care of timber at 2 cents acre
and compound interest______ 167
‘Potalvcost§2 Seen ainsi eee $49.28
There will be 5,000 feet per acre in
30 years’ time at a cost of about $10.00
per M. feet. It’s a good investment—
a good clean business to engage in.
A CRIME?
le Horr
Building ordinances and restrictions
are enacted and enforced upon the
false assumption that if matches and
mice and shingles and lumber and every
form and use of wood were prohibited,
property and life would be forever safe
from the Fire Hazard, and everybody
would be happier.
In this hour of unrest, when any
demagogue can get a hearing by pro-
claiming that ‘Everything that is, is
wrong,’ the likelihood is that we are
on the road to destruction of much that
is good, along with sone things that are
bad. A wrong diagnosis leads to a fatal
disaster, when a right diagnosis might
prolong life and happiness.
What about the criminal match?
The tests made by the Underwriters
themselves disprove that charge. They
show that “safe” matches share the re-
sponsibility equally with “unsafe”
matches. It is the careless se of
matches, not the matches themselves
that should bear the blame.
The actual tests of “mice and
matches” and “rats and matches” re-
duce to ridicule the tabulations of
losses from those causes, although they
have become a standing scare-head in
all annual reports of fire loss.
What about the “Criminal Shingle’ ?
There are no statistics worthy of the
slightest respect which tend to justify
that false alarm. ‘Think of the eleven
million and odd buildings in this coun-
648
try and consider what an enormous per-
centage of them are and have been
roofed with shingles. How many cases
have come under your observation in
which the shingles were the cause of
the fire? How many cases in which
the shingles actually spread the fire to
adjoining properties ?
The great values and the great losses
by fire in this country are not in shingle-
roofed buildings, and never were.
If shingle roofs are really the “crin-
inals” that they are painted why do
not the statistics show it? Why do the
insurance companies compete so stren-
uously for frame residences, farm
houses and barns, school houses,
churches and public institutions, roofed
with shingles, if shingles are “Not a
covering, but a crime’? Why do they
rate these properties among the lowest
in the list, and then give away from
40 to 55 per cent of the premiums to get
the business, if “Shingles are a crime” ?
Where was the “Conflagration” for
which shingle roofs were responsible?
Doubtless some fires have been started
in shingle roofs and some have been
communicated in that way, but I do not
know of any statistics which tend to
show that shingles are a peculiarly bad
hazard. ‘The analysis of thousands of
fires attributed to “sparks,” taken as
they run, shows as many fires in build-
ings not having shingle roofs as in
buildings having shingle roofs. ‘This
fact is noteworthy, because there are a
greater number of buildings roofed
with shingles than with any other
material.
It would be natural to expect, there-
fore, that any comparison by numbers
of fires would show a greater number
of fires in shingle roofed buildings, but
that is not the fact in this case.
The appeal to experience and to sta-
tistics alike acquit the shingle roof and
damns it defamers.
How about structural uses?
Wood construction is as old as the
human race. Fire proof construction
may have had “a look in” in the Stone
Age, but it was not a winner in the
race for civilization. As for iron and
steel and concrete and plaster and ce-
ment, their story is a short one, and
AMERICAN FORESTRY
their comparative merits as all-around
and economic and livable are not es-
tablished.
Admit that they have certain dis-
tinctive merits under certain conditions
and limitations, and you have given
them all the credit that they are en-
titled to.
It is certain that iron alone is an
unfit substitute. Examine any annual
report of fires in a State or city and
you will find abundant evidence of that
fact.
Concrete and iron, properly combined
and proportioned, are a worthy pair
for certain purposes, but, although their
number is less than one per cent of the
whole number of structures, they con-
tribute a very large percentage to the
fire waste.
Fire and electrolysis and water and
changing stresses are fatal to their life
and usefulness. As to the safety of
life and limb in unsprinklered ‘‘Fire-
proof” buildings, the indictment against
them is more terrible than against any
other class.
And yet we would not say that an
unsprinklered fire proof building is a
“crime.”
Their record in every great confla-
gration is a record of total loss of con-
tents, and for the most part, worse than
a total loss of structure.
A. sprinklered fire proof structure,
properly constructed, is about an equiv-
alent of a “mill-construction” (wood
interior) building, from the fire hazard
standpoint.
Edward Atkinson always held that
the mill construction was the better,
and for many years discriminated
against the fire proof sprinklered in
favor of the mill sprinklered structure.
The records of the New England
Factory Mutuals are a monument to
his sagacity in that respect, during his
life time.
What about timber construction ?
To paraphrase Daniel Webster, ‘“The
world knows it by heart.’ Dry wood
will burn. Wet wood will not. You
must evaporate the water first. The
Automatic Sprinkler solved that prob-
lem. It wets the wood while the fire is
small, and keeps it wet until the fire is
©
Al, —? 7 Ok es
IS LUMBER A CRIME?
out. There are some sprinkler failures,
in both fire proof and timbered build-
ings, due to defects of construction or
to accidents which cripple the equip-
ment, but the actual experience of fire
loss in thousands of sprinklered tim-
bered structures, carrying hundreds of
millions of insurance, is below one per
cent. As these buildings are mainly
factory buildings, housing inflammable
materials and operating machinery, all
of which contribute enormously to the
hazard, the record is a phenomenal one,
and the case is proved in favor of the
reasonable use of wood in structural
work. The great majority of fires start
in contents or equipment—not in the
structure. If all buildings were prop-
erly sprinklered, and the sprinkler
equipments properly maintained, there
would be no spreading fires, and conse-
quently no conflagrations.
The fads of wired glass and metal
trim and furniture would be relegated
to the scrap heap, and buildings would
be livable and beautiful and economic,
and life and property would be safe
from fire.
3ut that is the extreme.
It is not necessary or desirable to go
that limit. It is only necessary to pro-
tect congested areas and values and
occupancies, leaving the small and mod-
erate hazards to the control of a fire-
fighting force of moderate, though
ample, size to subdue it.
This condition can be established in
any city in a short time, and without
adding any burden not already borne.
It is what I have called “Normalizing”
a city—that is to say, reducing its haz-
649
ards to a normal size, so that any pos-
sible loss would fall within the limits
of a profitable relation between cost of
construction, maintenance, protection
and loss without disaster.
We have no quarrel with those who
seek by fair means to sell competing
materials. We have no quarrel with
those who seek by fair means to en-
lighten the public to a due sense of its
responsibility for fire waste. We have
no quarrel with those who seek to bring
the public mind to a state of careful-
ness and caution in the matter of fire
hazard.
We do not urge the exclusive use of
wood for all purposes.
We do not object to reasonable re-
strictions upon unfit methods of con-
struction or use of materials.
We do have a right to denounce a
false propaganda, which, to serve its
selfish ends, defames us and our indus-
try with reckless and unjustifiable mis-
statement of facts, and by playing upon
the prejudices of the uninformed and
gullible portion of the public.
We perform a service to the public
‘and to the great number of persons who
are engaged in collateral and related
industries when we do so, as well as to
eur own great host of citizens whom
we are proud to call our “fellow lum-
bermen.”
What we need is an unbiased and
competent investigation and report, un-
der the authority of the National Gov-
ernment, which will ascertain and dis-
close the facts in an adequate and trust-
worthy manner.
QUEBEGS LUMBER RESOURCES.
Tie timber resources of Quebec are enormous, though greatly dimimshed in past years
by forest fires.
able to supply 500,000 to 1,000,000 cords of wood per annum for years to come.
The privately owned timber lands comprise about 6,000,600) acres and are
The Island
of Anticosti alone is able to produce 80,000 to 100,000 cords per annum for years, a good
portion of which, however, will probably be converted into pulp in the near future, as a large
mill is now in process of erection there.
Pulp mills are also in process of construction in
other parts of this district, so that the pulp industry, especially in this district, 4s bound to
witness a great boom in the near future.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
By JeEromMEe H. Sure
Philadelphia, Pa.,
T is particularly gratifying to note
the growth in technical efficiency
~by which we are rapidly realizing
the best ideals in the management of
our public forests. We recognize that
a great field of usefulness awaits our
efforts in bringing about a more eco-
nomic management of private forests.
The forest reserves which were cre-
ated in 1891 and later more appropri-
ately named “National Forests,’ have
been increased in area, and now in-
clude about 190,000,000 acres. Many
State Forest Reservations have been
created and established, so that, at the
present time, about one-fifth of the
forest area in America is owned by
the public. To this extent, a great
system of management has been es-
tablished, looking toward the protec-
tion, improvement and wise use of our
timber supply, which has been insured
for the present and future benefit of
all the people—aiding private owners
in reforesting waste lands and in edu-
cating the public in the best methods
of handling timber lands and provid-
ing efficient fire protection.
The total amount of timber cut in
the United States in 1900, was thirty-
five billion feet; in 1905, thirty-eight
billion feet; in 1909, forty-five billion
feet. These figures show an enormous
increase demonstrating beyond ques-
tion, the importance of extending the
practice of forestry to commercial
lumber operations. Business in a
large measure, is now hospitable to
forestry—seeking to understand its
principles and find out how they may
be applied, and the most cordial,
thoughtful co-operation is due from the
forestry profession.
While it is true that some of the
greatest fortunes in the country are
based upon lumber, they have been
made by treating lumber as a specula-
tion and not as a business, by holding
°
650
Box Manufacturer
JEROME H. SHEIP.
and reselling, not by cutting. The
writer contends that if the timber
owner could afford to wait fifteen years,
if he charged his investment at six per
cent and compounded it annually, and
sold at the end of that term, re profit
would generally be greater than if he
had cut his trees into lumber. ‘This
practically means that the saw-mill man
is giving away his manufacture for less
than it has cost him, as he is not getting
the appreciated price of his logs. The
average way the man who owns both a
mill and a forest figures his cost is
this: he buys his timber at an esti-
mated stumpage value of $2 per thou-
sand. He puts up a saw-mill after
waiting several years, and by the time
he is ready to operate, the general price
for stumpage is $5 per thousand; but
he argues, I paid $2, and therefore
AMERICAN FORESTRY
stumpage is put on his cost records at
$2 instead of $5, because he is selling
the timber to his own mill instead of to
somebody else. On this miscalculated
cost he makes a price that gives away
the manufacture for less than it cost
him above the price of the timber.
Nor is this all; the lumberman is
getting nothing for the risks of engag-
ing in one of the most precarious and
difficult of operations. In the South,
which engages principally negro labor,
insurance men tell us that more than
ninety per cent of the lumber mills
burn out every ten years, and no mat-
ter how thoroughly insured the lum-
berman may be, he will certainly lose
in a fire. For the ability, the genius
who can conduct the lumber business
as a permanent concern under the pres-
ent conditions has yet to be discovered.
The saw-mill as the center or focus of
the business, possesses this peculiarity ;
when it is placed in a locality, it im-
mediately begins to cut a circular swath
about it. As more capital is invested
in the plant to make it more efficient, it
means that the life of the plant 1s being
shortened, as the swath in which it will
pay to operate will be cut more quickly,
and a move will be necessary the sooner,
with all the loss incident to readjust-
ment and re-establishment. ‘The ques-
tion in such a case is how to charge
depreciation, for as the plant has only
a running value, every doubling of
efficiency of daily output, by a doubling
of capital invested, would mean the
quadrupling of depreciation. In other
words, the fact that our forest policy 1s
based upon a plan of depletion, has
made the keynote of the business
“cheap, inefficient and temporary.” Like
the Nomadic Indian, we have spread
our wigwam upon the fertile prairie,
and when the game was hunted out,
we have moved to more fertile fields.
This lack of permanence, or even dis-
couragement of permanence, has been
the bane of the saw-mill business dur-
ing recent years. The fact that saw-
milling has been based upon the prem-
ises of a change of locality each five
or ten years has deterred the most val-
uable type of conservative business man
from entering it as his life work, and
invited speculators who have exploited
the natural resources with little thought
beyond the material pleasure of the
day.
We shall always have the speculative
element in our midst, but the men who
represent it should not be permitted to
manage as a private business what is a
vast matter of public concern and what
will be so difficult to replace when lost.
It is not only that when the present
crop of trees is cut, it will take approx-
imately a century to grow a new mer-
chantable stand but that it will take two
or three centuries to return to the
quality of our present virgin timber.
Forests are not merely trees; the ag-
eregation of many trees in one place
creates forest conditions, and betters
the timber for commercial purposes.
These forest conditions have to do
with such factors as soil cover, con-
stant shade and constant reproduction.
Once the sun is permitted to touch the
soil and dry it out, we must begin from
chaos again. Nor is the denudation of
the soil a matter merely of taking off
so many trees, as we are informed that
the forests are watersheds acting as bal-
ance wheels upon the inequalities of
climate and that if the tree cover is re-
moved, we shall be exposed to the
violence of alternate freshet and
drought.
These are the conditions that have
brought the issue of conservation to
the attention of our people, and made
it and Socialism the paramount and
only really important political issues of
the day. The conservation of forests is
but a branch of the large general move-
ment for the conservation of everything
from child life to coal smoke; it means
that instead of doing the most obvious
thing in a tremendous hurry, we shall,
in the future, calmly weigh and plan
to what end we are going. The trained
forester feels that in an ideal world
that nation would be nappy whose goy-
ernment realized that the great public
necessities which span more than one
generation in their circle, should be
placed beyond the greed of any one
generation, and as the national govern-
ment is the most permanent element in
our civilization, it is most fitted to exer-
652
cise this function. As this was not
realized a century ago by the framers
of our Constitution, the forester now
asks that the same step be taken as
in all other husiness—to stop and in-
ventory our methods, in an attempt to
remedy the evils that will no longer be
glossed over. As a first step to this,
we are to set aside certain lands that
we can still obtain, as a temporary in-
junction to further abuse. Where
President Taft has erred, with all good
intentions, has been that after certain
lands had been closed by a free inter-
pretation of an act which gave the
President power to close those lands,
he threatened to destroy the entire for-
est policy of the nation by returning
them upon a technicality. ‘Technically
and literally, he was probably right, but
no technicality could restore the land
to us, once it were lost.
Coincident with this movement for
technical and scientific forestry has
been another quite as important which
has taken its initiative in the practical
commercial world of affairs—conserva-
tion by conversion of waste into by-
products. Not all of the forest trees
are considered valuable for commercial
purposes and as we have weeds spring-
ing up among the lower plant life of
the soil, we have weed trees. Examples
of this of recent date are the use of
beech, and tupelo, and the treatment of
discarded species of pine with preserva-
tives such as creosote. Some twenty
years ago, not more than half of the
trees were taken down at the first cut-
ting, as the rest were considered use-
less. Of the trees that are taken from
the forest, not one-half of the original
volure goes into the final product. The
roots and branches make up one-third
or more of the woody volume, but are
left in the woods, while the dust taken
out by the saw, the slabs and trim-
mings reduce the volume an additional
fraction. Just recently, we have found
that all or part of these unused pieces
yielded paper pulp, alcohol, resin, tur-
pentine, tannic acid, and the day is
doubtless very near when the sawdust
burner will be considered a public dis-
grace, when no saw-mill can be run
profitably without working up its waste ;
AMERICAN FORESTRY
or we may see the day when a saw-
mill will find it profitable to burn coal
under the boilers in order to utilize the
sawdust.
From conservation it is not a great
step to the exercise of forestry as a
science. The final idea of forestry is
to treat trees as a soil crop, as grain is
treated, with this difference—the time
of rotation. Ordinarily the time of
rotation for a soil crop such as grain
or fruit is one year, but in forestry this
is increased by one hundred or more
fold, or three natural generations. This,
however, is counterbalanced by the sta-
bility of the crop and the certainty of
return, for the forest has but three ene-
mies, fire, wind and vermin, reduced
under scientific forestry to an absolute
minimum. By certain technical and
not very complicated methods, forestry
keeps a continuous growth of trees of
all ages from seedling to mature trees
in its forest, and endeavors to cut each
year only a number of large saw-log
trees corresponding in volume to the
amount of woody material put on by
the entire stand for the year; it keeps
the ground shaded, and finding out the
pecularities of the soil, favors those
species most fitted to it. It would prob-
ably be impossible to get a private in-
dividual to engage in such an under-
taking from a purely commercial view-
point, as the amount of capital tied up
at compound interest for a rotation of
even sixty years would be very con-
siderable. We must look to the gov-
ernment to come forward and, if not
take charge of such an undertaking, at
least to encourage it by beneficent laws
that will overcome the present handi-
cap of unscrupulous business over pub-
lic spirit. We have given protection to
develop many unworthy infant indus-
tries by a protective tariff, and yet here
the most worthy of all industries, in the
most need of protection, receives no en-
couragement. ‘The least the govern-
ment can do is to relieve those who
have placed their forests under scientific
management, of the burden of taxes
during the first crop rotation.
THE PRESENT STATE OF FOREST TAX
LEGISLATION
By Frep R. FaircHILp
Dept. of Economics Yale University.
tion between taxation and for-
estry has been more or less gen-
erally recognized for some time. The
exact nature of this connection, how-
ever, has never been well understood in
this country. Persons interested in for-
estry have seen that taxation was a
serious obstacle, and legislatures have
frequently been willing to give relief by
means of special legislation affecting
the taxation of timber lands. In the
absence of an understanding of the true
relation between taxation and forest
growing, this legislation has until very
recently all gone off on the wrong track.
The good results hoped for have not
been accomplished and the problem of
forest taxation is still unsolved, is in
fact more pressing than ever before.
In what follows I shall undertake to
describe briefly the present state of leg-
islation in the United States affecting
the taxation of forest lands and to show
why the special forest tax laws enacted
up to the present have not proved ef-
fective.
The taxation of forests is a matter of
State and local revenue. There is no
taxation of forests by the national gov-
ernment. The legislation is all State
legislation. ‘The basis of local revenue
everywhere in the United States and
of State revenue in very many of the
States is the general property tax.
Everyone is familiar with the principal
features of the general property tax.
As a rule all property, real and per-
sonal, tangible and intangible, is sub-
ject to taxation, unless specially ex-
empted by law. Forest lands are sub-
ject to the tax the same as any other
kind of wealth. The law requires that
the actual market value shall be as-
sessed, which in the case of forests
means the full value of land and trees.
Ons there exists a direct connec-
Of course it is a matter of common
knowledge that the laws are not en-
forced as regards the requirement of
an assessment at full market value.
The tax is collected annually at what-
ever rate is required to raise the neces-
sary revenue for the town, county,
State, and other public bodies depend-
ing upon the general property tax.
This, in brief, is the normal tax sys-
tem to which forests are subject in the
United States. Only where there has
been special legislation are forests
treated differently from other kinds of
wealth. Of the forty-eight States of
the United States, thirty-four tax for-
est lands under the general property tax
in exactly the same manner as other
lands.
The other fourteen States have en-
acted special legislation affecting the
taxation of forests. These States are
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecti-
cut, New York, Alabama, Michigan,
Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, North Da-
kota, and Washington. The idea in the
legislation of all of these States has
been to encourage the planting and cul-
tivation of trees or the general practice
of forestry by offering special induce-
ments in the way of reduced taxation.
These concessions take the form of en-
tire or partial exemption from taxation,
rebates of part of the taxes, or bounties
to be deducted from the taxes. The
method usually employed is that of tax
exemption. The plan of a rebate is
used in New Hampshire; North Da-
kota uses bounties, while Wisconsin
uses both exemptions and bounties. In
some of the States there are two or
more distinct laws, not always entirely
consistent with each other. In most
cases the statute is limited to planta-
tions, and in five States the forest must
653
654
be established on land that is not
wooded at the time.
The commonest form of tax conces-
sion consists of a complete exemption
from taxation on both land and trees
for a definite period of time, ranging
from five to thirty-five years. The ex-
emption begins either immediately after
the land has been planted or set aside
for the growth of trees, or after a cer-
tain period, measured either in years or
in the growth of the trees. In other
States the concession is by means of a
rebate of part of the taxes for a cer-
tain number of years, as in New Hamp-
shire, or by means of a bounty of so
many dollars per acre to be deducted
annually from the taxes on the land, as
in North Dakota and Wisconsin. Us-
ually the owner is required to manage
the forest in accordance with regula-
tions specified in the statute or under
the direction of some State officer or
board.
Only two States depart materially
from this general plan. These are the
States of New York and Michigan,
whose legislation, enacted in 1912 and
1911 respectively, will be considered in
more detail below.
Four States, Illinois, Kansas, Minne-
sota, and Wyoming, undertake to en-
courage the growth of trees by offering
bounties. Since these bounties, how-
ever, have no relation to taxation, I
have not included them in this dis-
cussion. Likewise I refrain from dis-
cussing the laws of Massachusetts and
Vermont, which provide for the offer-
ing of annual prizes to encourage the
planting and cultivation of trees; these
prizes also have nothing to do with
taxation.
The general type of forest tax legis-
lation which has been followed by our
States until very recently has failed to
produce any appreciable results. Of
this fact there cannot be thé slightest
question. It is important to determine
the causes of this failure. In the first
place the laws contain many technical
defects. The common limitation io
plantations, or even to land other than
woodland, largely defeats the purpose
of the laws at the outset. The regula-
tions regarding planting, thinning, etc.,
AMERICAN FORESTRY
are often faulty from the point of view
of scientific forestry. Often the num-
ber of trees required to the acre is too
large. The list of species designated is
not always well chosen.
A more serious defect is the injustice
to the locality where the exempted for-
est happens to be located. The only
justification for a concession to the for-
est owner is the resulting advantage to
the State as a whole. Yet the particular
town or county where the land is located
is called upon to bear the whole or the
principal part of the burden of a dimin-
ished revenue. This tends, first, to lead
certain assessors to try to get even by
adding enough to the assessment of
some other property of the timber
owner to make up for the reduced taxes
on his forest lands. In the second place
it prevents many owners from taking
advantage of the law, since they dislike
to arouse the hostility of their neigh-
bors or of the local authorities by an ap-
parent attempt to get out of paying
their share of local taxes.
Another vital reason for failure is
that the actual financial consideration
is not ordinarily very great after all.
The exemption is limited to a fairly
short period, after which land and trees
are again subject to the general prop-
erty tax. The abatement comes, of
course, at the time when the trees are
small, and the taxes would not be very
heavy anyway.
Finally the whole principle on which
these laws are based is, in the writer’s
opinion, a false one. The idea has been
- to give some concession, some special
favor. This is not what is needed.
There is no sound reason why the owner
of forest lands should not pay his just
share of taxation. And if forestry is
going to be profitable at all, it can well
afford to pay its just share. What is
needed is simple justice, and nothing
more. The general property tax acts as
an obstacle to forestry, for reasons
which cannot be entered into here.
What we want is a new system, which
shall avoid the evils of the general prop-
erty tax by a change in method, but
which shall still call upon the forest
owner to bear his full share of the bur-
den of supporting government.
WITH THE BILTMORE BOYS
Within the past two years two of
our States have taken the first step,
somewhat faulty and timid to be sure,
toward a sound method of forest tax-
ation. Michigan passed a law in 1911
and New York three laws in 1912.
Without going into details, these laws
provide for a separation of land and
trees for purposes of taxation, the land
655
either exempt entirely or assessed at a
low value, and the trees taxed only
when cut, and then at a certain per-
centage of the value of timber cut.
The operation of these laws will be
awaited with great interest by all those
who are interested in forest tax re-
form.*
*For a more complete analysis of State legislation, with abstracts of all the laws in
effect in October, 1908, cf.
State statutes are on pp. 588-589.
ent time.
: “The Taxation of Timberlands,’ by Fred Rogers Fairchild,
Report of the National Conservation Commission, Vol. II, pp. 581-632.
The abstracts of
I All of the laws there described are in force at the pres-
The following legislation has been enacted since then: Connecticut, Laws of
1911, ch. 205 (a more liberal exemption law).
Maine, Laws of 1909, ch. 136 (amending
Laws of 1907, ch. 169, by reducing the number of trees required per acre) ; Laws of 1909,
ch. 193 and 230 (providing for a special tax on wild forest lands, the proceeds to be used
for fire protection).
land stocked with white pine seedlings).
text).
Massachusetts, Laws of 1909, ch. 187 (special exemption relating to
Michigan, Laws of 1911, ch. —— (referred to in
New York, Laws of 1912, ch. 249, 363, and 444 (referred to in text). North Dakota,
Laws of 1909, ch. 50 (slightly amending the previous statute).
WITH THE BILTMORE BOYS
Om Biltmore Forest School—51
students strong—is encamped at
Marshfield, Oregon, fall camps
of the School, during September. Here
they are in the midst of the finest stands
of giant Red firs, White Cedars and
Sitka Spruce. The logging operations
of our hosts—the C. A. Smith Timber
Co.—are in keeping with the size of
the trees; gigantic, ingenious, impres-
sive. Marshfield is so situated that the
students can reach the various logging
camps of the company readily by a
short boat ride over the many sloughs
emptying into Coos Bay. A huge fibre
plant is in course of construction; it is
intended to utlizie the waste of a saw-
mill producing actually over 550,000’
b.m. per diem. The logging operations
will be converted into operations by
electricity. A huge electric power plant
is being erected. In spite of the
enormity of its holdings, the directors
of the company figure on a second
growth and are careful in leaving a
sufficient number of seed trees on the
areas logged-over. The second growth
follows in the vague of the first growth
with an amazing vigor; the rate of ac-
cretion exceeds 800’ b.m. per annum.
The Biltmore Forest School has
traversed, en route from its summer
camps near Cadillac, Michigan, to its
fall camps on the Pacific Coast, the
forests of the Inland Empire, spending
a number of days in the Coeur d’ Alene
Region, and has also visited the typical
operations near Seattle and near Ta-
coma. The gentlemen of the U. 5S.
Forest Service and the leading lumber-
men have been untiring im their efforts
to make the excursions of the Bilt-
more Forest School instructive. It is
natural that the School is in clover
particularly wheresover its own grad-
uates are the guides in the forests
visited. ‘The School sails forcits Ger-
man winter quarters in the early days
of October.
THE PRICE OF FOREST PRODUCTS
By FRrepERICK S$. UNDERHILL, Phila.
duced,” declared a Member of
Congress, “that the mechanic
may build his home cheaper!”
The duty on lumber was reduced by
the Payne-Aldrich bill from $2.00 to
$1.25, and after a year or more we find
the price of lumber higher instead of
lower.
What is the reason? There must bea
“Tumber Trust’ asserts the demagogue
and the Yellow Journal. The search of
the Government utterly fails to find a
“Tumber Trust’; and what is more, the
men who are in actual competition in
the sale of the product of the saw, know
that there is no man or organization of
men who do or can control the price
of lumber. When it comes to fixing
lumber values the sole arbiter and
rulers are those, intangible, yet effective,
autocrats: “Supply and Demand.”
At a recent Economical Conference
in Philadelphia, a well known Single
Taxer risked the unsupported declara-
tion that Frederick Weyerhaueser was
the Autocrat in whom was personified
“The Lumber Trust’? upon whose
whims the price of lumber went up, up,
up! When he wanted a little more
money he just raised the price of his
timber, and every manufacturer was
thereby forced to raise the price of his
lumber.
That Frederick Weyerhaueser has
been far-sighted and wide-awake
enough to acquire, while others were
indifferent, large forests of timber, at
times when they were inaccessible and
therefore cheap, is an undisputed fact,
and it is further true that much of it
has since become accessible, marketable
and valuable. The writer does not
know the man, but I see no reason why
in this matter he is any different from
Philadelphia’s great Philanthropist,
Stephen Girard, who when certain large
sections of ‘Philadelphia were away
656
i Eee the duty on Lumber re-
from the business center of his day, was
far-sighted enough to see that Phila-
delphia would grow and bought largely
of real estate which was valued lightly
at the time but which has since in-
creased in valuation many hundred-fold.
Mr. Weyerhaueser is interested in
several lumber manufacturing com-
panies. He and his associates can fix
the price on the lumber they saw, but
there their price-fixing power ends.
Every other lumber manufacturer and
dealer fixes his own prices and sells at
whatsoever prices he will without any
regard to Mr. Weyerhaueser. If he
wants to sell lumber in the markets
where our firm sells lumber he must
meet our competition!
The producer of one kind of lumber
cannot afford to disregard the capacity
of the producer of other kinds of lum-
ber. Scarcity of White Pine and con-
sequent advanced values affords an op-
portunity for cheaper Short Leaf Yel-
low Pine to secure a foothold which it
never relinquishes. Scarcity of Poplar
and higher prices affords an opportunity
to Cypress to demonstrate its value as
a substitute and once established it be-
comes a competitor and not a substitute.
Scarcity of Oak, Walnut, Mahogany
affords similar opportunities to Birch,
Chestnut and Red Gum.
Well, how is it that prices are ad-
vancing? Something more effectual
than legislation has caused it. You
cannot legislate value into a board or
plank, nor out of it!
First, in point of influence in affect-
ing present prices, were the disastrous
floods in the Mississippi Delta: destroy-
ing numerous saw-mills; wiping out
logging camps and destroying equip-
ment; washing out main and branch
railroad lines and logging roads, and
effectually closing down a large number
of saw-mills for many months, affecting
Yellow Pine, Cypress, Oak, Ash, Gum
and other lumber.
AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION ENDORSED
At the same time, the Appalachian
District and the South Atlantic Slope
experienced a prolonged period of per-
sistent rainfall, making operations in the
woods difficult and at times impossible,
as well as making the hauling of lumber
that was sawed back in the woods im-
possible because of bad roads. Thus,
cutting down the production of North
Carolina and South Carolina Pine, Ap-
palachian White Pine and Hardwoods.
Canadian mills are reported also to
have had greater difficulty than usual in
getting in their logs and thereby reduc-
ing the output of Canadian lumber.
The reduced demand for Tan-bark
because of former overproduction and
the Tanning industry affected also by
the uses of Tannic Acid produced from
substitutes for Bark, has resulted in a
reduced cut of Hemlock, inasmuch as
657
the mills cannot afford to cut Hemlock
timber if there is no sale for the Bark.
On the other hand, the demand
caused by increased activities in wood
consuming plants, and especially by the
railroads, in making extensions and in
a renewed activity in car-building, has
added value to the product of the
Forest.
Supply and Demand establish the
prices of lumber. If the supply is pro-
fuse and the demand light the prices
fall low and no man or set of men can
raise them; competition is mighty keen
on a falling market. If the supply is
curtailed and the demand is heavy the
prices will advance and no legislation
can change this fact, except destructive
legislation aimed to destroy industries
in general and to wreck commerce.
AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION ENDORSED
T the very successful convention
¢ i of the Canadian Forestry Asso-
ciation in Victoria, B. C., early in
September, at which the American For-
estry Association was represented by
E. T. Allen, of Portland, Ore., the
widely known forester of the Western
Forestry and Conservation Association,
the following were among the resolu-
tions passed:
“Believing that actual working co-
operation between public and private
forest management is essential to mu-
tual understanding and complete suc-
cess, we urge upon Canadian lumber-
men the study and emulation of the
lumber owners’ co-operative fire asso-
ciations of the Pacific Northwest, which
are proving of great value not only in
their own fire control but also in bring-
ing about closer and better relations
between all agencies engaged in forest
preservation.
“Whereas, the proper disposal of
debris resulting from lumbering oper-
ations is essential to the effective pro-
tection of forests from fire; resolved,
that the association urges upon the Do-
minion and Provincial governments the
advisability as soon as practically pos-
sible of adopting measures to this end.
“Resolved, this Canadian Forestry
Association is of opinion that it is in
the public interest that squatting or
settlement should not be allowed on
lands that are chiefly valuable for their
timber, and that all non-agricultural
lands should be reserved permanently
for timber production.
“Recognizing our common bond and
common aims, we desire to testify to
the achievements and practical assist-
ance to the forest cause of the Ameri-
can Forestry Association, and hope for
increasing co-operation between our or-
ganizations.
“Resolved, that this convention en-
dorses the action of the Detsmion gov-
ernment in setting aside forest reserves ;
that it urges further reservation of
suitable areas and the retention of exist-
ing reserves in their entirety with the
object of affording to the surrounding
districts the best results for all time in
regard to fuel and timber supply, graz-
ing, and the production of game and the
regularity of stream flow.”
PUT YOUR
CAMP
FIRE
OUT!
For Help, In Case of Fire, Call Upon the Wardens of the
NORTHERN FOREST PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
MUNISING,
MICHIGAN
THE NORTHERN FOREST PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
By PreEsIpENT THORNTON A. GREEN
HIS Association was really
formed in February, 1911, al-
though some preliminary work
had been done for several months be-
fore that. It was organized shortly
after the severe fire losses of 1910, and
the idea of having a private patrol was
favorably- received by the owners of
several million acres of land. It was
thought possible to have an organiza-
tion for all of Michigan and Wiscon-
sin, but we have finally decided to limit
its operations, at least as far as main-
taining a patrol, to the Upper Peninsula
of Michigan. Few people realize the
extent of this territory. We have
eleven million acres of land, nearly half
of it being covered with a dense growth
of virgin timber, largely hemlock, with
658
a generous sprinkling of maple, birch,
ash, cedar, spruce, pine, basswood, elm
and balsam. Beech and red oak grow
in limited areas. Our soil varies greatly,
due to our having been visited by three
glaciers in past ages and to part of the
Peninsula having been covered at vari-
ous times by three great lakes, Lake
Algonquin, Lake Duluth and Lake On-
tonagon. As usual, the glaciers left
streaks of rather barren sand, which
was covered with pine half a century
ago, but are now desert wastes, or
nearly that. A large part of the terri-
tory is very fertile, however, and the
hemlock and hardwood stands are very
dense. ‘There are numerous rivers and
some inland lakes. About eight per
cent of the entire district is moun-
NORTHERN. FOREST PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
tainous. The highest mountains in the
north central states are just west of
Ontonagon, and the western half of the
Peninsula is traversed by ranges of
hills, interspersed by very fertile val-
leys. The railroads cover the entire
territory pretty thoroughly, so that
nearly all of it is easily reached. There
are few locations more than fifteen
miles from a railroad.
The remaining timber is owned by
many interests, but there are large
enough holdings to make it possible to
patrol great areas of timber belonging
almost entirely to our members. In
spite of this we patrol a great deal of
land not listed with our organization.
Our entire membership embraces about
two and a half million acres and we
cover in addition to that about one
and a half million acres, which is
interspersed among the holdings of our
members. The season of 1911 was
favorable to our work, and except for
a short period, this season has been.
We use from 15 to 20 rangers whose
duty it is to cover their allotted districts
as often as possible. ‘These men were
picked from the woods’ foremen
previously employed in the districts they
now patrol, as far as possible, so that
they know their ground. They cover
their fields in various ways; some on
foot, some on horses and some on rail-
road velocipedes. They write daily re-
ports to our Chief Forester, which they
mail to him once a week. These reports
are very complete, as shown by the fol-
lowing:
“Northern Forest Protective Associa-
tion, Iron River District.
Iron River, Mich., June 23, 1912.
Thos. B. Wyman, Secretary-Forester,
Munising, Mich.
Dear Sir: I hand you herewith full
report for the week ending Saturday,
June 22.
Sunday: At Bates and Sunset Lake.
Monday: Visited camping and fishing
places at Hagerman Lake and vicinity.
Tuesday: On roads and amongst set-
tlers on east half of T. 44, R. 34. Called
on supervisor of Bates Township.
Wednesday: Looked after brush
659
burning on county road work, between
Iron River and Beechwood. Visited
fishing places along Iron River.
Thursday: Visited campers on south
side of Chicagon Lake. Called on set-
tlers in and around Pentoga. Visited
Gibb’s logging camp.
Friday: Attended a meeting and pic-
nic of Iron County Grange at Iron
River.
Saturday: Visited fishing places along
Morrison Creek and Paint River in T.
44, R. 385.
Yours very truly,
Ws. Ricstrap, Warden.
Note to Wardens:—Report daily
trips ; streams; railroads and roads trav-
eled; camps, homesteads and farms
visited; calls upon supervisors and
other wardens; people met in the
woods; fires, trespasses and general
conditions found.”
All fires are reported at once. Hun-
dreds of fires are put out each season
despite the smallness of our force of
rangers. Our work is necessarily to a
great extent educational as yet, and I
presume always will be. We have plac-
arded every road, camping ground and
berry picker’s hut in the country we
patrol, with signs of our own and those
issued by the State.
We were astonished to find that only
about two per cent of the settlers in
outlying districts had ever read the
State fire laws. We furnished them all
a copy. Our rangers have called upon
every homesteader and settler in their
districts, and they have conferred with
county, township and village boards in
regard to protective measures. Until
we took up this private patrol work, few
officials would aid in fighting fires.
Now, they all will. No difficulty is
found in getting what help is needed.
The State has made aii of our men
deputy State fire wardens. They have
also included a number of woods super-
intendents and foremen at our request.
We have had fine support from the
local newspapers and in these various
ways have become quite a recognized
force. Apparently the people believe
AMERICAN FORESTRY
NO FOREST FIRES
THIS YEAR
HELP! WILL YOU?
For Help, In Case of Fire, Call Upon the Wardens of the
NORTHERN FOREST PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
MUNISING, MICHIGAN
PIPES
CIGARS and CIGARETTES
ARE
DANGEROUS
A Fire From Your Pipe
Means That You, Alone, Are Responsible
BE CAREFUL
For Help, In Case of Fire, Call Upon the Warden
NORTHERN FOREST PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
MUNISING, MICHIGAN
NORTHERN FOREST PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION 661
LO OO yes ee
cen
A Minute of Your Time May Save a Fortune
For Your Neighbor
Big Fires are the Results of Little Ones
For Help, In Case of Fire, Call Upon the Wardens of the
NORTHERN FOREST PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
MUNISING, MICHIGAN
CAMPERS == BERRY
PICKERS
ll Campers are Urged to use every care with
and to Leave the Grounds in Neat and Safe Condition.
You are interested in the safety of these iands or you
would not be here—let your interest be shown!
If you are seeking a better berry plain, trout stream, bass
lake or hunting site, ask the Wardens of the
NORTHERN FOREST PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
MUNISING, MICHIGAN
662
in our work and are helping us to ac-
complish it. Last season about eight
thousand blueberry pickers were out on
the marshes. In former years they
have been the cause of many fires. Our
rangers called on nearly all of them,
and as a result we could not trace a
single fire to that source. We have the
hearty support of the lumber companies,
railroads and settlers. We expect to
keep hammering away in the hope,
which I believe will be realized, that
people will learn to be careful and avoid
starting fires. We have done nothing
towards putting in phone lines and
watch towers, but have done consider-
able in the way of clearing up old log-
ging roads or getting the township of-
ficials to do it, as these roads make good
fire lines.
We have hopes of being able to in-
crease our force considerably another
year. There is a good chance of our
acreage growing to four million acres
soon. We spent five-eighths of a cent
an acre in 1911, and will spend just
AMERICAN FORESTRY
about that amount this season, and I
believe our work will be more effective
each year.
Through our efforts, largely, an or-
ganization similar to ours has been
formed in Lower Michigan. So far
we have failed to sufficiently interest
the Wisconsin timber owners. ‘Their
holdings are now badly scattered and
their problem is more difficult than ours.
Nevertheless, they should do something
along the lines we have been operating
on. We will, in the course of time,
carry our educational work into our
State legislature with the idea of bet-
tering our laws and eventually getting
some sort of State patrol. At present
we get no support from the State. Our
Association is patrolling State lands
now and receive nothing for it. We
think we have accomplished enough
to justify our expenditure of both time
and labor, and will continue to use both
for the preservation of our timber re-
sources.
THE FIRE BUG AND THE EAST WIND
E. T. ALLEN
“No, I'll not burn my slash this spring,”
The moss-back logger said,
“Tll trust to God and luck again;
Expense is what I dread.”
“Tt’s time to hit the trail again,”
The careless camper said,
And left his little fire ablaze;
Within its leafy bed.
“Tll light another cigarette,”
The idle loafer said,
\nd 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 rancher said,
And touched it off without a thought
Of how far it might spread.
“T think TV’ll blow an hour or. two,”
The restless east 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.
“Tt wasn’t us, it’ was that wind,”
The fools in chorus said.
So they’re alive and loose this year
—We hope the wind is dead.
TWO SOLUTIONS OF THE FORESTRY TAX PROBLEM
By ArtTHUR GOADBY
NE of the most urgent needs of
our growing conservation policy
is a scientific method of forest tax-
ation. At present the manner of as-
sessment of private timber lands is un-
just and arbitrary and permits the an-
nual re-taxation of all the previous an-
nual increment, thereby driving land-
owners to hasty and wasteful lumbering
as well as discouraging them from any
replanting whatsoever.
These facts have led several of the
States in recent years to attempt some
sort of remedy either by exempting
forested lands or by regulating the as-
sessment thereof. But hitherto such
experiments have met with small suc-
cess largely because of their inadequacy,
and largely because any legislation of
this sort is exceedingly difficult to
frame and still more difficult to enact,
since many divergent interests are in-
volved and in one or two instances well
devised measures have been nullified by
limitations in the State Constitutions.
Something, however, must be done
and immediately, for public welfare
depends primarily upon the forests. We
have but to refer to such practical con-
siderations as erosion, the washing of
fertile soil from hillsides and slopes
where it is of permanent value into
river beds and harbors where it becomes
a costly nuisance; to disastrous floods
due to unrestrained torrents; to ex-
treme climatic disturbances whereby
sudden frosts and heat waves are car-
ried far out of their normal zones, and
whereby drought succeeds drought ; and
to the increasing scarcity and high cost
of timber. ‘Then we have but to refer
to the great hygienic value of forests,
for since prehistoric ages they have
been nurseries of vigor; and to such
aesthetic considerations as unsightly
landscapes and barren mountain slopes,
muddy rivers, streams dried up or lit-
tered with débris, and the thousand and
one unpicturesque details which send
thousands of people and millions of
money abroad to Europe every year to
satisfy the craving for beauty. And
then again we must refer to another
practical detail, that our wastefulness
is compelling us to buy at high prices
from abroad the timber which Nature
would bestow on us almost for nothing
at home.
So vital are these matters to the
Nation at large that scientific reforesta-
tion may well be said to be the most
important and immediate question be-
fore us. Every effort should be made
at once to secure a forest cover of at
least one-fourth our total land area, a
proportion now regarded as essential to
every civilized community, and one
actually existing this day in Germany.
But since four-fifths of all the land in
our country is in private hands it is
obviously impossible, as well as un-
necessary, to achieve this end except by
encouraging forestry in some way on
private lands, and it is also obvious
that either the owners of these lands
must be induced to engage in forestry
or the different States must undertake
to reforest these private lands them-
selves.
Today it is a question which method
is the better, private or public enter-
prise. We are in an age of experiment
and perhaps the better solution would
be the latter, but certainly we should
try both.
In either case it seems to me there
are several cardinal principles thar
should be embodied in the law of every
State, even though some amendment
will need to be made first to their re-
spective State Constitutions, namely :
1. Since immature standing trees
have no financial value they should be
exempted absolutely from taxation
wherever existing, and
2. All private land in the State
should be assessed at a value reckoned
without reference to any immature
663
664 AMERICAN FORESTRY
timber standing thereon, and the annual
taxes should be collected therefrom, ex-
cept that in the case that a private
landowner shall request certain privi-
leges under the law, and shall agree to
certain conditions, hereinafter stated,
taxes payable on his land shall be de-
ferred until harvest provided his land
shall bear a _ standard quality and
density of immature trees. And all
trees mature or immature that are har-
vested from such standardized lands
should be liable for the total amount
of all the accrued back taxes and their
proceeds should go toward discharging
this liability together with a harvest tax
of 2 per cent on the stumpage value,
before they be removed from the
ground; provided, however,
4. That the district land revenues be
not seriously impaired during the first
general deferment period, before the
general harvest reimbursements begin,
and provided,
5. That land, timbered and not tim-
bered, sufficiently valuable to tempt to
tax evasion or to speculation, be denied
deferment.
6. Which contingencies (4th and
5th) can be amply provided against
by the following restrictions:
7. Let the State deny deferment to
land situated within sixteen miles of a
city of the first class, within eight miles
of a city of the second class, within four
miles of a town of the third class, and
within two miles of a town of the
fourth class, but let the State at first
grant deferment to lands valued (irre-
spective of timber) at the average value
of farm land throughout the State; and
every year thereafter admit to entry
land worth two dollars more (irrespec-
tive of timber) than the eligible land
of the previous year, until
8. The eligibility be extended to land
of such high value as (a) to begin (in
the opinion of the Legislature and Gov-
ernor) to tempt to speculation or
evasion, or (b) until further defer-
ments would far exceed harvest reim-
bursements, or (c) until the wooded
area should exceed one-fourth of the
total area of the State. Moreover,
9. No landowner should be entitled
to enter for deferment less than one
acre or more than 1,000 acres in any
one year, and
10. The number of trees required to
secure the land deferment should be
approximately not less than 700 newly
planted trees, or approximately 350
newly planted and 350 old trees, to
the acre.
11. The State should require its
agents to inspect all plantations before
granting the deferment, and
12. Owners should be required to
give to the local assessors thirty days’
notice in writing of any intention to cut
all or part of the crop. The assess-
ment should then be made upon the
stumpage value of the proposed cutting,
and the owner should pay the local col-
lector before cutting the timber all the
accrued land taxes together with the
harvest tax of 2 per cent.
13. Failure to give such notice should
bear a penalty, and the proper official
should bring action to recover the
amount of said penalty.
14. The State Tax Commission
should be required to calculate the aver-
age value of farm lands throughout the
State and report the same as a basis for
legislation.
15. In case that any difficulty might
arise to render inexpedient the defer-
ring of taxes, a tax of $.002 on every
dollar of the whole land value of the
plantation should be laid against the
harvest, in addition to the harvest tax
of 2 per cent on the total stumpage
value of said harvest or harvests, such
value might at present in New York
(1912), be estimated at $20.00 an acre.
The manner of fixing this rate of
.002 on every dollar of the farm value
is found as follows: Land worth $1.00
an acre pays, at the rate of $.0015, in
fifty years the sum of $.075, which is
.0015 per cent of the gross receipts
estimated as $500.00. But land doubles
in value in fifty years, hence the average
rate would be about $.002 on every dol-
lar’s worth of the total assessed valu-
ation of the farm at time of maturity.
Now, while the enactment of these
measures would undoubtedly encourage
private forestry, it is possible that actual
experience would show that few people
might avail themselves of them. A
TWO SOLUTIONS OF THE FORESTRY TAX PROBLEM
timber crop is more or less of a hazard
and perhaps few would be greatly at-
tracted by remote profits especially
when interest, fire insurance, mainte-
nance and taxes are sure to bring the
ultimate cost to ten times the original
investment, not reckoning meanwhile
the loss of income from the property.
Forestry even under such equable
taxation might be too great a luxury.
It is then probable that the State will
find it necessary to enter upon a more
aggressive policy and perhaps after all
the only solution of the problem will
be found to lie in a system of State
loans and management. Extensive for-
ests, like liberal educations, pay the
highest dividends in the world. They
save expenses besides creating revenues
and certainly it is much wiser to ex-
pend one dollar to hold soil on the hills
than to expend $5 in putting it back
again.
If, then, the State shall deem it wiser
to at once begin a more speedy and
effective policy it seems to the writer
that some system like the following
would be found constitutional and prac-
tical.
(1) Let the State first enact that all
standing immature timber shall be ex-
empted absolutely and forever from
taxation, and,
(2) That all lands shall be assessed
at a value reckoned without reference
to any immature timber standng there-
on.
(3) Then let let the State either by
annual approprations or by an issue of
4 per cent 30-year bonds raise a special
Forestry Fund, the proceeds of which
are to he employed as tollows:
(4) Ihe State shall advertise for of-
fers of land in blocks of 10 to 100
acres, and shall accept always the land
having the lowest average assessment
value, preferably on steep hill slopes.
(5) That it shall agree to pay to the
owners an annual rental of 2 1-2 per
cent of the assessed value of the land
(irrespective of the timber thereon).
(6) It shall plant this land immeti-
ately with seedlings of standard den-
sity and quality.
(v) It shall pay annually to the local
665
tax district the tax levied on the land
irrespective of the timber.
(8) It shall pay all fire insurance and
maintenance charges.
(9) The sum total of all moneys ex-
pended upon each plantation, including
all rentals, costs of plantation, includ-
ing trees, seedlings and labor, local land
taxes, fire insurance and maintenance
charges, shall be reckoned up at the
time of the various harvests, and such
total multiplied by 1.025 (which is an
average of 1.05 per cent), shall constt-
tute a preferred claim upon the estate,
and said claim, together with a harvest
tax of 5 per cent on the stumpage value
of the harvest, shall be discharged out
of the various harvests, and the re-
mainder of the proceeds of said har-
vests are to be the property of the
owner.
(10) All mature growth to be har-
vested except where the Forest Com-
mission should require the strategic
protection against erosion and _ flood,
and such excepted lands should be
bought by condemnation at the price
they would bring if cleared in the open
market and the timber thereon bought
from the owner at the prevailing stump-
age value.
(11) One-half of one per cent of all
lands so leased by the State shall be
kept available as public camp sites and
recreation grounds under restrictions
set by the Forestry Department.
(12) This forward policy shall con-
tinue until one-fourth of the State area
is under forest cover.
(13) All proceeds of the harvest
taxes collected by the State shall be ap-
plied (first) to a sinking fund to pay
interest and capital on the original is-
sue, if any, of Forestry Bonds; (sec-
ond) to buy the forests and land on the
strategic hill slopes; (tiird) to improve
fire-prevention service; (fourth) to de-
stroy insect and fungus blights; (fifth)
to encourage bird life, to planting trees
and bushes along streams and highways,
to prosecute timber thieves and_fire-
bugs, to improve water-ways, to buy
lands in the suburbs for parks, to cre-
ating forest recreation grounds, to im-
prove landscapes, to beautifying the
666
country under the supervision of the
Forestry Department.
Are we too optimistic about the value
of these polices to the State? A sim-
ple calculation, for instance, will show
that in New York alone there are
4,000,000 acres available for forestry
which could be made to yield an aver-
age income of $3.00 a year. The an-
AMERICAN FORESTRY
nual harvest tax of 5 per cent there-
fore would yield the State an income
of half a million dollars, which would
be a magnificent sum to expend as I
have outlined, to the vast advantage of
all concerned, for Nature is willing to
shower its wealth upon us if we will
only give it a chance.
THE SOCIAL SIDE OF LUMBER LIFE
By P. F. Coox
Assistant Editor St.
American industrial history there
was little opportunity for the
play of the social graces of character in
the industrial life of the average com-
munity. There was so much work to
be done of a pioneer nature that the
chances for social indulgences were few
and far between. As a result of this
there was evident on almost every side
a certain bigotry and lack of breadth
in the ordinary affairs of business.
Business men in the conduct of their
every-day affairs were as hard-headed
and unsociable as men could very well
be. Some of the uncouthness that is
the invariable accompaniment of an un-
developed state of civilization was mani-
fest in almost every phase of business
activity. The result was that business
lacked that warmth and geniality and
the sense of brotherhood which evi-
dently is becoming more and more
prominent in the industrial life of the
present time.
It was only natural that as progress
made enlightenment possible and the
barriers which separated. men were
broken down, that prejudice, bigotry,
and the unworthy hatreds one business
man felt for another should gradually
disappear. Railroads, telegraphs, tele-
phones, newspapers and the new gospel
of universal brotherhood have pretty
effectually shattered the old hard-
De the earlier period of
Louis Lumberman
headed, unforgiving and barbaric ideals
of even thirty years ago, and in its stead
today we have more kindly feeling and
broader ideals of the relationships be-
tween one man and another and a readi-
ness to be of assistance in helping out a
comrade in business.
This change is nowhere more evi-
dent than in the lumber business; in
fact, it is doubtful if there is any line
of industry in which there is so much
sociability between those engaged in its
various branches, as in the lumber in-
dustry. The organization of all the
different branches of this business dur-
ing the past twenty years is largely re-
sponsible for the change. Men who
hitherto were strangers to each other
now know each other well. Following
the old scriptural maxim, “Come, let us
reason together,’ men in every branch
of the lumber industry have formed
clubs and associations, city, district,
state and national, until there is hardly
a man engaged in one division of the
business in any section of the country
who is not more or less familiar with
his fellow working in the same line in
any other section of the country.
The lumber trade newspaper has been
a factor in bringing this condition about.
Publishing all of the news of the asSo-
ciations, acquainting their readers with
so much of the personal and social life
of the trade, they have served to open
THE SOCIAL SIDE OF LUMBER LIFE,
up the minds of men engaged in the
lumber business everywhere, helping in
this way to make things pleasant for
everybody and enabling their readers
to become more familiar with the per-
sonal characteristics and business traits
of the laborers in the various phases of
the industry.
Next to the newspaper one of the in-
fluences that has counted for much has
been the lumbermen’s clubs, which are
to be found in nearly all the principal
centers of the industry. These organi-
zations meet at least once a month and
their deliberations are opened with a
fine dinner in one of the club houses or
hotels. One or two speakers upon vital
topics are provided for and the repast
is usually sweetened or rendered more
delightful by a charming musical pro-
gram by some leading orchestra of the
town. ‘The speeches are usually fol-
lowed by a general discussion, all of
which enables men to become better ac-
quainted with each other’s point of view
and to learn to form new estimates and
revise their opinions of men with whom
they have been altogether insufficiently
acquainted in times past. In the past
two decades lumbermen have been culti-
vating the social side of their lives more
and more, and during this period there
sprang up what is known as the Con-
catenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, a fra-
ternal body without an imitation or a
parallel anywhere in the world. The
purpose of this organization was to
break the monotony of convention pro-
ceedings. ‘These concatenations are of
an unconventional character and the
festivities which it fostered as a means
of imparting new zest to the life of its
members were quite unique in their
character. Thousands and thousands
of men all over the United States as
well as across the water have worn the
emblem of this order for a good many
years past, and it is still a factor in the
promotion of joyousness of spirit
among those engaged in the lumber in-
dustry and related lines.
Readers of the ‘amber trade journals
of the country will find nothing new
perhaps in what the writer has stated
above. It is so familiar to them that it
has really become trite, but in this brief
667
space sufficient has been said to make
it plain that the social side of lumber
life has been very largely and success-
fully cultivated during the past twenty
years, and that the spirit of comradery
and the larger view which today obtains
on all public questions among the men
engaged in this great industry is largely
due to the broad-gauged spirit in which
the social side of their natures has been
given fuller play during the period
under consideration.
Man is essentially a sociable being.
He is not a mere human cash register,
and he develops best and appears at his
best when all the god-like attributes of
his character are given a chance to grow
and an opportunity to display them-
selves in all their freshness and sim-
plicity. To realize the truth of this
nothing could be more convincing than
to see some of the men whose names are
foremost in the lumber business at one
of the social sessions of Hoo-Hoo or at
one of the many dinners or monthly
banquets given in one of the leading
cities by the Lumbermen’s Club. A boy
let loose from school is never happier
than some of these captains of industry
when free from the cares of business
and given a chance to show what they
really are man to man across the social
board; in fact, it is no exaggeration to
say that only those who frequent these
affairs of associations and clubs really
know the lumbermen at their best, and
it is certainly a delightful experience to
find that the man whom you thought
was simply a relentless pursuer of the
almighty dollar is also, in many _ in-
stances, a genuine good fellow, filled
with the milk of human kindness,
touched by the pathos of human life in
its everyday happenings, and responsive
to what is poetical and emotional in all
that concerns the affairs of the man
with whom his interests in life are so
intimately identified.
The social side of iumber life in the
United States has certainly reached a
degree of perfection that makes it well
worth the imitation of those engaged
in other lines who have not as yet felt
the uplift and the sense of kindliness
that comes from a closer contact and an
intimate knowledge of those engaged
in similar lines or occupations.
LONG-BELL EXPERIMENTAL FARM
SUBMITTED BY VICE PREs. C. B. SWEET
Oy. of the most effective agencies
in the development, not only of
Calcasieu parish, but of the State
of Louisiana and of the entire South is
the Long-Bell Experiment Farm, ex-
tending north along the Kansas City
Southern Railroad from the mill town
of Bon Ami almost to the corporate
limits of DeRidder. Translated into
English, “Bon Ami’ means ‘Good
Friend.” The work done on this farm
and the results already achieved prove
that the Long-Bell farm is one of the
best of friends, not only to owners of
cut-over timberland and the communi-
ties to which they are adjacent, but to
thousands of people who are destined
to found happy and prosperous homes
on land until recently looked upon as
unproductive, and valueless.
The work of the Long-Bell Experi-
ment Farm is by no means completed,
although in seven years it has become
an investment rather than an experi-
ment; but it has already established the
value of cut-over pine lands for the
growing of fruit and vegetables. It
has shown that vegetables of all de-
scriptions can be produced in the open
air weeks before they have matured in
the populous section of the country and
can be transported and sold at a fine
profit. It has not only established that
fruit growing is profitable, but by a
series of plantings conducted with in-
finite care and watched with unwearied
vigilance has established the fact that
some species of fruit are sure profit
makers and some are not profitable, and
is still weighing others in the balance.
Not only have all kinds of fruit been
planted, but every variety of each par-
ticular fruit that promises any results,
so that its records constitute an invalu-
able text-book for the farming of cut-
over lands.
A feature of the utmost importance
is that a cost system is in use on the
668
farm that is rigidly applied to every
product on it. For instance, three men
put two days labor each in cutting back
the fig trees; that four others worked
five and one-half days each on setting
out orange trees; that two spent the
week hauling fertilizer, and that two
others worked spreading it where
needed on the farm. ‘The superin-
tendent’s record takes note of all this.
The time spent by each man, and what
he did, are charged up in the daily
record. Every item of cost is charged
to its proper account. Every dollar
spent and every day’s labor performed
in the Elberta peaches is charged
against the Elberta peaches. When they
are gathered in the summer, the cost
of gathering and packing, hauling and
transporting is charged against them,
and they are duly credited when the
money received from their sale comes
in. By this method the superintendent
knows not only how much profit the
crop yielded, but the average profit per
tree. Unhealthy or unproductive trees
are left out. They are on the “hospital
ist;”
So it is with all other crops. The fig
trees have an additional link in the ac-
counting system. Their crop is sold to
the big preserving plant on the farm.
When the figs are gathered, the fig ac-
count is given a credit of three cents a
pound. This is charged to the preserv-
ing plant account, together with the cost
of sugar, steam, containers, labels, pack-
ing and labor. Then when the product
is marketed, the preserving plant gets
its credit.
This strict system of accounting is
indispensable, if the Experiment Farm
is to be of the highest value to the fu-
ture farmer of pine lands. It is not
enough to know that the land will pro-
duce crops. The vital thing is to know
what it will produce that can be mar-
keted at a profit and how much average
LONG-BELL EXPERIMENTAL FARM
profit may be expected. It is this kind
of definite practical information that
will eventually transform these thou-
sands of acres of blackened stumps and
tree tops into profitable farms and or-
chards.
WHY THE EXPERIMENT FARM WAS
NEEDED.
To know what made necessary all
this work of experimenting and figur-
ing, this planting and re-planting of
the same ground with different species
and varieties of fruit trees and shrubs,
one must know the present day condi-
tions as well as those who come into
actual contact with them.
Over fifty years ago, the denuding
of the land covered with vast pine for-
ests began at Lake Charles when Capt.
Goos’ steam sawmill, the first in this
section of Louisiana, began to eat its
way into the yellow pine belt. For
years, sawing was on such a small scale
that little impression was made upon
the tree-covered area. Thirty years
ago, sawmills of greater capacity were
put into commission, logs being floated
to the pioneer mills by means of the
numerous streams.
Then came the building of railroads
into the pine forests, and the extension
of transportation facilities. The num-
ber of mills multiplied and their capacity
for sawing was greatly increased.
When the Long-Bell Lumber Company
began to acquire timberlands in Cal-
casieu and its subsidiary organizations
began to erect milling plants, the pine
forests were disappearing at the rate of
upwards of a hundred acres a day. At
the present time fifty sawmilling plants
are in operation in Calcasieu parish and
ninety thousand acres a year are being
turned into stump land.
Roughly speaking, eighty per cent of
Calcasieu’s surface was originally
wooded. Nearly half of the standing
pine timber has been cut since the first
mill was started. About 700,000 acres
of its area is classed as “denuded pine
land.” Up to ten years ago, everybody
agreed that no one could raise crops on
denuded pine land. It might pasture
a few sheep, they admitted, and raise a
669
patch of corn or cotton, here and there,
but anything like making it all farm
lands was out of the question. Even
the millmen, the owners of the land
themselves, concurred in this opinion.
They would have sold their denuded
lands for a song, but nobody wanted
to sing. Some of them even talked of
surrendering their denuded lands to the
State rather than pay the few cents per
acre annuaily demanded as taxes.
This was a gloomy outlook for the
hundreds of people who came to work
in the mills, hoping to find a permanent
home here, and for the busy, energetic,
little communities that had sprung up
around these centers of activity. Luck-
ily the Long-Bell Lumber Company
never accepts say-so and theoretical
evidence as final. It was not willing
to admit that this land was designed by
Providence to grow pine trees and noth-
ing else. So, after its milling plants
had been set to work, it sent over to
Texas for T. S. Granberry, a practical
horticulturist and agriculturist, who
came originally from Georgia, and vir-
tually said to him, though not in those
words:
“You see before you, stretching from
Bon Ami nearly to DeRidder, approxi-
mately 460 acres of land, covered with
stumps and tree tops and fallen logs.
People around here say that it cannot
be put into shape for fruit and. vege-
tables and other crops, and that if it
could be cleared it wouldn’t raise any-
thing, anyhow. We don't believe it.
Go ahead and see what you can do with
it and call upon us for the money.”
That was six years ago. To give
some idea of what Mr. Granberry has
achieved is the purpose of this article;
but it may be said in advance that there
has been no more talk in Calcasieu of
turning denuded pine laid back to the
State for taxes. All the return the
Long-Bell Lumber Co. inas had so far
from its expenditure on the Experiment
farm has been the sale of its products.
It has not sold any of the denuded pine
land, because the company was deter-
mined first to demonstrate to its own
satisfaction the agricultural value of
such lands. Then it will go after in-
670
dustrious, practical farmers who will
come here to be permanent residents.
When Mr. Granberry tackled his
piece of stump land, he began in the
southeast corner, just beyond the north
line of houses in Bon Ami, and worked
northward. His first trees were planted
there in 1907. These trees are Elberta
peaches, now five years old and bearing.
Each year, some new portion of the
tract has been set out, but not all of it
for trees or vegetables. Part of it is
used for forage crops, being unsuited
to the growth of fruit. Mr. Granberry
has found peanuts profitable, both for
forage and for enrichment of the soil.
As far as practicable, the ground is kept
busy all the time. If trees of a certain
species or variety are set out and do
not seen to thrive they are removed and
a different species or variety substituted.
“T use fertilizer, generally speaking,
while the trees are young,” said Mr.
Granberry, when the farm was recently
visited, “and plant the ground between
the tree rows with some sort of crop.
This fertilizer helps these crops, and at
the same time the trees get their share.
After they are well started, the trees do
not need any fertilizer. In fact, some
of them never get any of any sort. For
instance, these plum trees, the Japan
Wonder, have never received any ar-
tificial aid.”
The trees to which he referred were
a mass of white blossoms, and the
ground beneath them looked as though
it was lightly sprinkled with snow.
“This plum,” he said, “is a splendid
plum for shipping. It does not fall
from the tree, when it is near ripe, at
every breath of wind. Now those over
there,’ he continued, “are the Gonzales
plum. It has a fine flavor and is a pro-
lific bearer, but falls easily from the
limb. It takes a good, stout tug to pull
a Japan Wonder from its parent stem,
even when it is fully ripe. Insect
enemies do not trouble it.”
Between the two varieties of plums
was a strip about 60 feet wide, with
rows of small shoots at regular inter-
vals. “Duncan grape fruit, budded on
trifoliata,’ explained the superinten-
dent. “I tried them once before, but
the shoots, which came from Florida,
- nut.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
arrived in bad condition, and did not
do well. I am going to give them an-
other trial. That piece of ground be-
yond is idle now. I am going to put
it in strawberries next year, and will
try the effect of tile drainage on them.
No, I am not an especial advocate of
tile drainage, but we give everything a
aati That is what we are here
or.’
FRUIT TREES EVERYWHERE.
From Supt. Granberry’s comfortable
home, nearly midway between Bon Ami
and DeRidder, one can get a bird’s eye
view of the whole farm and obtain an
idea of what a transformation has been
wrought in less than six years upon
this one-time stretch of stumps and half
decayed tree limbs. Row upon row of
fruit tres, of different species and varie-
ties stretch on either side and in front,
standing as straight and _ regularly
spaced as soldiers on parade. ‘The fig
trees are planted 15 feet apart and there
are 193 trees to the acre. The peaches
are 20 feet apart and run 108 to the
acre.
With the peaches are planted paper
shell pecan trees. Every third row
north and south and every other row
east and west is made up of the precious
When the peach trees have lived
beyond the age of usefulness the pecan
trees will be just coming into bearing,
and the peach orchard will become a
beautiful pecan grove, with the trees 30
feet apart one way, and 45 feet the
other.
Among the attractions of the Experi-
ment farm is a grove of Satsuma
oranges on trifoliata stock. Approxi-
mately 250 Satsuma trees are bearing,
being four to five years old, and 2,000
more are a year old. “The trees are
in fine condition and came through the
hard winter without injury,” said Mr.
Granberry. “They are free of disease
and I see no reason why cut-over land
will not grow oranges as well as figs
and peaches.” There are also a goodly
array of Kiefer pears, four years old
and budding out well. In fact, all the
trees are so heavily laden with buds
that Mr. Granberry expects a strenuous
LONG-BELL EXPERIMENTAL FARM
task trimming them out when the fruit
is set, so that the branches will not
break.
North of the house are long rows of
grapes. To be exact there are thirty
rows of fifty vines each, and ten dif-
ferent varieties. There are three rows
of each variety, planted in the order
that they ripen. There are ripe grapes
on the Experiment farm from June 20
to September 10. The vines, which are
trained up on wire stretched on a T-
shaped trellis, are four years old this
year. Last year the weather was un-
favorable to grapes, but the year before,
when the vines were two years old, ten
thousand pounds of grapes were gather-
ed and sold.
“There is no reason why this land
should not produce paying crops of
grapes,” said Mr. Granberry. “We
have experimented with many varieties
and these represent our final selections.
They all resemble the muscadine type,
which seems to be natural to this soil
and climate. I would advise the plant-
ing of the thick skinned grape, rather
than the thin skinned California varie-
ties, which do not seem to do so well.”
Just west of the grapes are long rows
of fig cuttings. They number 33,000,
and were all put out this spring, and,
Mr. Granberry said, would begin to bear
this fall.
THE PRESERVING PLANT.
The pride of the Experiment farm
now is its preserving plant, where figs
are prepared for the market and whence
they go by the carload to Kansas City,
Chicago, New York, Baltimore, Phila-
delphia—in fact, to every large market,
although most of them are marketed by
the company’s own Chicago agency.
In his experiments with the fig, Mr.
Granberry found no variety suitable for
marketing fresh, as the fruit will not
stand long-distance transportation. So
he sought the fig that would best answer
for preserving purposes, and finally
settled on the Magnolia fig, on account
of its attractive natural color as well
as it bearing qualities.
The farm now has 8,000 fig trees four
years old, and many others coming on.
671
A preserving plant was therefore a
necessity, and it was constructed in the
Long-Bell style. The building is com-
modious and comfortable. The preserv-
ing plant is equipped with six steam
jacketed copper kettles, each of seventy
gallons capacity. After being denuded
of their stems and carefully washed, the
figs are taken by a conveyor into the
kettles and there boiled by steam in a
34 degree syrup made of granulated
sugar for four and a half hours.
Only pure granulated sugar and
water are used in the preserving proc-
ess, and no bleaching or coloring mat-
ter is used. The figs, still retaining their
natural color, are then put up in glass
jars of four, ten and sixteen ounce
capacity each, labeled. The utmost
pains are taken to insure sanitary hand-
ling and the fruit is not touched by
hands after it receives its preliminary
bath.
The four ounce jars are put up for
the railroad dining car service mostly,
and are individual jars. The 10 and
16 ounce sizes are generally retailed in
stores. Any fruit that becomes mashed
or marred in cooking is packed and
sold as second quality. Last season, an
‘inquiry for 4,800 gallons was made for
the fruit, but so much of the output
was already contracted for that only
2,000 could be supplied.
“The demand for our fig is always
sufficient to clean up our supply,” Mr.
Granberry said; “so far, we have pre-
served figs only, but if the peach crop
is good, we may add peaches to our list
this year. We would have put up some
last year, but the peach crop was short
and our fruit brought two dollars a
crate, which is a better price than they
would have brought preserved.”
“Mr. Granberry, what, in your
opinion, is the most profitable fruit for
the ordinary grower on a small scale to
raise?” he was asked.
“Figs, undoubtedly,’ was the reply.
“Figs are practically without insect
enemies; they grow with the minimum
amount of care and attention and begin
to bear from the first year, and the pre-
served fruit has a large market which
can hardly be oversupplied.
“T can furnish a concrete example
672
of their profitable qualities. The pre-
serving plant pays our fig orchards
three cents a pound for figs and the
trees pay an average profit of $27 an
‘acre. On this basis, the preserving
plant pays for the figs and all expenses
and makes an annual profit of $1,500 to
$2,000 a year.
RUN JUST LIKE AN ORDINARY FARM.
This story would not be complete
without reference to the modern farm
equipment of the experiment farm.
Mr. Granberry’s comfortable home is
flanked on each side at convenient dis-
tances with homes for the employes.
There is a big packing shed, in upper
part of which crates and other packing
equipment is stored; a big, commodious
barn for the horses and mules and their
forage, besides storage room for the
fertilizer, of which on an average a
carload a year is used. ‘There is a big
water tank which is kept full by a gaso-
line engine and pumping outfit and an
office for Supt. Granberry, where he
keeps his records and shakes his head
over such trees as refuse to earn their
living. He also has telephone connec-
tion with the mill office at Bon Ami,
and the messages are delivered and re-
ceived over an ordinary barb wire fence.
Mr. Granberry has so much faith in
the future of the cut-over lands that he
is improving a fruit farm of his own,
carved out of the stump land, a mile
east of Bon Ami. Another strand of
the same barb wire fence is reserved
for a private line to his own farm.
It is also proper to state that no
“fancy farming” is indulged in at the
Experiment farm. Things are not
raised under glass or canvas, nor
watered by perforated iron pipes. Every
thing is out in the open, subject to the
same exigencies of wind and weather,
of frost and heat, of drouth and flood
that the ordinary farmer would en-
counter. Its purpose is to show what
can be done on the land by any plain,
common-sense farmer, with ordinary
careful methods, and the result shows
for itself. The Experiment farm is an
Experiment no longer. It is an In-
vestment.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
The number of hands employed on
the Experiment farm practically all the
year round, averages from 12 to 14.
Besides these, extra help is used in the
preserving plant.
Perhaps this looks like considerable
help to handle 460 acres of land, not
all of which is in cultivation. It will
not look so big, and it will be readily
seen that none of them have much loaf-
ing time, when one considers that here
are 82,716 trees on the place, trying to
account to Mr. Granberry for their ex-
istence.
The big orchard is the biggest. It
contains approximately 8,000 trees four
years old, 7,000 trees one year old, be-
sides 33,000 cuttings just making a start
in life—all of them Magnolias.
In peaches, the Elberta easily leads,
with 6,284 trees on the working list.
The Belle of Georgia, an earlier peach,
which finishes its year’s work just when
the Elberta ripens, has 1,764 members
in the colony. Many other varieties
were tried, but these two won out in
the final contests.
The Gonzales leads the plum family
with 4,000 trees and the others nowhere
—that is, comparatively nowhere. The
Japan Wonder is a strong probationer
and the Abundance so-so.
The Satsuma orange has 246 self-
supporting trees, four and five years
old; 2,000 trees a year old, and 60,000
seeds to be budded; potential but not
counting in the census.
The paper shell pecans will not be
earning their way for some time and
will be deeply in debt by the time they
do; but the 2,283 trees of this kind
will soon pay the debt when they get
started. There are 150 Kiefer pear
trees which promise well but are looked
on with deep distrust because of their
liability to blight; and herds of others,
few in number, but many in variety,
just getting a chance to prove their
trustworthiness.
A new experiment in the way of dis-
closing the possibilities of the cut-over
pine lands is being conducted by the
Long-Bell Lumber Co. on a tract of
5,000 acres adjacent to Bon Ami,
which have been enclosed with a hog
and sheep tight fence to be used as
CATTLE TICK BURNING HURTS FORESTS
a cattle ranch. The advantages of the
denuded pine lands for raising sheep
have been amply demonstrated by the
farmers of north Calcasieu, who have
been raising sheep on this class of land
for years with much profit to them-
selves. Indeed, so assured are the
profits in this business, that the com-
pany has already had a chance to sell
this enclosed land for a sheep ranch.
The Long-Bell Company, however,
could not be induced to forego, or even
delay, its cattle ranch demonstration. It
desires not only to show how well
adapted the cut-over lands are to stock
673
raising, but also to show the advantages
to be gained by securing better breeds
of cattle. To this end 600 head of
native cattle have been placed on the
ranch, together with three carloads of
thoroughbred graded cattle, mostly
Devonshires and Shorthorns. The cat-
tle came through the winter in good
shape and there is every prospect that
the demonstration will be a success.
The company this year is planting a
small acreage of forage crops, and will
build three large silos on the ranch this
summer to provide feed for its stock.
CATTLE TICK BURNING HURTS FORESTS
get rid of the cattle tick has
caused thousands of dollars in loss
of pine-timbered sections of the State.
This has been discovered by Prof. J.
A. Ferguson, head of the Missouri
School of Forestry.
This loss to Missouri pine forests,
according to Prof. Ferguson, is due to
the fires set to underbrush to kill the
ticks. The fires got the ticks to a cer-
tain degree, but also got all seedlings
from the pine trees which were ready
to begin new forests to replace those
felled by the modern timberman. In
regard to this discovery, Prof. .Fergu-
son says:
“We are studying the effect of fire
on the forest, especially on the younger
stand and saplings. Fires run through
every year. They are set by farmers
to keep down the underbrush, to kill
ticks and to extend the grazing area.
These fires have destroyed seedlings
and have prevented the Missouri pine
from reproducing.
“After the ground has been covered
Ore desire of Missouri farmers to
with seedlings, trees have come up from
the last seed crop, but these have been
and will be burned up during the win-
ter when the farmers fight the under-
brush and cattle tick. Had the Mis-
souri forests been protected from fire,
pine would be growing on every hill
in the pine regions. The State would
be thousands of dollars wealthier in
timbered lands had the _ protection
started many years ago.
“As it is, with the cutting of the pine
and the leaving no seed trees, the pine
forests of the State will cease to exist,
and the ground will become more than
ever covered by oaks usually of little
value.
“I’m teaching the boys the methods
for fighting fires and the best way to
keep the people from being careless
with fire in the timbered sections. So
far, however, I have found no traces
or records of raging forest fires, but
the underbrush fires curtailed
Missouri's pine forest wealth an ines-
timable number of dollars.”
nave
REFORESTING CUT-OVER PINELANDS
G. Stoney, president of the Agri-
cultural Society of South Caro-
lina, regarding the reforestation of cut-
over pine lands in that State, Assistant
Forester W. R. Greeley of the Forest
Service has expressed the following
opinion:
“Generally speaking, after the mer-
chantable timber has been removed
from lands within the coastal pine belt
of South Carolina and adjacent States,
the only practicable measure to secure
their reforestation is to protect the cut-
over areas from fire. Under ordinary
conditions such lands will restock them-
selves with a growth of pine if fires
can be kept out. More than this is
ordinarily not practicable for the owner.
“Good forestry should begin before
such areas are cut. From investiga-
tions made by the Forest Service on a
number of tracts in the southern piner-
ies it appears practicable to adopt more
conservative methods of cutting than
are commonly practiced. The aim of
this should be to restrict the trees re-
moved to those which are mature, leav-
ing on the ground the younger, thriftier
trees which are still making a fair rate
of growth. Ordinarily this would mean
probably the leaving of a quarter or a
third of the merchantable stand per
acre which is usually removed. The
trees so left would of course be those
of the smaller size and particularly of
shorter clear length and containing the
most limbs and knots. Obviously they
are the trees which yield inferior grades
of lumber. By leaving such trees stand-
ing and restricting the cut to the older
growth which contains the best quality
of lumber, it is my judgment that oper-
ators would often find the results bene-
ficial from a business and manufactur-
ing standpoint. The trees so left would
insure a thorough restocking of the
ground which, together with the ex-
clusion of fires, would result in com-
plete restocking of the land.
674
JT replying to an inquiry from S.
“Tf you have any considerable acre-
age still uncut I suggest that you con-
sider the practicability of adopting
measures of this character. Unfortu-
nately the Forest Service is no longer
able, on account of the demands of its
other work, to make examinations of
extensive private holdings and give the
owners specific advice on their manage-
ment. I enclose, however, a list of con-
sulting foresters who are prepared to
do just such work and to give the owner
or operator specific recommendations
on how his land should be managed
with reference both to practical lum-
bering operations and insuring a second
growth of timber.
“For the lands which you have
previously cut over, however, I have
just one suggestion, namely, that fires
be rigidly excluded. The custom prev-
alent in many parts of the South of
burning over pine lands annually to se-
cure a heavier growth of forage is us-
ually fatal to any forest reproduction.
Such fires do not kill the larger trees
and often may not seriously injure
saplings 15 inches in diameter or up-
wards. They inevitably, however, pre-
vent the starting of seedlings and hence
keep the land from producing nearly as
dense a growth of timber as it naturally
would if fires can be eliminated.
“Aside from protection from fire, the
only possible step would be reforesta-
tion by artificial methods. This is prac-
ticable as a matter of investment in cer-
tain localities, but not everywhere. The
Forest Service hesitates to recommend
it as a general practice because the mar-
ket values of timber are not yet in the
main sufficiently high to meet the cost
of planting and caring for the young
trees until they reach merchantable
size. Our investigations have shown
that in the case of loblolly pine, which
makes exceptionally rapid growth, a
good merchantable crop paying reason-
ably fair returns upon the investment
may be secured in 40 years. With long-
LUMBERING IN RUSSIA
leaf and shortleaf pines, however, hav-
ing slower growth, planting from a
commercial standpoint is hardly yet
feasible. The Forest Service is now
experimenting with the possibility of
introducing maritime pine, the naval
stores pine of the Mediterranean coun-
675
tries, which makes rapid growth and
produces an excellent quality of rosin
and turpentine, on cut-over pine lands
in the Southeast. This work, however,
is still in an experimental stage and its
possibilities are not yet fully known.”
LUMBERING IN RUSSIA
By Consut W. F. Dory, Rica
cipal industries of the Riga con-
sular district and provides em-
ployment in the forests through the
winter months for a large proportion of
the agricultural population of these
provinces.
The region from which the lumber
is obtained comprises a forest area of
53,473,732 acres, situated in 14 Prov-
inces and yielding timber for the most
part of medium-sized red and white
pine. Other varieties available but of
less importance to the trade are birch,
alder, and aspen. Of these forests 9,-
374,310 acres are State owned, 36,891,-
245 acres are manorial woods, 2,730,113
acres are Crown lands, and the remain-
ing 4,478,064 acres are peasant and
other tracts.
The value of forest lands in this dis-
trict depends upon several conditions,
the two main being locality and the
amount of timber obtainable for ex-
port purposes. An average price per
acre can not be given, as in addition to
the timber suitable for the export trade,
which mainly influences the price, there
is often a considerable quantity of in-
ferior stuff available for local consump-
tion in the shape of firewood, shingles,
etc. For a forest lying near the River
Dvina the value per dessiatine may
range from 100 rubles for ordinary
growth to 300 rubles for special growth
($19.07 to $57.22 per acre), =
Timber is usually sold in this district
either in tracts for a stated sum, or at
prices varying with the dimensions of
the logs. The logs coming to Riga
i UMBERING is one of the prin-
range from 7 to 9 inches at top; the
bulk are 8 and 7 inches, the quantity
over 9 inches thick being very small.
Felling the trees and hauling the logs
to the railroad or nearest stream is for
the most part possible only during the
season of snow roads in winter, and is
either undertaken by the purchaser,
usually a lumber dealer, or the seller
agrees to deliver the logs to the con-
tracted spot, whereby it often happens
that a mild winter or the absence of
snow roads makes it impossible to haul
out the logs from the forest and penal-
ties for breach of contract are incurred.
The prices paid for felling and haul-
ing vary according to the price of labor
current in the district and the distance
to be hauled. An estimate of the cost
cf bringing to Riga an average log of
28 feet length, diameter at butt end 11
inches, at top 8 inches, from a forest
in the Province of Vitepsk lying 10
miles from the river Dvina, gives, per
fathom of 7 feet: Felling and hauling,
15 kopecks; making roads in forest, 3
kopecks; tying into rafts, 3 kopecks;
rafting to Riga, 15 kopecks; making a
total of 36 kopecks, or 18% cents.
The cost of sawing at the railroad is
stated to be $5.15 per standard of 165
cubic feet; cartage at station, $1.03 per
standard; average railroad freight to
Riga, $5.15 per standard. The total ex-
penses—sawing, lighterage, etc.—in-
surred at Riga to convert logs which
have been rafted down the river into
lumber for export would amount to
$9.27 per standard. Sawmill charges
at Riga are $6.70 per standard.
LARGE SALE OF TIMBER
went to San Francisco in Septem-
ber to make final arrangements
under which a California lumber com-
pany will purchase 800 million feet of
timber on the Sierra National Forest.
The timber has already been awarded,
after public advertisement, to the high-
est bidder, but under the terms of the
advertisement the final signing of the
contract will not take place until the
company has been shown on the ground
what timber the Government will re-
good forest conditions and provide for
serve from cutting in order to preserve
reproduction.
The company will be allowed its full
800 million feet, but naturally it will
not be allowed to cut clean. As a rule
the Forest Service reserves something
like one-third of the forest stand in
applying forestry on Government hold-
ings. A marking board made up of one
man sent from Washington, one from
the District office in San Francisco, and
the local Forest Supervisor will care-
fully mark a sample area, to show how
the restrictions on cutting will be ap-
plied. Representatives of the company
will then go over this area, after which
Chief Forester Graves and his assist-
ants will, it is expected, make final ar-
rangements with the company in San
Francisco, and the contract of sale will
be signed.
“The Forest Service,” said Mr.
Graves in speaking of this sale, “has
received a number of inquiries whether
in selling so much timber to a single
purchaser the Government may not be
opening the way to a monopolistic con-
trol of local lumber markets. Other
correspondents are disturbed lest the
sale prove a bad bargain for the Gov-
ernment through the rise in value of
the timber in the twenty-two years dur-
ing which the company will cut.
“Such large and long-time sales of
National Forest timber as that to the
California company are a new develop-
ment in the Forest Service. Great bodies
676
Clair FORESTER GRAVES
of mature but inaccessible timber can
be put on the market only if sale con-
tracts are let on terms which will justify
a very heavy initial investment in trans-
portation facilities. In entering into
such contracts, however, special safe-
guards to protect the public against
monopoly and to prevent an undue spec-
ulative profit to the purchaser are em-
ployed.
“The National Forests contain, in all,
the equivalent of nearly 600 billion feet
of timber now of merchantable size, be-
sides young growth for future harvest.
Because of its remoteness from market
and the wild, mountainous country,
without transportation facilities, in
which most of it lies, only a small per-
centage can now be sold on any terms.
Most of it would cost more to get it out
than it would bring. The sale of less
than one-fifth of one per cent of our
total supply to one company leaves
plenty of room for competition by other
companies.
“The timber which has been sold to
the California company lies well back
in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and
will require the construction of 70
miles of standard-gauge railroad to
open up the area. Since this road will
also open up other National Forest tim-
ber and will be a common carrier, it
creates another safeguard against mo-
nopoly. The company is given a cutting
period of twenty-two years to remove
the timber, besides an additional two
years for the construction of logging
and manufacturing facilities. The sale
was publicly advertised for six months
in order to give an opportunity for all
who wished to compete for the contract
to make bids, as is done in all large Na-
tional Forest sales.
“No business organization would un-
dertake the heavy investment necessary
in such cases unless the handling of a
large body of timber and a sufficient
period in which to remove it under
practical logging conditions are assured.
The great difficulty in making such
RESTORING ELK TO THE FORESTS
long-term sales is to establish a price
which will be fair to both sides. No
one can foresee future conditions well
enough to know what stumpage will be
worth ten, fifteen, or twenty years
hence.
“Consequently the terms of sale pro-
vide for the readjustment of stumpage
prices every five years. The basis for
fixing the prices will be, in each case,
the prices of manufactured lumber in
the markets where the timber is. sold
during the preceding two years.
“For several years the Forest Service
has been selling in the neighborhood of
a million dollars’ worth of National
Forest stumpage per year, but this com-
bined with what is cut for free use is
RESTORING ELK
ESTORATION to the forests of
the Rocky mountain region of at
least a portion of the great herds
of elk which formerly roamed the
mountain sides all the way from north-
ern Canada to the Mexican line, is a
project which the biological survey of
the Department of Agriculture in con-
junction with the United States Forest
Service has taken up.
Contrary te the accepted belief that
the elk of the United States suffered
decimation’ and practical extinction
through slaughter by hunters, white
and red, the Forest Service explains
that starvation occasioned by the con-
sumption of the herbage by the cattle,
and, more particularly, by the sheep on
the ranges, has been the chief cause of
the dying out of the elk.
In Yellowstone Park, however, there
have been all along several fine herds
of elk; also in the regions of Wyoming
surrounding Jackson Hole there is a
superb herd.
In the summer of 1911 Supervisor
Knowles obtained a shipment of elk for
the Sun Dance National Forest. The
Wichita Forester, in western Oklaho-
677
only about one-eighth of what might be
cut without reducing the permanent
stock of the Forests. The supply will
be kept up through growth. By making
long-term sales it will be possible great-
ly to increase the amount available for
present needs of the timber consuming
public, without endangering future sup-
plies through overcutting. It will al-
ways remain true, however, that vastly
the greater part of our timber sales will
be to small purchasers, who are favored
wherever possible. Monopoly is im-
possible as long as the door is kept open
for such purchasers. Out of over 5,600
sales made in the fiscal year 1911, about
forty were for over $5,000 worth of
timber to a single purchaser.”
TO THE FORESTS
ma, besought the Washington chiefs of
the allied services for a small herd.
Fight were sent him in 1909, and the
Wichita herd now numbers twelve.
It is the present intention of the
biological survey to fill out each and
every request of the forest supervisors
wherever favorable opportunity offers.
So long as the slender money supply
available lasts these transfers of elk
from their present habitat to the newer
sections of the distant west will be
effected.
The transportation of the elk is an
interesting as well as an _ exciting
process. The younger elk, that is,
bucks and does, ranging in age from
seven to eight months up to two years,
are tempted into fixed corrals and
trapped. After the trapping they are
roped and tied. In the instance of the
recent transfer from the Yellowstone
region to the Sun Dance forest reserve,
the journey was made for a consider-
able portion of the way by sleds. The
animals, in separate frame cages, were
laced on the sleds and drawn by sturdy
mules mile after mile across the hills
and prairies to the railway.
678
The favored time for moving the elk
is in the early spring. By that time the
animals born the preceding spring are
stout and strong enough to withstand
transportation. In the first effort at
transplanting elk, twenty-six animals
made the journey. Four died from
injuries received in the ninety-mile
sled haul from Jackson’s Hole to St.
Anthony, Idaho, where the transship-
ment to the railway was effected. One
female died a few months later from
unhealed fractured ribs, evidently suf-
fered on the railway journey. At Sun
Dance the other twenty-one elk are now
strong and hardy.
The transference of the elk from the
more northern latitudes to the less
AMERICAN FORESTRY
rigorous climates of western Oklahoma.
Arizona and New Mexico, it is believed
by the biological experts, will result in
the rapid propagation of this valuable
and desirable game animal. The elk is
not subject to disease and after the —
fourth year the female usually bears ~
twin elk calves annually.
It is the belief of the biological sur-
vey that the elk population of the
United States will, through the means
now taken to develop herds in many
sections of the Rocky mountain region,
double within the next three years.
Within a decade it is the belief of Chief
Palmer, of the bureau, that an approxi-
mate restoration of the indigenous
herds will be brought about.
FIRE LOSSES IN WASHINGTON
sociation, of which George S.
Long is president and J. L.
Bridge chief fire warden, have sent out
through their secretary, O. Bystrom, a
statement to members from which the
following are taken:
No damage was done in Washington
to timber until about the middle of
May, when three very hot days came
and fires swept over logged-off areas,
doing considerable damage to logging
equipments and in some instances to
green timber. Heretofore May has been
regarded as a safe month, so much so
that the State law does not include it
in the dry and dangerous season, which
Cy Washington Forest Fire As-
begins June 1. There have been no
fires on account of the wet summer
since May.
Instructions were issued to rangers
to keep a lookout for trespassers and
report any breach of the law promptly
to the office. Several reports of that
kind were received, and the owner upon
whose land the fire occurred was
notified.
The Washington Forest Fire Asso-
ciation, as generally known, is a private
one. It is made up of timber owners
throughout the State. This year the
total assessments were only 1 3-4 cents
per acre, somewhat less than former
years.
SOME OHIO STATISTICS.
Ohio had 1.390 factories assigned to the lumber and timber division.
The average num-
ber of employes was 13,456. The value of the products was $34,597,000. The greatest num-
ber of employes in any one section were those engaged in foundry and machine shops,
amounting to 64,817.
There has been little change in the value of the lumber output im ten
years. Sawmilling has declined, but the output of planing mills and boxes has increased.
There were 411 independent planing mills.
TST —a
hn Sse
if ae mos Ss Te eee
Wet “sees gm Ss met See
z: 4
The loess ae
Want St Get SS ee er Gr
ie ae Ges ot So ee
Scns ear
680
He set September 16 for the white pine
blister rust hearing, September 19 for the
fruit fly hearing, and September 20 for the
potato wart disease hearing.
A Moving Forest in Wales
A strange story of a moving wood near
Llandaff was told at a meeting of the dis-
trict council by one of the members (Mr.
William Hopkins), says the London Chron-
cle.
The wood, he said, was situated on a steep
slope and was gradually moving toward the
road at the foot. The wood is quite 400
yards long, and consists of stately elm trees.
It had “left its moorings,” he said, and was
moving bodily toward the Llanvithyn road.
A cut had been left at the top, which was
full of water.
Some of the trees were coming down bod-
ily, while others were leaning in all direc-
tions. The wood had been moving now
eight or nine days, and it was some little
distance from the road, but was in danger
of coming on to it.
Studying Lumbering Industry
EF. P. Secker, the special agent of the
Commerce and Labor Department who is
investigating the lumber trade abroad, may
make a trip around the world, touching at
all important countries, in pursuit of his
duty. Mr. Secker is now in England. He
has been abroad since spring. He is ex-
pected at present to study lumber trade con-
ditions throughout Europe, see what the
market there demands in the way of lumber,
etc., and find openings for the American
lumber exporter. If his work comes up to
the hopes of the Department and of the
trade, Mr. Secker is expected to be ordered
to extend his work beyond Europe into other
continents and the islands of the sea. In
that event he will be absent from this coun-
try for a year or more longer.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Forest Reserve Transfer
The Forest Service has begun the work of
closing up the purchases of land made under
the provisions of the Weeks law for the
formation of the Appalachian forest reserve.
The first deed to be filed was at Marion,
N. C., for 8,113 acres. The Government has
options on about 16,000 acres immediately
adjoining this property. Although the Weeks
law became effective March 1, 1911, so much
preliminary work was required that the ac-
tual transfers are only now beginning.
Wood Distillation
The United States Forest Service has re-
cently issued an interesting bulletin on the
distillation of resinous wood by saturated
steam. The bulletin was prepared by L. F.
Hawley, chemist in forest products, and R.
C. Palmer, assistant chemical engineer in
forest products, and describes a series of ex-
periments along this line carried on at the
forest products laboratory.
The experiments were undertaken by the
Forest Service because there has been no
uniformity in the commercial distillation of
pine, and no definite ideas among operators
as to the proper steam pressure, size of chips
or rapidity of distillation, and little or no
data has been heretofore published regard-
ing the differing results from changes in
these readily controlled variables.
Lightning Hits All Trees
The Department of Agriculture has made
public the results of an exhaustive investi-
gation of lightning strokes throughout the
country. The report disposes of the belief
of the ancient philosophers that certain kinds
of trees—the laurel, aspen and beech—were
never struck by lightning with the statement
that “any kind of tree is likely to be struck.”
The report shows that lightning strikes in
the Colorado plateau region more often than
anywhere else in the country, and asserts
that lightning is a prolific source of fires in
the forests of the West.
ILLINOIS LUMBER PLANTS.
In Illinois there were 814 plants at work in lumber and timber, employing an average of
16,567 people.
The output was valued at $44,952,000.
The number of men employed in
foundry and machine shops were 52,266; the next largest number being in manufacturing
men’s clothing and shirts, to-wit, 36,152.
The great value added to forest products in that
State came from planing mills and other woodworking plants, even though over one-half of
the establishments were sawmills.
The increase in the value of lumber products reported in
the State has been very great in the former five years.
STATE NEWS
New Jersey
Much valuable information concerning the
planting and care of shade trees and the pre-
vention of diseases which are fatal to them
is contained in a handsome volume just
issued by the Forest Park Reservation Com-
misison of New Jersey and entitled the
“Planting and Care of Shade Trees.” The
book contains 128 pages, is handsomely illus-
trated, several of the illustrations being fine
colored plates of injurious tree insects; and
several charts which graphically depict meth-
ods of caring for diseased trees, that they
may be made healthy again. The illustra-
tions in the volume are well chosen to give
instructions as to how trees should be
planted to give the best effect, particularly in
cities.
The volume is for general distribution
among people who are interested in shade
tree culture and in the prevention or the
cure of diseases in shade trees, and a copy
may be obtained by addressing Alfred Gas-
kill, State Forester, at the State House at
Trenton. The book is made up of an article
on “The Planting and Care of Shade Trees,”
by the late Dr. John B. Smith, State ento-
mologist, who died March 12, 1912, and an-
other paper on “Diseases of Shade and For-
est Trees,” by Mel. T. Cook, State plant pa-
thologist. The cost of issuing the book was
borne by Charles LaThrop Pack, of Lake-
wood, a member of the Forest Park Reser-
vation Commission.
Texas.
I. M. Johnson, of Houston, until recently
special agent of the State Department of
Agriculture, was in Dallas recently and per-
fected arrangements for tackling the dis-
eased trees of Dallas.
It is the intention of Mr. Johnson to spend
a week out of each month in Dallas, giving
his personal attention in overseeing the
work, which will be under the supervision of
a graduate of the School of Forestry, Uni-
versity of Michigan, who also has had three
years’ experience in the Forestry Service,
Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.
C: This party, Z. T. Bliss, at present is
superintendent of the tree work in Houston
which is being done by Mr. Johnson.
Massachusetts.
The report of the State Forester’s office
that losses this year in Massachusetts
amounted to only $50,000 up to August 1 is
gratifying to those who are responsible for
the establishment of observation stations on
high points throughout the State. Seven-
teen of these lookouts are now maintained,
and the justification of the system is the fact
that this year’s losses are about $500,000 less
than the losses during a corresponding period
last year.
There is still a long period of the fall sea-
son when forest fires will be a menace. But
it seems likely that this year may establish
a new low record of losses.
New York
An agreement has been made between the
State Conservation Commission and the Adi-
rondack League to experiment in forestry
on the 140,000 acres of forest lands owned
by the league at Little Moose, Herkimer
county, according to Governor Dix. It is
proposed to permit the lumbering of the
league’s tract by cutting matured trees and
planting at least one tree for every tree
taken.
The Governor, who recently addressed the
league in favor of this plan, said that sys-
tematic lumbering would in no way injure
the forests or interfere with wild game.
The league is composed of wealthy citi-
zens, who, heretofore, have always opposed
the extensive cutting of lumber in the Adi-
rondack forests.
Minnesota
The need of a city tree warden in St. Paul
is acute, according to State Forester Cox,
who declared recently that he approved
highly the move of the Women’s Civic
League toward getting such an official for
this city. The number of complaints and
questions that come to the office of the State
Forester from women and_ householders,
who ask for advice as to how to care for
their trees, and which his office is unable to
care for, indicates that the appointment of a
city forester would answer a crying need,
Mr. Cox said.
Wisconsin
By a purchase consummated a few days
ago the State of Wisconsin added 20,000
acres of land to its forest reserve, the tim-
ber tract acquired being located in Oneida
and Vilas counties. It was bought from the
681
682
Land, Log and Lumber Company, of Mil-
waukee. The State has been negotiating for
these lands for over a year. They were cut
over about twenty years ago, and the area
comprises nearly two townships. Another
large deal will be made soon, when the H.
W. Wright Lumber Company, of Merrill,
will transfer 16,000 acres of cutover land to
the State. In addition to these two large
purchases, the State forest reserve has been
increased by the acquirement of 500 acres
comprising 250 small islands donated by Con-
gress and located in inland waters in the
northern part of the State, giving the State
a complete forest reserve of about 400,000
acres, not including the lands held by the
State for sale to be used for agricultural
purposes.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Louisiana.
Reports from the overflow section of Lou-
isiana and Mississippi indicate much damage
to logs and down timber by a black beetle
that has flourished unusually well since the
overflow set in. The beetle is a borer which
goes through the wood as if it was dust.
A number of lumber companies operating
in overflowed sections have called off their
men in the woods until all logs on hand
have been put through the mills. Several
concerns, especially in Northeast Louisiana,
report that the beetle has caused them thou-
sands of dollars of damage. The damage is
greater in some sections than others, seem-
ingly depending upon present ground condi-
tions.
CURRENT LITERATURE
MONTHLY LIST FOR SEPT., 1912.
(Books and periodicals indexed in the
Library of the United States Forest
Service. )
Forestry as a Whole
Chapman, Herman H. Forestry; an elemen-
tary treatise. 79 p. Chicago, American
lumberman, 1912.
Holmes, J. S. A forester’s notes from
Europe; Germany. 4 p. Chapel Hill,
N. C.,, 1912. (N. C—Geological and
economic survey. Press bulletin 87.)
Mumford, George D. The world’s timber
problem, with some conclusions. 56 p.
INE Yes 19122
Proceedings and reports of Associations,
Forest Offices, etc.
Canadian forestry association. Report of the
thirteenth annual convention and meeting
held at Ottawa, Feb. 7th and 8th, 1912.
123 p. Ottawa, 1912.
India—Bombay _ presidency—Forest dept.
Administration report of the forest cir-
cles including Sind, for the year 1910-
1911. 176 p. Bombay, India, 1912.
India—Burma—Forest dept. Reports on the
forest administration in Burma for the
year 1910-11. 206 p. Rangoon, India,
1912.
India—Central provinces—Forest dept. Re-
port on the forest administration of the
Central provinces for the year 1910-11.
150 p. Nagpur, India, 1912.
India—Coorg—Forest dept. Progress report
of forest administration for 1910-1911.
_ 23 p. Bangalore, India, 1913.
Minnesota—State forester. First anual re-
port; Joi) 216) ips | ale map, |) Daluth,
Minn., 1912.
Forest Education
Arbor Day.
Oregon—Dept. of public instruction. Oregon
arbor and bird day manual. 32 p. il.
Salem, Ore., 1912.
Forest schools
New York state college of forestry, Syracuse
university. Announcement of ranger
_ school. 16 p. Syracuse, N. Y., 1912.
University of Idaho—Dept. of forestry. An-
nouncements concerning the courses to
be offered in forestry, 1912-1913. 16 p.
Moscow, Idaho, 1912.
Forest Description
Cameron, D. Roy. Report on timber con-
ditions around Lesser Slave lake. 54 p.
il., map. Ottawa, 1912. (Canada—Dept.
of the interior —Forestry branch. Bulle-
tin 29.)
Forest Botany
Trees, classification and description
Maiden, J. H. The forest flora of New
South Wales, pt. 48. 12 p. pl. Sydney,
N. S. W., Gov’t printer, 1912.
Woods, classification and structure
Record, Samuel J. Identification of the
economic woods of the United States,
including a discussion of the structural
CURRENT LITERATURE
and physical properties of wood. 117 p.
il, pl. N. Y., J. Wiley & Sons, 1912.
Silvics
rest influences
-kardt, Wilhelm R. Der einfluss des waldes
auf das klima. 8 p. Karlsruhe, G. Braun,
1909. :
Forest Economics
‘atistics
aden—Forstverwaltung. Statistische nach-
weisungen fiir das jahr 1912; jahrgang
33. 172 p. Karlsruhe, 1912.
acmillan, H. R. Forest products of Canada,
1910. 133 p. Ottawa, 1912. (Canada—
Dept. of the interior—Forestry branch.
Bulletin 28.)
Forest Utilization
Zood distillation
awley, L. F. & Palmer, R. C. Distillation
of resinous wood by saturated steam.
31 p. Wash:, D. C.,.1912. (CU. S—Dept.
of agriculture—Forest service. Bulletin
109.)
Auxiliary Subjects
‘ydrology
[aine—State water storage commission. 2d
annual report, 1911. 267 p. maps, diagrs.
Waterville, 1912.
nited States—Dept. of the interior. Gey-
sers, by Walter Harvey Weed. 29 p. il,
maps. Wash., D. C., 1912.
‘nited States—Dept. of the interior. Some
lakes of Glacier national park, by Mor-
ton J. Elrod. 29 p. il, maps. Wash,
1D Caton?
eology
Inited States—Dept. of the interior. Geo-
logical history of Crater lake, Oregon,
by J. S. Diller. 31 p. il, map. Wash.,
D. C., 1912.
Inited States—Dept. of the interior. Geo-
logical history of the Yellowstone
national park, by Arnold Hague. 23 p.
il, maps. Wash., D. C., 1912:
Periodical Articles
fiscellaneous periodicals
sulletin of the American geographical so-
ciety, Aug. 1912.—A geographic study of
the Mesa Verde, by Wallace W. Atwood,
p. 593-8.
‘ornell rural school leaflet, Sept. 1912.—
Tree study, by John Bentley, p. 153-65.
‘ountry gentleman, July 6, 1912—The farm
woodlot; a neglected asset, by Ernest A
Sterling, p. 7, 28.
683
Missionary review of the world, July 1912.—
Call of the lumber jack, by Chas. A
Bowen, p. 513-9.
Outlook, July 27, 1912.—Kiote, by Theodore
Shoemaker, p. 679-83.
Overland monthly, June 1912—What is
forestry, by A. L. Dahl, p. 571-9.
Philippine agricultural review, Aug. 1912.—
Philippine kapok; a promising new in-
dustry, by M. M. Saleeby, p. 432-7.
Scientific American supplement, July 20, 1912.
—Xylology, a new branch of science;
identifying different woods and detecting
fraudulent substitutes, p. 44.
Torreya, Sept. 1912.—The determination of
woods, by Chester Arthur Darling. p.
201-8.
Trade journals and consular reports
Engineering news, June 27, 1912.—Proving
that forests benefit navigation, p. 1239.
Furniture journal, Aug. 26, 1912—Methods
of finishing hardwoods, by C. J. La
Valles, p. 56-8.
Hardwood record, Aug. 25, 1912.—The na-
tional Appalachian park, by Henry H.
Gibson, p. 25-36. The true mora of
British Guiana, p. 42.
Lumber world review, Aug. 25, 1912.—Forest
legislation and forest work in British
Columbia, by W. R. Ross, p. 20-1.
Lumber world review, Sept. 10, 1912—A
model forest school at home and abroad;
travels of the Biltmore students, p. 17.
Pacific lumber trade journal, Aug. 1912.—
People of Idaho are told of their forest
responsibility, by E. T. Allen, p. 46.
Paper, Aug. 28, 1912.—Bamboo as a source
of paper pulp, p. 15-18, 42.
Paper trade journal, Aug. 22, 1912.—The
spruce bud moth, by Chas. D. Woods,
p. 56.
St. Louis lumberman, Aug. 15, 1912.—Amu-
guis, by H. N. Whitford, p. 30; Missouri
forestry students in the Ozarks, p. 63.
Southern industrial and lumber review, Aug.
1912—Logging engineering as taught
at the University of Washington, by E.
T. Clark, p. 45, 64; Commercial creosotes
and wood decay preventions, p. 80-1.
Timber trade journal, Aug. 10, 1912.—Burrs,
p. 192; Dry rot, or the dissolution of
wood by vegetable agency, p. 193.
Timber trade journal, Aug. 17, 1912—The
mahogany trade of Central America, p.
223; Dry rot, or the mechanical disso-
lution of wood, p. 227.
Timber trade journal, Aug. 24, 1912—Aus-
tralian timbers; opportunities for trade,
by S. de Malraison, p. 260; Forestry edu-
cation at Aberdeen, p. 289.
Timber trade journal, Aug. 31, 1912.—A new
timber drying process, p. 297-8.
Timberman, Aug. 1912.—Log flumes are of
economic value where conditions are
favorable, by W. D. Starbird, p. 42-4;
Logging by rail in Montana, by Kenneth
Ross, p. 62; Practical aerial snubbing
684 AMERICAN FORESTRY
device for lowering logs from high
ground, by R. R. Nestos, p. 49-50; New
and successful utilization of compressed
air for snubbing machines, by Henry A.
Kalb, p. 53-4; Burning slash is a ques-
tion of increasing importance to loggers,
by E. T. Allen, p. 59-60; Burning slash,
by F. E. Ames, p. 61-2.
United States daily consular report, Aug. 20,
1912—Lumber and timber products
abroad; England, by Augustus E. In-
gram, p. 897-8; Lumber anl timber prod-
ucts abroad; Russia, by W. F. Doty,
p. 899-900; Lumber and timber products
abroad; Martinique, by Thomas R. Wal-
lace, p. 900-1; Lumber and timber prod-
ucts abroad; Formosa, by Samuel C.
Reat, p. 901-3; Lumber and timber prod-
ucts abroad; China, by Samuel S.
Knabenshue, p. 903; Importations of ma-
hogany into Canada, by Felix S. S. John-
son, p. 908.
Wood craft, Sept. 1912—Overmantels ; their
design and construction, by John Boving-
don, p. 169-72.
Forest journals
Bulletin de la Société centrale forestiére de
Belgique, Aug. 1912.—Expériences sur
VYemploi des engrais, p. 460-5; Expéri-
ences en pépiniére, p. 465-9; Les foréts
roumaines, by N. I. Crahay, p. 469-75;
Surune théorie nouvelle de la captation
de l’azote atmosphérique par les plantes,
by E. Henry, p. 475-83.
Centralblatt ftir das gesamte forstwesen,
July 1912.—Ueber die gattung polygra-
phus, by Walther Sedlaczek, p. 305-10;
Zur forstlichen rentabilitatslehre, by
Theodor Glaser, p. 310-21; Neuere
bestrebungen auf dem gebiete der holz-
konservierung, by E. F. Petritsch, p.
321-33.
Forstwissenschaftliches centralblatt, June
1912.—Beegrtndung der mischbestande
von fichten und buchen, sowie von
kiefern und buchen, by Tiemann, p. 297-
309; Eine forstliche ausstellung in
Amerika, by F. Harrer, p. 309-19; Ueber
triffeln und triiffelzucht, by Vill, p.
320-8.
Forstwissenschaftliches centralblatt, Aug. 1912.
—Das gesetz des inhalts der baumstamme
und sein bedeutung fiir die massen- und
sortimentstafeln, by M. Tkachenko, p.
397-419; Italiens neueste forstpolitik, p.
434-6.
Hawaiian forester and argiculturist, July
1912.—Notes on forest insects, by R. C.
L. Perkins, p. 202-9.
Indian forester, Aug. 1912.—Pyinmana forest
division; teak and bamboos in Burma,
by F. A. Leete, p. 355-80; Possibility of
growing cork in India, p. 422-4.
Revue des eaux et foréts, June 15, 1912.—
Question d’amenagement, by L. Pardeé,
p. 353-5.
Revue des eaux et foréts, July 1, 1912—
Vieux taillis, vieilles souches, by L.
Pardé, p. 391-4; Le budget des foréts en
Norvége, by H. Perrin, p. 397-402.
Revue des eaux et foréts, July 15, 1912.—
La coupe a blanc étoc dans les foréts
résineuses, by C. Delahaye, p. 417-21;
Contre le déboisement; menace de deé-
forestation en Indochine, by Verdaguer,
p. 421-6; Les exploitations forestiéres
dans la province de Québec, by Coulon,
p. 426-31.
Revue des eaux et foréts, Aug. 1, 1912—
Possibilité par volume de futaies jardi-
nées, by L. Duhar, p. 449-59; De linflu-
ence de la lumiére sur la qualité du bois
de chéne, by P. Galland, p. 459-64.
Zeitschrift fiir forst- und jagdwesen, July
1912.—Forstwirtschaftiliche __ riickblicke
auf das jahr 1910, by Semper, p. 399-
425; Zur nonnenbekampfung, by Spletts-
toesser, p. 434-9; Zusammenlegung von
niederwald, by von Salis, p. 439-53.
Zeitschrift fiir forst- und jagdwesen, Aug.
1912.—Waldbauliche siinden, by Frey, p.
463-8 ; Die organisation der preussischen
forstbehorden, by Lehnpfuhl, p. 468-81.
JAPS SUPPLY THE CHINESE.
The lumber for packing cases, etc., used by the Chinese comes chiefly from the Yalu
River region, and the trade in this lumber is entirely in Japanese hands. The importation is
in the form of squared logs, which are purchased by Chinese carpenters and sawed up into
boards by hand. Attempts have been made to introduce sawmills for this work, but the price
of labor is so low here that it is cheaper to cut boards by hand than by steam.
MASSACHUSETTS’ SHOWING.
In the Siate of Massachusetts, under the head of lumber and timber produce, 708 estab-
lishments are listed, employing on an average of 8,967. The value of the output was $23,-
026,000. Lumbering in that State is a very insignificant factor when compared with the
manufacture of cotton goods, which employs 108,914 people.
The boot and shoe makers
employ 83,063. The value of the output of the latter exceeds that of any other line of
manufacture. In Massachusetts the number of independent. planing mills was 208, with 391
sawmills and 109 packing box factories. There were cut in that State 361,200,000 feet of
lumber.
American Forestry
VOL. XVIII
NOVEMBER, 1912
No. 11
FORESTRY AND FOREST RESOURCES IN NEW YORK*
By State Forester F. A. GAYLORD
N New York State, forests cover
about 7,500,000 acres. With the
farm wood lots the forested area
is brought up to 12,000,000 acres. In
said that there are not 1,000 acres that
are producing more than half the wood
material which they could under proper
management. There are 300,000 acres
of virgin forests, where growth is offset
by decay. There are 400,000 acres of
barren land producing nothing. There
are about 5,000,000 acres cut and
burned over which are partially re-
stocking, the remaining area being in a
more satisfactory condition as far as ir-
regular natural production is concerned.
Here in New York, where we are
very far away from the great present
sources of timber, we are only too ready
to believe that these areas will supply us
indefinitely. This is far from being the
truth. ‘To bring this out more clearly,
let us take an example from the eastern
States.
With the exception of comparatively
small areas in the Lake States, the white
pine of the East has been entirely cut.
This is well brought home to us by the
fact that in 1850 Albany was the most
important timber market in the United
States, while today she has practically
no influence whatever on the lumber
trade of the country. In that year New
York ranked first in timber production,
today she ranks nineteenth, and she no-
where near begins to cut the timber that
she uses. As another example of the
rise and decline of a State in timber
production, in 1880 Michigan supplied
25 per cent of the timber of the United
States. In 1907 she supplied 4.05 per
cent. If this is true of New York and
Michigan, why will it not be true of
other States, especially if we bear in
mind that now we have a national popu-
lation of 95,000,000 people and_ fifty
years hence this will have grown to
200,000,000.
At present we have in New York
State about 6,000,000 acres of forested
lands, which has saw timber on it; 300,-
000 of this is virgin and the rest has
been cut over more or less severely, so
that the average stand is about 4,000
board feet per acre, giving a total stand
of saw timber of about 25,000,000,000
board feet. Aside from this amount
there are about 30,000,000 cords of
wood occurring on the remaining forest
area, and as waste from logging opera-
tions.
The forests of our State in their pres-
ent condition are not producing more
than 25 board feet per acre per year.
This, for 12,000,000 acres, gives 300,-
000,000 board feet per year. The lum-
ber statistics of the State show that we
are cutting over 1,000,000,000 board
feet annually. This figure does not take
into consideration the immense amount
of cord wood needed to supply the de-
mands of the population of 10,000,000
people. Taking this into consideration,
we are cutting our woodlands at least
five times as fast as they grow, and at
the same time we are importing vast
quantities from other States. We get
much construction timber from the
South, carriage woods from the Missis-
sippi valley and the South, shingles
from the West, pulp from Canada, etc.
How long will this state of affairs con-
tinue, as there is hardly a State in the
686 AMERICAN
Union where cutting is not being car-
ried on in excess of the growth.
We can triple the growth of our for-
ests by means of proper management.
We can reduce wastes to a very great
extent. We can do away very largely
with forest fires. While we are. ac-
complishing this, our population is in-
creasing by leaps and bounds and not
only increasing the demand, but taking
up land where we now grow timber.
Every minute lost in taking the proper
care of our forests will be dearly paid
for in the future.
In New York there are 400,000 acres
absolutely denuded of valuable forest
growth. This area will have to be re-
planted at an expense of three or four
million dollars if we are to re-establish
a profitable forest cover. There are
several million acres which at the pres-
ent time are only partially covered with
valuable species. Here as much more
money will have to be spent if the max-
imum yield of our forests is to be ob-
tained.
A great deal of our forested area is in
a most inferior condition. It has largely
been cut over and even where the cover
is complete the trees left are of inferior
species or in a dead or dying condition,
and they are acting as a great hindrance
to the proper growth of the young and
more valuable trees.
The density of the forest then has
been utterly destroyed in part and very
much lessened on a large portion of its
area. ‘This has resulted in the total or
partial destruction of the forest floor;
that is, the humus or vegetable mould
has been burned up, either by fire or by
the sun. Where the cover has entirely
disappeared erosion sets in, as there is
nothing left in the soil to bind it to-
gether. It slowly works down the
slopes of the hills and mountains to
eventually choke our rivers and harbors
or be spread out over our fertile valley
farms and cause total destruction.
There has been enacted in this State
considerable forest fire legislation. In
the first place it has been attempted to
do away with the material which causes
the worst of forest fires, that is the
slash left by the lumbermen. Slash is
FORESTRY
of two kinds, hardwood and softwood
slash. The hardwood slash disappears
much more quickly than the softwood,
and this has not been covered by legis-
lation. ‘The question has been with the
softwood or evergreen tree tops.
Under ordinary conditions the top
left after the logs are cut is held up off
the ground by the lower branches and
during the fire season becomes dry as
tinder and constitutes a serious fire dan-
ger for from fifteen to twenty years.
Since 1909 loggers have been compelled
by law to lop or cut off the limbs from
all tops so that the refuse will all lie
close to the ground. ‘This was done in
order to do away with the fire danger
as soon as possible, as the top will disap-
pear through decay much sooner if all
branches are lying on the ground than if
they are held up in the air. The reasons
for this are that the fungus causing de-
cay requires air and moisture for the
_ proper carrying on of its work. The
top when it is held up from the ground
has plenty of air, but moisture at the
proper time of year is lacking. On
the other hand, wood completely sub-
merged in water does not decay, as the
air is lacking. The conditions most fa-
vorable for the growth of rot exists at
the surface of the ground and if all
branches lie as close to the ground as
possible, they will disappear in the mim1-
mum time. The best proof that this
is so lies in the fact that our fence posts,
telegraph and telephone poles, etc., have
by far the greatest amount of decay at
the point where they enter the ground.
The least observing person knows that
this is true, and it is well brought out by
the fact that if any single part of a pole
is to be treated with preservative, it is
this point, and many companies imbed
their poles in concrete for a foot or so
at the surface of the ground. ‘There
cannot be the slightest doubt then that
the tops will decay more quickly lopped
than unlopped.
In cases where tops have been lopped,
the slash has disappeared, as a fire dan-
ger, in six to-seven years.- So far so
good.
Let us first consider the management
of our spruce lands. These areas can
THE ADIRONDACK FOREST.
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690 AMERICAN
be roughly divided into spruce slopes,
spruce flats, and spruce swamps.
The management of our spruce
slopes, particularly the high slopes, is a
difficult proposition. The timber on such
a location is usually quite uniform but
smaller in diameter and shorter and is
much more liable to be wind thrown
than the spruce on the lower situations.
The use of a diameter limit under such
conditions does not bring good results
as arule. Practically all the trees that
are left below the limit set, provided we
take out enough to make the operation
profitable, are wind thrown and such
trees, of course, had better be taken out
during the lumbering operations.
The best method to use would prob-
ably be some sort of a clear cutting
operation by strips or groups. Seed
trees might be left as groups of trees
covering perhaps a tenth of an acre
and thus would give mutual protection
against the wind. <A system of clear
cutting by strips might work out very
well under these conditions, cutting say
a strip about 100 to 150 feet wide and
leaving a strip of equal width to be
taken out at a second operation after
reproduction is established on the cut-
over strip. In any method of leaving
trees for the distribution of seed, it
must be remembered that good natural
reproduction cannot be counted upon to
take place any farther from the base of
the trees than a distance equal to the
height of the tree or half again that dis-
tance. This rule, of course, would have
exceptions, varying with the topography
of the country and the species.
To consider the management of
spruce flat. This is the best type of
spruce timber and can oftentimes be
managed by a diameter limit cutting.
In the case of all diameter limits, we
must be sure and not make them rigid.
In scientific management the first prin-
ciple is to insure reproduction and often-
times in cutting to a rigid diameter limit
there are not enough seed bearing trees
left on an area to give the proper re-
production. Our system of cutting
should be such that wherever it is nec-
essary to leave trees over the given di-
ameter, it should be possible to do so. In
this type of spruce windfall is of the
FORESTRY
least importance. However, even here
we must be very careful, if the stand is
anything like pure spruce, to eliminate
as much as possible the loss through
windfall by judicial cutting.
On such locations the spruce is often-
times small and of a very even diameter,
and cutting to a diameter limit often-
times means taking all or none. The
cutting system should be such that it
would be possible to remove all timber
not needed for the regeneration of the
stand and yet at the same time prepare
against windfall loss, as on this type of
soil the windfall damage is liable to be
quite severe.
Virgin white pine stands should be
handled by some sort of a clear cutting
method, leaving seed trees as individuals
or groups. Wherever seed. trees are
left as individuals the loss 1s oftentimes
as high as 75 or 80 per cent. through
windfall and much the better system is
to leave the seed trees in small groups
uniformly scattered over the cutting
areas. On some operations the groups
left have contained 25 to 30 per cent. of
the original stand and after reproduc-
tion is established there is enough tim-
ber left in the groups to make a second
cut profitable and thus our seed trees
are not left at a loss as they might be
if only just enough trees were allowed
lto remain to insure reproduction.
Here, as with the spruce types, a
diameter limit should be an elastic one,
cutting over or under as conditions
warrant, but keeping, on the whole, to
an average diameter. In the case of
good markets and easy access to the
forests, a selection system is sometimes
used, cutting out from time to time only
the best individuals. Unless the method
is very carefully carried out it is very
liable to result in deterioration of the
forest.
Second growth white pine will have
to be managed differently in most cases.
Here we will not be willing to wait
until the trees are old enough to bear
sufficient seed and as these second
growth stands can usually be termed
even aged, they will have to be clear
cut and planted to have anything like
satisfactory resulting conditions.
40 LINSHa
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OBSERVATION TOWER ON A MOUNTAIN TOP.
694
In cutting hardwoods for saw timber,
a rigid diameter limit is usually em-
ployed and the forests are left in an
extremely bad condition due to the fact
that all old culls are left on the ground
and these usually form a large per cent
of the stand in the Adirondack region.
These culls should be removed where-
ever it can be done without loss and
where they have to be left they should
be killed by girdling in order to give
the young trees all the light and soil
energy.
The first cutting in hardwood stands
is sometimes a selection cutting, taking
out the cherry or ash or whatever the
most valuable species may be and thus
practically doing away with any possible
reproduction of the species bringing in
the greatest return. If a hardwood
stand is to be kept at anything like its
maximum capacity, we must aim in all
operations to get rid of the large, over-
mature and decayed specimens which
are commonly called culls. Of course
this means much added expense during
the first operations, but it means also
a tremendous financial gain at future
cuts. On the whole, then, hardwoods
could probably be cut to advantage by
using an elastic diameter limit, taking
care in all cases to make such cuttings
as will improve the condition of the
stand.
The greatest future profit could prob-
ably be realized from hardwood stands
by underplanting with softwood species.
The consideration of lumbering
methods and markets hardly need be
commented on, as such studies would
be absolutely necessary to any operation.
WHAT FORESTRY HAS DONE.
Most people who have been interested
in the subject of conservation for the
past few years know that this move-
ment is nothing new to the world, but
that it has been practiced for centuries
by many of the European countries. In
fact forestry is practiced by every civil-
ized country in the world except China
and Turkey, and these countries, China
in particular, are glaring examples of
what deforestation can do to wreck
the prosperity of a nation.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
These two countries are close to the
bottom of the scale of civilization and
bring out well the force of the state-
ment that the progressiveness of a
country can be measured directly from
its practice of forestry.
England is the only exception to this
rule and before long she must take de-
cided steps in reforestation, as the tim-
ber exporting countries of Europe are
fast coming to the point where they
need at home all they are able to pro-
duce.
The principles of forestry are much
the same the world over and they may
be reduced to two fundamental princi-
ples. First, that of obtaining a maxi-
mum yield per acre from forest land;
second, cutting annually only what the
forests produce.
The European countries have passed
through the stage in which the United
States finds herself today. Forestry in
the United States as it is being put
forward by its exponents is not guess
work by mad theorists; it is a definite,
practical science, which has been worked
up by countries which have been forced
to provide a wood supply and forest
cover or perish from the earth. ‘The
countries which have gone farthest in
this direction and have the smallest
areas of waste land are those which
are the most prosperous and have the
brighest future. They are also the
countries which have spent the most
money per acre for forestry.
WHAT FORESTRY CAN DO.
By looking over the examples of
forestry in other countries, we can see
very plainly that forestry pays; and it
pays returns in a like proportion to the
money expended for proper manage-
ment.
The United States is as yet only in
the first stages of a good conservation
policy and it is extremely important
that, if we wish to preserve our pros-
perity, we learn from the experiences
of other countries, rather than wait to
be forced into the proper channels.
Forestry in the United States and
particularly in New York State can ac-
complish certain results. This is not
UNLOPPED TREE TOP.
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TREE
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FORESTRY AND FOREST RESOURCES IN NEW YORK
697
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WHITE PINE STAND IN NEED OF THINNING.
guess work, as we have history and
figures from European countries, there-
fore we are not starting out on some-
thing of which we do not know the final
outcome.
The variety and value of our forests
are unequalled anywhere in the world.
The transportation facilities of the
United States are the best in the world
and enable us to exploit all forest re-
gions so that timber best suited to cer-
tain uses can be so uesd.
Many of the large lumber companies
in the State are planting up their land.
The lumber companies of New York
are not doing this because it increases
the beauty of the country or to protect
the watersheds. ‘They are doing it be-
cause they consider it a good financial
investment.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
698
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LOGS ON THE SKIDWAY IN THE WOODS.
"TTIN HHL OL NHATAG ONIN SOOT
FORESTRY AND HORE ST RESOURCES IN NEW YORK
lumber as the size of the tree will per-
mit. ‘The timber will be grown in the
shortest possible time.
If we do not care to plant, and it
really is not necessary in many places,
the practice of good sane forestry will
cut our crop in such a manner that the
resulting conditions will be the best
possible for the future crop. It will
reproduce our stand to the species which
are the most valuable and it will de-
termine just when our crops should be
cut in order to yield the greatest finan-
cial return. It would also take into
consideration the market conditions.
For example, a practice of forestry
would not allow the cutting into cord-
wood or acid wood such trees as might
be sawn into $60 lumber.
In fact forestry means nothing more
nor less than getting the greatest yield
from a tract of woodland in the shortest
time at the least expense.
From a forestry standpoint condi-
tions over the greater part of the Adi-
rondacks are very poor. As Gifford
Pinchot said recently, “Forestry is prac-
ticed everywhere in New York State
except in the woods.” ‘There are some
exceptions to this, of course, but in the
main it is very true.
A crop started now would hardly be
mature by the time there is a serious
TOL
shortage of native timber and stumpage
will be a great deal more valuable than
at the present time. Bearing this in
mind, it is possible to do a great deal
now that the present market conditions
do not warrant.
Aside from the Adirondack and Cats-
kill regions there is a big opening for
forestry in connection with farms and
in the establishment of communal for-
ests. “There are over 4,000,000 acres
in farm wood lots and 2,000,000 acres
of unimproved farm land in New York
State. A great deal of this must re-
main under forest cover and where the
wood lots of the State are earning from
25 to 50 cents per acre per annum they
will furnish a net revenue under inten-
sive management of $4 to $5 per acre.
To sum up, a proper regard for the
principles of forestry will keep our
forest cover intact or practically so, it
will do away with fire and will there-
fore make our hill and mountain sides
the much needed reservoirs for our
streams and thereby save the country
from the waste of floods and insure the
maximum amount of power to our in-
dustries, as well as furnish them a
maximum supply of wood.
*Extracts from a recent bulletin issued by
the New York Conservation Commission.
AFFORESTATION IN SOUTH MANCHURIA
Saplings of pine and acacia trees were transplanted by hundreds of thousands last year
on the bare hillsides extending from Sungshoushan to East Chikuanshan, Port Arthur.
The
civil government office has decided to transplant over 800,000 saplings of scrub oak, pine, and
acacia in an area of about 360,000 tsubo (about 295 acres) on the same hillsides next year.
This will complete the afforestation program
for the range of hills running in the shape ofa
crescent along the northeast of the fortress town.
FORESTS IN CHILE
The Chilean Congress is seriously discussing a revision of the forestry laws of that
country with a view to preserving the large area of forests now m existence and to in-
creasing them in the arid portions of the country north of Valparaiso. past fer
reen cleared for agricultural purposes und it is still
years large areas of forest lands h
going on. : 4
The forests of Chile contain Se
roble, known as Chile oak, and very te.
furniture, giving a good polish and grau,
to equal the tree known for this property;
During the past few
; to “s
ces Of very useful timber, among them being
“re strength is required; railt, valuable for
ue, noted for its excellent tanning bark, said
ydtllay, or soap tree, very valuable for its bark
for cleansing purposes (it yields also fair timber) ; elmo, or elm, that grows very large an
makes about the best light lumber produced in the country.
THE SALVATION OF THE ALASKAN FUR SEAL
HERD
By Henry W: Exviort
HEN I returned in 1874 to the
(1) Smithsonian Institution, after
spending the seasons of 1872-74
on the Seal Islands of Alaska as the
agent of that establishment and of the
Treasury Department, I submitted the
results of my investigations and my col-
lections to Professors Henry and Baird.
One of the most interesting of the
returns was my census of the fur seal
herd, whereby I exhibited proof that
at least 4,700,000 seals of all classes
were in existence on and around the
Pribilof Islands during the summer of
1874. The complete elaboration and
publication of. this work was made in
1880-81, and published by the 10th Cen-
sus, U. S.. AS Vol: VIM and, by. the
U. S. Commission of Fish and Fish-
eries, as Special Bulletin 176, 1882.
In 1889, when the subject of whether
the lease should be renewed on the same
general terms as had been fixed in the
first one dated May 1, 1870, a dispute
arose as to the condition of this seal
herd, and the number of seals which
could be safely killed annually by the
lessees. The old lease permitted a max1-
mum of 100,000 per annum: but the
agent of the department in 1899, re-
ported that it was not possible or proper
to kill more than 60,000 in 1890, and
that that number should be fixed as the
maximum in the new lease, to date from
May 1, 1890, for 20 years.
Secretary Windom, accordingly, so
ordered it. His action stirred up bitter
criticism by the new lessees. He there-
fore sent for me and asked me to make
an investigation of the conditions as I
should find them on the islands. An
Act of Congress approved April 22,
1874, was my warrant for going as Sec-
retary Windom’s special agent for that
purpose. I landed on the Seal Islands
May 21, 1890, and went to work. I re-
turned and placed the finished report in
Mr. Windom’s hands on November 19,
1890.
I reported that I had found a “scant
million” of seals in the herd which num-
bered 4,700,000 in 1872-74. I urged
an immediate suspension of all work
of the lessees and submitted those rec-
ords of that killing which warranted this
suspension. I also asked that steps be
taken to induce Great Britain to co-op-
erate with us at once so as to prevent
any and all pelagic sealing, which had
suddenly become since 1886 a positive
and certain menace to the life of the
herd.
I objected to the claims being made
by Mr. Blaine of certain jurisdiction
over the open waters of Bering Sea and
of a property right in the bodies of the
seals no matter where and when they
were found at sea. I was so insistent
on this objection that I parted company
with Secretary Blaine April 22, 1891,
and withdrew from any and all connec-
tion with the Government in the prepa-
ration and submission of the case to the
3ering Sea Tribunal at Paris, 1891-93,
inclusive.
The result of the work of that tribu-
nal, when fully disclosed by the end of
the season of 1894, declared its flat fail-
ure to save the fur seal herd of Alaska
from the destruction it was to prevent.
Then ensued attempts to re-open and
revise these abortive rules and regula-
tions of the Bering Sea Tribunal begun
in 1895 by Governor Dingley in the
House and renewed by him in 1896, only
to end in the failure of each and every
move made to that end, until John Hay
took the subject up in 1900-1904 with
me. The Act of April 8, 1904, which
re-opened and provided for a revision
of-the Bering Sea Tribunal’s award,
was secured by my active personal work
and I was then asked by Mr. Hay to
frame up a treaty of settlement for this
vexatious dispute.
THE SALVATION OF THE ALASKAN FUR SEAL HERD 1703
HENRY W.
ELLIOTT.
“The man who did by far the most of the work that saveed the fur
seal industry to the people of the United States.”
I then prepared the first draft, which
was submitted to the Canadian Govern-
ment April 16, 1904, by Mr. Hay. It
was not satisfactory or definite enough
to meet Sir Wilfred Laurier’s idea; so
on Feb. 28, 1905, I outlined and submit-
ted to Mr. Hay the plan of “mutual
concession and joint control,’’ which is
now in effect. Then, on Mr. Hay’s re-
quest, the Senatorial Committee ( Gover-
nor Dillingham, Chairman), approved it
March 17, 1905. But Mr. Hay’s illness,
which caused him to leave the Depart-
ment of State March 15, 1905, never to
W. T. Hornaday.
return to resume his official duties,
caused a total suspension ef this work
until it was forced up and out Feb. 8,
1911, as follows:
The Canadians served notice on us in
1897-99 that as long as we fostered pri-
vate interests (1. e., leased the islands
to contractors) they would do nothing
to disturb their private interests at work
in killing seals at sea (i. e., the pelagic
hunters). I understood that sentiment
well in 1890-91, and vainly endeavored
then to get Mr. Blaine to recognize its
importance. John Hay promptly saw
AMERICAN FORESTRY
704.
DR. W. T.
the New
it, and approved the suggestion. The
lessees exerted their influence on him
as they had so successfully done on Mr.
Blaine, but in vain. Had John Hay not
fallen ill, March 14, 1905, this treaty of
today, the “Hay-Elliott” Treaty of
March 7-17, 1905, would have been in
effect by June, 1905.
Mr. Hay’s death, July 1, 1905, put the
lessees into the saddle again, and not a
move to disturb them was made by the
officialism in charge of this business un-
til they had nearly finished the full term
of their twenty-year lease, in 1909, and
then attempted to have it renewed with
HORNADAY.
A leading member of The Camp Fire Club of America and director of
York Zoological
Society.
the full consent and approval of the
Secretary of Commerce and Labor, Mr.
Nagel.
Then the trouble began for Nagel,
and incidentally for Knox. When the
semi-official press dispatches from Nagel
carried the news that he was about to re-
new that seal lease, the Camp Fire Club
of America, aroused by its sinister 1m-
port, warned Nagel not to do it; it 1s-
sued an appeal to the country which
was extensively published December 12,
1909; this publication set forth the rea-
sons why that lease was one of the chief
causes of destruction of the seal herd,
«x eet
Vi’
OF “POLAVINA”: SAINT PAUL’S ISLAND, PRIBYLOV GROUP: BERING SEA.
about 400,000 fur-seals, of all ages. The “bulls,” “cows” and “pups”? occupied the
the yearlings and “bachelor” seals. One mile from the foreground to the distant bluffs,
d off by these seals. Last summer, not one seal hauled out on
2,500 head now survive on this “rookery.”
THE “ROOKERY” AND “TTAULING GROUNDS”
This breeding-ground contained, in 1872, at the time the above picture was made,
space in the foreground, and the “hauling-grounds” in the rear were occupied by
and from 500 to 1,000 yards back from the cliffs, every vestige of grass and vegetation had been polishe
this great plateau, and the ground was covered with grass and flowers. Of the multitude shown above, not more than
706 AMERICAN
and urged all good citizens to write to
their representatives in the Senate and
the House to enact legislation which
would prevent its renewal, etc.
Under the lead of Dr. W. T. Horna-
day (who came to Washington), the
Camp Fire Club so stirred the Senate
Committee on Conservation of National
Resources, that on February 26, 1910, it
notified Nagel that that lease must not
be renewed. It then pasesd a bill in the
Senate, March 20, 1910, which repealed
the leasing law and which it believed
paved the way to an immediate taking
up of the Hay-Elliott treaty plan of
March %-17, 1905, and a close season of
at least five years to all commercial kill-
ing of seals on the Pribilof Islands.
But Secretary Nagel did not respect
this understanding with the Senate
Committee, and resumed the killing of
seals in 1910, taking 12,920 that year, of
which 7,733 were so taken in violation
of his own rules and the law. ‘This vio-
lation is now a matter of official record
and is indisputable.
This stirred the Camp Fire Club to
renewed action and, on Jan. 9, 1911,
Senator Knute Nelson introduced a bill
(S. 9959) which peremptorily sus-
pended Nagel’s work on the islands and
renewed the demand for a treaty to pre-
vent pelagic sealing. I sent to Senators
Nelson, Dillingham and Dixon the
proof of Canada’s willingness to imme-
diately sign with the State Department
a fur seal treaty based on the Hay-El-
liott memorandum, and Senator Dixon
himself, on January 19, 1911, took this
proof to the Department of State. It
was not denied there, and the officials
concerned declared that this treaty
would be speedily taken up with Can-
ada; that it would be submitted to the
Senate “in a few days,” etc.
On February 2, 1911, having heard
that this treaty was not being taken up,
Senator Dixon called a meeting of his
Committee on Conservation of National
Resources for February 4, 1911, and
summoned Hornaday, Nagel and my-
self to appear and to be heard on the
Nelson bill (S. 9959), then pending be-
fore it. The Committee asembled and
Messrs. Hornaday, Nagel and his offi-
FORESTRY
cials and I appeared promptly at 10 a.
m., when a message from the Secretary
of State was given to the Committee,
asking that no action be taken on the bill
since the “fur seal treaty would be sent
to the Senate by next Wednesday,” Feb.
8, etc., 1. e., a treaty between Great Brit-
ain and the United States. A treaty
was submitted. It was referred to the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
and on Feb. 15, 1911, reported back to
the Senate without amendment, and
ratified without a dissenting vote on that
same day. The terms of “mutual control
and concession” were kept secret until
Japan and Russia came into agreement
with them. This complete accord was
reached July 7, 1911, and the Senate
confirmed it July 24, 1911, two days
after it was received from the State
Department, without a dissenting vote,
or a word spoken on the floor!
This fur seal treaty now in effect is
exactly as I drew its terms in 1905, and
as it was approved then by John Hay,
Sir Mortimer Durand, the British Am-
bassador, and the Alaskan Committee,
consisting of Senators Dillingham, Nel-
son and Burnham. This proof of its
origin was distinctly given to the Sen-
ate when the bill putting it into effect
was passed by the Senate, August 15,
1912, by Senators Nelson and Dilling-
ham, and not disputed by a single soul
on that floor, but admittetd as such by
Senator Root.
Why was this bill putting into effect
that treaty of July 7, 1911, not passed
until August 15, 1912? Why was a bill
introduced December 21, 1911, not
acted upon until the late date just cited?
The reason is that its opponents delib-
erately drew a bill at the opening of the
session, in December last, which, if not
amended, would have nullified the ex-
press terms of the treaty itself and de-
feated the attainment most desired by
the treaty makers—the restoration of
this pitiful remnant of the herd now
surviving, to its former fine form and
numbers!
It should be distinctly and firmly held
in mind that this killing - “section
11” of that bill was drawn so that
the killing should be continued on
©,
ae MTA Til Bp eee alae ae ae SO
THE DESOLATE HAULING GROUNDS OF THE FUR-SEAL AT ENGLISH BAY: ST. PAUL’S ISLAND, PRIBYLOV GROUP: BERING SEA.
covered with tens of thousands of bachelor seals.
hich this field did not contain from 150,000 to
f 1909 there never were more than
872 there never was a day between the 20th of
During the breeding season of 1
never more than 5,000 bachelor seals ever were
350,000 bachelor seals. In 1890
In 1872 this field of view was
500 young male seals,
June and the 20th of October in_ whic!
seen upon it at any one time; and during the season o
708
the islands, just as it has been so done
during the last ten or twelve years, to
the great and unlawful injury of that
life so destroyed. It was the intention
of the framer of this bill that it should
be put through without any amendment
of Sec. 11. A report upon it was writ-
ten by the officers of the Department of
Commerce and Labor for Mr. Sulzer
who, on Feb. 3, 1912, presented this bill
to the House and also that report, H. RX.
No. 295 to accompany H. R. 16571.
Not a hint was given of any minority
objection to it in that Committee’s re-
port, and on Feb. 7, 1912, an attempt
was made to “railroad” it through
the House as an “urgent measure,
unanimously reported to the House.”
Only by accident did one of the
members of the Committee learn
what was being read at the Clerk’s
desk in time to prevent this action and
throw the bill over to the next week.
On Feb. 14 it was amended so as to or-
der a close time of one year, and then
passed over to the Senate for final con-
sideration.
In the Senate Committee on Foreign
Relations, on March 22d, 1912, this
“one year close time’? was amended so
as to give the herd ten years of rest;
and this bill was so reported and placed
on the Calendar. The Senate Foreign
Relations Committee carefully reviewed
the whole history of this treaty as it
had been ratified July 7-24, 1911, and
found that it was the same one which |
had drawn for John Hay in 1905 and
that it carried a distinct order for a
close time on the islands of “10 or 12
years” from the date of its acceptance.
The conditions demanding a close time
in 1905 were not as imperative as they
were in 1911, and there was no logic in
the arguments used by Nagel’s “‘scien-
tists’ against it. Doctors Jordan, Stej-
neger, Merriam, Lucas and Townsend
AMERICAN FORESTRY
+
all declared that if these young male
seals were not annually killed off to
leave not more than 5% of their normal
number, they would grow up to fight so
savagely among themselves on _ the
breeding grounds that they would
greatly injure the prosperity of the herd.
One advocate recorded the opinion that
in fifteen years’ time the species would
exterminate itself!
When this Senate Committee had
finally perfected the House bill, and it
was placed on the Senate Calendar,
March 22, 1912, then the opponents
tried to so delay the consideration of it
in the Senate that it would not be
brought up until the last hour of the ses-
sion, with adjournment close at hand.
Then the plan was to try and force the
House bill on the Senate as the only one
which could be agreed upon. This fail-
ing, they were to let the bill die in con-
ference, and rush through in lieu of it
a joint resolution paying the $400,000
“advance” money ordered by the treaty,
leaving the treaty in effect, and permit-
ting the killing on the islands.
This scheme was recognized in time
by several wise Senators, and very soon
it became evident that the scheme pro-
posed would fail to work. It did not
work. The bill was called up and put
through August 15, 1912, just as the
Senate Committee had reported it, with
the full ten years close time amendment.
In conference with the House a compro-
mise was fixed at five years as a “close
time,” and in that form the bill passed
both Houses on August 19, 1912.
Thus was the fur seal industry finally
fought for and saved to the nation. Now
when that herd is surveyed, five years
hence, by a competent authority, the
condition of it will be known. If it is
wise to resume killing, or not, it will be
apparent, and the facts will govern
action in the premises.
A WORKING EROSION MODEL FOR SCHOOLS
709
A WORKING EROSION MODEL FOR SCHOOLS
By Don Cartos ELLIS
WORKING model showing the
processes of erosion on defor-
ested slopes has been a feature
of exhibits made by the Forest Service
at recent expositions. It shows the
working out of the natural phenomena
so well, and is so simple and inexpen-
sive to construct, that a description is
here given of a similar model which
might be erected in schools for the use
of classes in nature study, elementary
agriculture, and physical geography.
The model consists of two hills slop-
ing down into two valleys through
which two streams wind in and out
through farm land and lead into two
lakes at the front of the landscape.
(Fig. 1.) Both hills are made of the
same kind of soil, that of the region in
which the model is erected, but one is
covered thickly with twigs, young trees,
or shrubs, to simulate a forest, under-
neath which is a heavy carpet of moss
representing the layer of leaves and
twigs which covers the ground in the
real forest, while the other hill is bare
of all vegetation.
By means of a suitable sprinkling de-
vice water in the form of rain is made
to fall with equal force upon the two
hills. On the forested slope its fall is
broken by the foliage and it drops
gently upon the moss-covered surface
of the ground. The moss and the soil
beneath, which is kept soft and porous
by the protective cover, quickly absorb
the rain and allow it to seep out as clear
water farther down the slope, thus
forming a mountain stream which flows
through a green and fertile valley into a
clear lake at the lower end of the model.
On the other slope the rain beating
down upon the unprotected and hard-
ened surface washes deep gullies in the
hillside, carries the soil into the turbid
stream which drains the valley below,
and thence into a muddy lake. ‘The
erosion on the slope loosens stones,
which are carried down upon the valley
farms; the silt deposited in the channel
710 AMERICAN
of the stream diverts the water, which
opens up gullies through the dry land;
the main stream is made shallower and
wider and often overflows into the
fields; islands and silt bars rise in the
stream; and deltas are built up in char-
acteristic form at the entrance to the
lake.
The erosion processes which work
themselves out in this model, the wear-
ing down of the hill, the silting up of
the stream bed, the gradual shifting of
the course of the stream, the formation
of deltas and sand bars in the lake, and
the gradual opening up of watercourses
through them are all typical of the proc-
esses constantly going on in nature and
show strikingly the close relationship
between forests and surface formation.
It is the same process of erosion on a
larger scale which, after the destruction
of our forests, causes the removal of
the top soil from our slopes, cuts them
up into gullies, and deposits sand and
POR SRY:
gravel upon the fertile alluvial soil of
the bottom lands, in storage reservoirs,
or in the channels of streams, where it
impedes navigation and causes over-
flow.
While the model is not intended pri-
marily to show more than the erosion
processes, it can be used to show also
that a forest-covered slope acts as a res-
ervoir in impounding the water and al-
lowing it to seep slowly into the
streams, and, on the other hand, that
water runs off the surface of a bare
slope as soon as it falls, resulting in
floods when the precipitation is heavy
and in droughts during a dry season.
If the sprinkler is stopped and all the
water taken out of both of the streams
and the lakes, the lake on the forested
side will, within a few hours, receive
a considerable amount of water as seep-
age from the wooded hillside, while the
other lake will remain practically
empty.
HIGHER PRICES WILL CONSERVE FORESTS
By N. P. WHEELER
ber and its products will tend to
conserve the forests. When tim-
ber is cheap it is wasted; for, when cut,
it is not worked up, nearly as close as
when more valuable. I am confident
there has been more timber burned up
and destroyed in the State of Pennsyl-
vania than has been manufactured. I
have seen 8 or 10 acres of the finest
white and red oak girdled just to kill it,
so that it could be burned up to clear the
land. In fact, that was the common
way of clearing the land, the only way
of marketing in those days was by man-
ufacturing by water power and seeping
down the tributaries of the Allegheny
and the Allegheny and Ohio to Cincin-
nati and Louisville. Only the best of
the white pine was taken. The stumps
cut breast high and fifteen feet of the
bulk of every tree left in the woods and
all the tops above the limbs. Not to ex-
ceed 50% of the selected tree was taken,
| Oies prices for standing tim-
the rest being left to rot. No hardwoods
could be floated and were therefore not
considered valuable. I have seen white
pine girdled to kill it to clear the land.
Once when our rafts were lying by for
high water in the Ohio a larger mass of
fence rails brought down by the high
water collected behind the rafts. To
my surprise I found these fence rails
were the finest of black walnut. When
the tanneries first came up into Western
Pennsylvania hemlock was cut just for
the bark, and thousands of acres after
the bark was taken off were left to rot
or burn. Now that hemlock has become
valuable, it is all gathered up that will
make lumber. In many places the limbs,
tops and branches are gathered up for
pulpwood and not enough left to make a
bad fire, thereby protecting and con-
serving the forest. When blackened
over by fire it cannot be used for pulp-
wood. These are some of the reasons
why I am confident higher prices will
tend to conserve the forests.
—ew
A NEW PROCESS FOR THE PROTECTION AND PRES-
ERVATION OF STANDING TELEGRAPH AND
TELEPHONE POLES
By E. A.
ODERN methods of transporta-
tion and communication have
caused such a drain on the timber
resources of the country that high
prices and an ultimate exhaustion of
certain species grades will be the in-
evitable result. The use of wood is
universal everywhere, but nowhere is it
more strikingly shown than in the
enormous number of poles which dot
the landscape everywhere, their most
general use being for telegraph, tele-
phone, trolley, and electric transmission
lines.
The pole lines in the United States
approximate eight hundred thousand
miles in length, and the number of
poles in actual service is not less than
thirty-two million. The annual con-
sumption for renewals and new lines
amounts to nearly four million poles,
or nearly five poles per mile per an-
num, the actual figures for 1910 being
3,870,694. The extent of the drain on
the forests which this represents may
be judged from the fact that a perfectly
stocked German forest produces only
250 trees per acre, so that on this basis
the poles now standing would represent
all of the timber growing on over 130,-
000 acres. Actually in this country,
considerably less than one hundred
poles are cut per acre, so that for the
poles now in use forest areas aggre-
gating nearly half a million acres have
been cut over, and to furnish the poles
for renewals some 50,000 additional
acres are cut over each year, or at the
rate of over 100 acres per day.
Cedar furnished the material for
nearly 63% of the poles renewed in
1910; while chestnut, although avail-
able only in a limited territory, ranked
second with 17%. The supply of cedar
is distinctly limited and will soon be
STERLING
exhausted, while the wide prevalence
of the chestnut bark disease threatens
to remove this species from the market
within a few years. The maintenance
of a cedar pole supply by new growth is
not even a remote probability, because
of the slow growth of the species. A
report of the National Electric Light
Association states that thirty-foot cedar
poles lasting 14 years have taken about
190 years to reach that size, thus it
would require 13 growing cedars to
continue in service one 30-foot cedar
pole. To maintain one 30-foot chestnut
pole, even in a healthy growth unaf-
fected by the blight, would require four
growing trees. These facts indicate
clearly the necessity of preserving the
poles now in use as well as those used
for current renewals.
The available statistics indicate an
average life per pole of from 13 1-2
years for cedars to 6 1-2 years for
pine; the general average based on
present renewals being about ten years.
A report of the German government
shows an average life of only 7.7 years
on 153,626 untreated poles under ob-
servation. Until recently practically all
poles in this country were used in their
natural state, and great waste has been
occasioned by their rapid decay where
in contact with the ground. The U. S.
Forest Service estimates that, for poles,
95% are destroyed by decay, 4% by
insects and 1% by mechanical abrasion.
In 1910, 825,000, or nearly 25%, re-
ceived preservative treatment either be-
fore or after purchase, and this should
lengthen their life from 50 to 100 per
cent. While the treatment of a pole
before it is set is advantageous, it adds
very materially to the initial cost and
will not check the increasing consump-
tion until a greater per cent are treated,
711
AVMY CitldVwoS
AOVId NI SGOX DNIOVdS AVOAG LIOS GNV WIOd GNNOUV NOILVAVOXS
THE FORM IN PLACE. POURING THE FILLER INTO THE FORM.
714 AMERICAN
or until the majority now in place have
been removed. A more immediate sav-
ing, and one which would save the cost
of the poles as well as the expense of
resetting them, would be a treatment
which could be applied successfully to
the millions of poles now in place.
The conditions under which poles are
used vary so greatly that an average
cost figure for pole renewals is difficult
to determine. Generally speaking, the
cost may vary from $1 to $2 per pole
for country telephone lines to $100 or
more for the high poles in city streets.
The initial cost of the pole varies from
$1.80 for a 25-foot cedar pole to $16.21
for a 60-foot pole of the same, or
$17.08 for a chestnut pole of the same
length, to which must be added the
labor of setting, restringing wires, ac-
cessories, etc. A fair average for a
commercial line along railroads or
through country districts, with three to
five cross-arms, would be about $10 per
pole, including all items. This would
mean that the poles now in use in the
country represent a value of $320,000,-
000, and that the annual renewals cost
in the neighborhood of $40,000,000. It
is obvious that any treatment which
can be applied to the standing poles,
and which will increase the life of those
now in use even a few years, will result
in an enormous saving.
Practically all poles fail at the ground
line because of decay, and on account
of this weakening at the base have to
be replaced or cut off and reset, while
the top portion is still sound. This de-
cay 1s caused by wood-destroying fungi
which have a definite origin and de-
velop under the same fixed laws of
growth that govern the higher forms
of vegetable life. Fungus growth has
its origin in microscopic spores which
are comparable to the seeds of plants,
and as they are present nearly every-
where, it merely remains for them to
find favorable conditions under which
to germinate and develop the micro-
scopic threads which permeate the
tissues of the wood and destroy its
texture. The fundamental factors
necessary for the growth of fungi are
moisture, air, and a certain degree of
warmth.
FORESTRY
These conditions are found in favor-
able combination at the ground line of
poles, where the moisture from the
earth keeps the surface of the wood
moist, and where, just underneath the
surface, the soil maintains, except dur-
ing the winter season, a stifficient de-
gree of warmth for the fungi to de-
velop. It follows, therefore, that the
decay of poles appears from a few
inches above the ground line to a dis-
tance of a foot or more beneath, the
air being more or less excluded at the
basal portion of a pole; while above the
ground line, under ordinary conditions,
insufficient moisture is present for the
rapid development of decay.
Despite the clearly defined factors
which cause the decay of poles at the
ground line, and the annual renewal of
millions of poles still sound at the top,
no definite steps have been taken until
recently to reduce or prevent this waste
of timber. There has recently been de-
vised by an old gentleman living in
New Jersey a plan which promises to
materially reduce the consumption of
poles and greatly increase the life of
those now standing. If it succeeds it
will be another step in the reduction of
the drain on our forest resources.
What is now known as the Lamb
pole treatment first renders innocuous
the decay which has already started,
and then seals the ground line portion
of the pole with an impervious preser-
vative coating, which prevents the
evaporation of the preservative previ-
ously applied and prevents further de-
cay by entirely eliminating air and
moisture.
The whole process is simple and in-
expensive, and consists of first remov-
ing the dirt around the base of the
pole to a depth of two to two and a half
feet, and scraping or cutting off the
decayed portions of the wood. A hot
brush treatment of coal tar creosote is
then applied liberally, which kills the
living organisms of decay and pene-
trates the outer tissues of the wood.
A fire-proof casing is. then placed
around the pole, the upper portion ex-
tending about six inches above the
ground line and the lower portion from
eighteen inches to two feet below, mak-
NEW PROCESS FOR PRESERVATION OF- TELEGRAPH POLES 715
ing a total length of from two to two
and one-half feet. This casing is held
out from the pole by spacing rods
which leave about a half inch opening
between the pole and the casing at the
solid portions and a greater space
where decay has existed.
After the casing is in place, the dirt
is tamped in at the bottom up to the
base of the casing, and inside of the
form is poured a hot preparation of
pitch which will yield a distillate of
high boiling and high gravity creosote
oil. The pitch, after it hardens, will
form a perfect bond with the creosoted
surface of the wood and entirely pre-
vent the entrance of air, moisture, or
other agencies favorable to decay, and
at the same time prevent the evapora-
tion of the creosote which was applied
by brush treatment to the decayed sur-
face. The creosote in the pitch -acts
as an additional toxic agent in destroy-
ing and preventing all forms of decay.
Experiments have shown that this pitch
filler will not only form a perfect bond
with the wood and remain in absolutely
close contact in all climatic changes, but
it also entirely fills all surface checks
Sag F 2* aay te "43
ox ine ra
-. ae OPN
Ma ah Be AN 8 ake
te,
FINISHED POLE
and, to a slight degree, penetrates the
wood. After the pitch has been poured
in and has cooled, the dirt is thrown
back around the pole and tamped tight
and a protective fireproof covering or
cap of cement is applied; or, if the
filler is poured to within only about
two inches of the top, the edges of the
fireproof casing can be bent over and
tacked to the pole, thus eliminating the
use of a cement cap.
The cost of the Lamb pole protective
treatment is but a fraction of the cost
of putting in a new pole, and under
average conditions one year’s increase
in the life of a pole will pay for the
treatment. The average pole has a life
of about ten years, and the cost of re-
placement is averaged at $10, hence the
annual charge on a 4 per cent com-
pound interest basis amounts to about
$1.25 per pole. If properly treated at
the ground line a conservative estimate
places the increase in life at from 5 to
10 years. To double the life of poles
would mean a saving of 2,000,000 poles
per year, which is equivalent to the pole
timber on at least 25,000 acres of
heavily stocked forest.
ON SLOPE.
716
AMERICAN FORESTRY
FALL CREEK THREE MILES EAST OF
PINES IN
BORING TREES.
ITHACA.
STRUCTED AT THE LOCATION INDICATED BY THE TWO ARROWS.
FOREGROUND ARE THE RESULT OF NATURAL SEEDING FROM
THE PROPOSED DAM WILL BE CON-
YOUNG WHITE
NEIGH-
FOREST PLANTING AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY
By JoHN BENTLEY, JR.
(Assistant Professor,
Department of Forestry, New York State College of
Agriculture at Cornell University.)
many and far-reaching; and when
that University is still growing
and enlarging its sphere of usefulness
year by year, it becomes necessary to
iook far into the future and anticipate
‘future needs by wise and prompt action
in the present. Cornell University has
developed so rapidly in the last few
years, and in particular, the work of
the Agricultural College has increased
and broadened so much, that it is al-
most impossible to keep the equipment
up to the demands forced upon it.
Among the projects which the Univer-
sity hee in mind to meet the increasing
demands is the building of a large
reservoir, on Fall Creek, for the pur-
pose of storing up water enough to
supply the needs for power, light, and
domestic uses. Dependence is now
placed on Fall Creek, which carries
Oe needs of a big University are
enough water at certain times of the
year; but there are times in the sum-
mer, and especially in dry seasons,
when the amount of water in the creek
is inadequate. It has therefore become
necessary to make provision for an in-
creased supply. This, it was found
upon investigation, could be done to
best advantage by impounding suff-
cient water at a convenient place to
make possible an increased flow in the
stream at times of low water, or at any
other time when the need might arise.
Fortunately, a good natural reser-
voir site existed on Fall Creek about
three miles east of the University. At
this point in its course, the stream has
cut through one of the numerous ridges
which are a common tenet
feature of this part of the country; a
dam placed at this cut would flood a
large area up stream, and impound a
FOREST PLANTING AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY
large amount of water. Here, then,
was a solution to the problem, “More
water.” The land, including the reser-
voir-site, together with a considerable
area immediately surrounding it, has
been acquired by the University during
the past two or three years, and plans
are now under way for the construction
of a dam and the preparation of the
site for a large reservoir.
The dam will be constructed to a
height of fifty feet and this will cause
the stream to flood an area of approxi-
mately 220 acres. The depth of the
water will vary, but over an extensive
part of the area it will average 25 feet.
The capacity of the reservoir, when
full, will be one hundred and fifty mil-
lion cubic feet. No power plant will
be installed at the reservoir, nor will
there be any transmission-line; the ob-
ject of the development is simply to
make possible an increased flow of
water from time to time as necessity
requires, for the proper operation of
the present power-plant which is situ-
ated near the University and about two
miles below the reservoir-site, on Fall
Creel:
rile
At the time the land was acquired it
became necessary to purchase consider-
able land which was not actually
needed, either because the owners did
not care to divide their property, or
because the properties were so situated
that division would be impracticable.
It therefore happens that there is an
area of approximately one hundred and
eighty acres which borders the reser-
voir site, and which will be above the
high water line after the dam has been
built and the reservoir filled. The ques-
tion immediately arose: What shall be
done with this land above the high
water line? It was considered inad-
visable for several reasons to have ten-
ants occupying those portions of the
farms that would be left above the high
water line, and it also seemed impracti-
cable to maintain the land in a state of
cultivation. It was, therefore, pro-
posed to reforest such portions of it as
were not already occupied by trees, and
establish an unbroken forest cover
which would serve a double purpose.
Not only would erosion be checked, but
the University would have, in process
of growth, a stand of timber which will
LOOKING OVER LAND THAT WILL BE FLOODED. THE FARM BUILDINGS IN THE PHO-
TOGRAPH WILL BE TORN DOWN AND REMOVED BECAUSE THEY ARE BELOW THE
HIGH-WATER LEVEL OF THE PROPOSED RESERVOIR,
elles:
AMERICAN FORESTRY
GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE LAND TO BE RE-FORESTED. A GROWTH OF TREES AND
SHRUBS IS ALREADY PRESENT ON STEEP BANKS AND ALONG OLD FENCE LINES.
some day be of considerable value. The
checking of erosion is, of course, of
present and permanent value in that it
will prevent to a large degree the wash-
ing of soil and silt into the reservoir,
and the timber will eventually have a
very high value, because of the con-
stantly diminishing supply and the re-
sulting increase in timber values. This
project, therefore, is another example
of the increasingly large number of
forest tree plantations which are being
established for the purpose of con-
serving water, preventing destructive
floods and erosion, and the ultimate
production of timber.
When the plans of the University
had progressed this far, the Forestry
Department of the New York State
College of Agriculture offered to take
over the work of establishing the tree
plantations on the borders of the reser-
voir; and this proposition met with
such favor that the work was begun
this spring. It is expected that the
work of tree planting will continue in
following years until those portions of
the land which are not already occupied
by trees will be planted with species
of trees suitable to the soil and to the
varying conditions which exist on the
tract.
The work of the present year con-
sisted in planting twenty thousand
trees, mostly white pine, on about
eighteen acres of land. The trees were
obtained from the New York State
Conservation Commission, and _ fully
ninety-five per cent of the trees planted
were four-year-old white pines. A
small plot is also planted with Scotch
pine, western yellow pine and Norway
pine, for the purpose of experimenta-
tion. ‘That the conditions on this tract
are favorable for the growth of white
pine is shown by the fact that white
pine grows abundantly on the sur-
rounding hills and slopes which have
not been cleared in the past for agricul-
tural purposes. Further evidence that
the conditions are adapted to the
growth of white pine is obtained from
the fact that in fields which have not
been plowed or cultivated for several
years, an advance growth of white pine
seedlings is slowly but surely occupying
the ground. Figure 1 illustrates some
of this advance growth which has
sprung up naturally on one of the
steeper slopes just at the water line.
In several other places a large number
of young white pine seedlings, not
more than four or five years old, were
discovered during the course of the
FOREST PLANTING AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY
719
STUDENTS OF THE NEW YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE AT CORNELL UNIVER-
SITY PLANTING 4-YEAR-OLD WHITE PINE ON LAND ABOVE HIGH-WATER LINE.
planting, which seems to indicate that
the plantation should be successful,
even though the soil is in some places a
rather heavy clay.
The trees were shipped from the
New York State. nurseries in the
Adirondacks, and reached Ithaca about
the 25th of April,—a little late for
climatic conditions as they exist in this
part of the State, but the best that
could be done, considering that the
nurseries are situated much further to
the north, where the season is at least
two weeks later than at Ithaca. They
were taken out and heeled in immedi-
ately near the planting ground, and the
actual work of planting was done dur-
ing the two succeeding weeks by stu-
dents in the New York State College
of Agriculture, who were _ taking
courses offered in forestry. ‘The stu-
dents worked in crews of two each, as
shown in figures 4 and 5, one man car-
rying a bucket containing the trees and
doing the planting, while the other one
preceded him, digging holes for the
trees with a mattock. This method
was followed on a large part of the
area in preference to planting in fur-
rows turned up by the plow, because it
was found that the surface soil, im-
mediately under the sod, could be
utilized to best advantage when plant-
ing in holes with the mattock; whereas
much of the best soil was turned up
and made unavailable when the plow
was used. ‘The trees were spaced ap-
proximately six feet apart each way,
making about twelve hundred trees to
the acre. It is believed that this spacing
is close enough, considering the favor-
able climatic conditions which prevail
in this part of the country; and if it is
found necessary, on account of losses,
to fill up the fail-spots in subsequent
years, this can be done at very little
extra cost or labor.
The pianting was completed on May
11, after two weeks of continuous
work, during which the weather was
extremely favorable. ‘The days were
almost invariably clear and warm,
while frequent showers feil at night
during the period of planting; and im-
mediately following the work several
heavy showers occurred which were
sufficient to give the newly planted
trees plenty of moisture. In some
places the soil was rather wet for ideal
planting, but taking everything into
720 AMERICAN FORESTRY
consideration, it was much better to
have had the soil moist than dry, espe-
cially where the soil was of a clay com-
position. Counts made on June 14
showed that 99 per cent of the trees
were living, and had made a good start
on their current year’s growth.
The photographs illustrate portions
of the tract on which the planting was
done. A few old farm buildings will
have to be removed, and while a part
of the land is good for agricultural
purposes, it is of first importance that
the borders of the reservoir be pro-
tected from washing by rains, and that
every precaution be taken to insure a
sanitary, permanent ground-cover.
This operation is of interest because
it forms a concrete example of the
value of tree planting. The planting
will continue under the supervision of
the department of forestry, and the
students for several years to come will
thus have an opportunity of doing prac-
tical tree planting. In future years the
plantation will have an added value be-
cause it can be made the subject of
detailed study, and it will always serve
as a “demonstration plantation” which
has as its double object the conserva-
tion of water and the production of
timber.
THE STUDENTS PLANTING WHITE PINE IN SQUARE-HOLES MADE WITH A MATTOCK.
GEOR. GREEN “Al. STADE COLLEGE
_Mr. George R. Green, recently Assistant Forester of Ohio, and a graduate of the:
University of Michigan, under Dr. Roth, of the class of 1910, has been appointed an
instructor in the department of forestry at the Pennsylvania State College.
LUMBERMEN AND FORESTERS CO-OPERATE
CoMMITTEES OF EXPERtTs To INVESTI-
GATE MATTERS OF VITAL IMPOR-
TANCE TO ALL FOREST AND TIMBER
INTERESTS IN THE ENDEAVOR TO
SECURE PRACTICAL RESULTS.
UMBERMEN, timberland own-
I ers, representatives of fire protec-
tion associations, State foresters
and delegates of the American Forestry
Association held meetings during the
Fourth Conservation Congress at In-
dianapolis on Oct. 1, 2, 3 and 4, which
resulted in developments of the utmost
importance to all concerned and the
interests which they represented. The
outcome of the conferences will be,
it is expected, the reduction, to a prac-
tical working basis, of various theories,
plans, experiences and proposals, re-
garding matters of vital concern to
cutters, owners and preservers of the
forests of the United States.
It was decided, following two or
three sessions each day, at which the
subject was discussed from all stand-
points, that committees are to be ap-
pointed to make a thorough investiga-
tion of questions such as the timberland
taxation problem, top lopping, replant-
ing, reforestation, fire protection pub-
licity, etc., as the main committee may
select.
These investigating committees, com-
posed of the most able experts upon
the matters about which inquiries are
to be made, will, by the time the next
Conservation Congress is held in 1913,
be able to report as their finding, it is
hoped, definite conclusions which will
be reported and discussed, according to
present plans, at one whole day’s session
of the Congress devoted to that pur-
pose.
In the meantime AMERICAN FORESTRY
is to keep all who are interested in-
formed of the progress the committees
are able to report from time to time.
It has for some time been evident
that the handling of forestry and lum-
bering matters in a practical construc-
tive way by the real workers, and the
crystallization of loose agitation into
sound and definite policies would be of
the greatest possible benefit to all who
are interested in the proper cutting and
the conservation of the forests, and it
was with this object in view that the
sessions, for the discussion of ways and
means to bring it about, were held.
The American Forestry Association,
as the national organization for the con-
servation of the forests, is to take gen-
eral charge of the work. A committee
consisting of Capt. J. B. White, the
retiring president of the Fourth Con-
servation Congress, and one of the lead-
ing lumbermen of the United States,
E. T. Allen, forester for the Western
Forestry and Conservation Association,
and one of the foremost workers for
forest conservation in the country, and
Chief forester Henry S. Graves of the
Forest Service, are to confer with the
executive committee of the American
Forestry Association in the selection of
the committees and the questions to be
investigated. This is to be done within
a very short time and the important
work will be well under way, it is
anticipated, before the new year.
Mr. E. T’. Allen presided at the con-
ferences, and at the outset spoke of the
necessity of getting together for prac-
tical work. There followed several ses-
sions at which plans were discussed,
and at the same time many of those
present gave their views on the taxation
question, various plans for the protec-
tion of the forests from fire, methods
of fire protection, publicity as an aid
to this protection, and fer increasing
the strength of forestry erganizations,
and much that was of practical value
was learned. Among the speakers were
FE. T. Allen, Everett G. Griggs, I. C.
Williams, John M. Woods, F. W. Rane,
N. P. Wheeler, R. D. Swales, Wm.
Irvine, Geo. E. Watson, T. B. Wyman,
H. P. Baker, F. W. Besley, F. A. Elliott,
George K. Smith, Henry FE. Hardtner,
Leonard Bronson, J. scott, Dr P:
721
722
Simmons, delegates Charles Lathrop
Pack, E. A. Sterling, Col. W. R. Brown,
Dr. H. S. Drinker and P. 5. Ridsdale
of the American Forestry Association,
and a number of others.
Following these discussions a com-
mittee consisting of Messrs. Drinker,
Besley, Simmons, Hardtner and Rids-
dale presented resolutions to the Con-
servation Congress of which the follow-
ing were adopted:
“Believing that the necessity of pre-
serving our forests and forest industries
is so generally realized that it calls only
for constructive support along specific
lines:
“We recommend the work of the
Federal Forest Service, and uige our
constituent bodies and all citizens to
insist upon more adequate appropria-
tions for this work, and to combat any
attempt to break down the integrity of
the national forest system by reductions
in area or transfer to State authority.
“Since Federal cooperation under the
Weeks law is stimulating better forest
protection by the States, and since the
appropriation for such cooperative work
is nearly exhausted, we urge appropria-
tion by Congress for its continuance.
“We recommend that the Federal
troops be made systematically available
for emergency service in controlling
forest fires.
“Deploring the lack of uniform State
activity in forest work we emphatically
urge the crystallization of effort in the
lagging States toward securing the crea-
tion of forest departments with definite
and ample appropriations, in no case of
less than $10,000 per annum, to enable
the organization of forest fire work,
publicity propaganda, surveys of forest
resources and general investigations
upon which to base the earliest possible
development of perfected and liberally
financed forest policies.
“We recommend in all States more
liberal appropriation for forest fire pre-
vention, especially for patrol to obviate
expenditure for fighting neglected fires,
and the expenditure of such effort in
the closest possible cooperation with
Federal and private protective agencies ;
and also urge such special legislation
AMERICAN FORESTRY
and appropriation as may be necessary
to stamp out insect and fungous attacks
which threaten to spread to other
States. We cite for emulation the ex-
penditure by Pennsylvania of $275,000
to combat the chestnut blight, and the
large appropriation by Massachusetts
to control insect depredation, and urge
greater congressional appropriation for
similar work by the Bureau of Ento-
mology.
“Holding that conservative forest
management and reforestation by pri-
vate owners are very generally discour-
aged or prevented by our methods of
forest taxation, we recommend State
legislation to secure the most moderate
taxation of forest land consistent with
justice and the taxation of the forest
crop upon such land only when the crop
is harvested and returns revenue where-
with to pay the tax.
“We appreciate the increasing sup-
port of lumbermen of forestry reforms
and suggest particularly to forest
owners the study and emulation of the
many cooperative patrol associations
which are doing extensive and efficient
forest fire work and also securing closer
relations between private, State and
Federal forest agencies. Believing that
lumbermen and public have a common
object in perpetuating the use of forests,
we indorse every means of bringing
them together in mutual aid and con-
fidence to this end.”
During the sessions a paper by Chief
Forester Henry S. Graves, who was
unable to be present, was read. A
portion of it appears in another section
of this issue.
At the Friday session of the Congress
Major Everett G. Griggs, president of
the National Lumber Manufacturers
Association, read a paper in which he
criticised the manner in which choice
timberlands have been exchanged and
defended the association of which he
is president, declaring the body is not
an unlawful combination of manufac-
turers. He declared the greatest de-
velopment in forest conservation and
fire prevention originated in such asso-
ciations, and that the principal theories
advocated by conservationists are upper-
LUMBERMEN AND FORESTERS CO-OPERATE
most in the minds of members of the
associations. Major Griggs urged that
consumers of lumber use odd and short
lengths as one means of conservation.
He said the low grades of lumber, slabs
and waste from a mill must bring
enough money when sold to pay for
the labor expended in saving them and
that with rising values of timber and
utilization of lower grades of lumber,
the product of the entire tree will be
saved. He also advocated workmen’s
compensation laws and pointed out the
good and bad features of the compen-
sation law which now exists in Wash-
ington.
EF. T. Allen, forester of the Western
Forestry and Conservation Association,
spoke on “Conservation Redefined.”
Among other things he said:
What our forests need most 1s
more patrolmen ; more trails and tele-
phones; more funds and organization
to marshal the fire-fighting crews
when required; better fire laws and
courts that will enforce them; public
appreciation that forest fire depart-
ments are as necessary as city fire de-
partments; more consideration for
life and property by the fool that is
careless with match and spark; reali-
zation by more lumbermen that it
pays in more ways than one to do
their part; State officials who will
handle State laws intelligently; tax
laws that will permit good private
management; consumers who will
take closely utilized products. A few
other things need specific study and
action.
Do not think me lacking in ideals
when I say that our greatest need is
vigor and skill in appealing to human
selfishness. The altruist comes to us
unsought. But to reach the hand
with the torch, the vote withheld, the
word unspoken, we must find the
man, make him listen, and show the
cost of forest destruction to his par-
ticular home and pocketbook.
Capt. J. B. White, the president of
the Congress, in his address spoke of the
723
meaning of conservation to lumbermen
and said:
“We must protect our forests by
preventing forest fires. Government
and State appropriations must be
made sufficient for this purpose. In
the report of the Conservation Com-
mission to the President it is stated
that fifty million acres are burned
over annually, and since 1870 there
has been lost each year an average
of 50 lives and $50,000,000 worth of
timber. ‘The lumbermen’s interests
are to prevent fires and to stop waste ;
and they are anxious to co-operate
with the State and with associations
for this purpose, and are already do-
ing so in many places. The true,
saving features of forestry are be-
coming better understood, and better
applied ; and we will save our forests,
and will grow trees wherever neces-
sary and profitable, the same as any
other crop; and there will be no tim-
ber famine in the near or distant
future.”
On Friday evening after the adjourn-
ment of the Congress the Indiana Lum-
bermen’s Association tendered a ban-
quet to the visiting lumbermen and for-
esters at which Capt. J. B. White was
the guest of honor.
The Congress elected as its new presi-
dent Mr. Charles Lathrop Pack, of
Lakewood, N. J., who is a director of
the American Forestry Association.
Mr. Pack is the owner of extensive
timber lands and is one of the best
informed men on forest conservation in
the United States, and he has for many
years taken a deep interest in the work
of the Conservation Congress and of
the American Forestry Association. It
is believed that Mr. Pack and the ex-
ecutive committee of the Congress will
be willing to set aside one day of the
next Congress for consideration of the
reports which are to be made by the
committees soon to be appointed to in-
vestigate the matters in which the lum-
bermen and foresters are so greatly
interested.
724
AMERICAN FORESTRY
CHARLES LATHROP PACK,
President of the Conservation Congress, elected Oct. 4,
a director of the
American
1912.
Association.
He is also
Forestry
MR. CHARLES LATHROP PACK
President, National Conservation Congress
ROC EAR a oral A siabike Ode
PACK’S interest in affairs has
been broad and constructive. He
is an active and busy business man,
who finds time for public usefulness.
As a resident of Cleveland, Ohio, he
has held various positions of trust. As
president of the Cleveland Chamber of
Commerce, he was one of the small and
active group of men whose work made
eifective progréss “for a oreater. and
better Cley eland.
For many years, Mr. Pack has been
a trustee of Western Reserve University
of Cleveland, where in civic work as
well as in business, he had as an asso-
ciate Dr. H. A. Garfield, now president
of Williams College.
He is well known as an authority
on economic forestry matters, and was
one of the first Americans to study
Forestry in Germany. After his return
from Germany, he explored in the pine
regions of Canada and in the South.
It was at about this time that he was
paid a fee (large in those days) by the
late Jay Gould for expert forestry ad-
vice; and this is the earliest record of
such a fee being paid in the United
States.
Mr. Pack has since then devoted
himself chiefly to the lumber industry,
MEY CHARLES ‘LATHROP » PACK
vhich is his first and always leading
usiness. He now holds large tracts
f standing pine timber, and is con-
idered one of the leading authorities
n timber and general forestry in the
Jnited States. He has also made a
listinct success in the banking business,
ae Cleveland Trust Company having
een organized in his office and he hav-
ng been always one of its directors.
de is also a director of the Seaboard
National Bank of New York City.
His interest in sound money led him
ears ago to take a prominent part in
he sound money movement, and he was
he youngest member of the Indian-
polis National Monetary Commission.
When the first Conference of the
xovernors of all the States took place
it the White House, during Mr. Roose-
elt’s administration, Mr. Pack was in-
‘ited by President Roosevelt as one of
he experts on the subject of Conser-
ration. Later, the President made him
yne of the National Conservation Com-
nissioners. With Mr. Gifford Pinchot,
is close friend, and Dr. Eliot, of
Tarvard College, and a few others, he
yrganized the National Conservation
\ssociation.
Mr. Pack is a life member and a
lirector of the American Forestry As-
sociation, and he has been very active
n the movement that has during the
yast two years widened the field of
work of the Association and increased
ts usefulness. He has delivered ad-
dresses on Forest Conservation and
T'axation before the American Civic
Association and other bodies. His work
for Conservation is widely and well
known, and he has been closely allied
with the Conservation movement from
the first. His interest is constructive
and economic rather than political, and
725
he has refused more than one attractive
political office.
But he is not only interested in the
conservation of material resources, but
also in those things that make for more
equal opportunity, and for the conser-
vation of human life. His unique gift
to one of the New England colleges
for the purpose of providing an annual
sum for the improvement of the quality
of the milk, butter and bread consumed
by students is an example of the prac-
tical turn of his mind in that direction.
Mr. Pack was for seven years an
active member of the Cleveland City
Troop, later called Troop A, of Ohio,
and retains as a veteran member his
connection with that crack organization,
which holds the record for efficiency
in the Cavalry of the National Guard.
As a young boy, he lived in the pine
woods of Michigan, where he was born
May 7, 185%, and later grew to man-
hood in Cleveland, Ohio. The Packs
emigrated from England, and were in
Colonial days a New Jersey family ; and
Mr. Pack, some years since, returned to
the State, making his home at Lake-
wood. He is a member of New Jersey
Forest Park Commission.
At the recent meeting of the National
Conservation Congress at Indianapolis,
Mr. Pack was elected president of the
Conservation Congress for the next
year—a signal honor richly deserved
because of his training, his prominence
in the Conservation movement and his
long-continued and consistent service,
He has been a prominent figure at
former congresses, and is keenly alive
to their usefulness, principles and possi-
bilities. The Fifth American Conser-
vation Congress is to be congratulated
upon its choice of a president. He will
undoubtedly do much to increase the
usefulness of the organization and to
broaden the field of its endeavor.
IN THE HILLS OF OREGON
By J. ALBERT BAKER
Cascade National Forest
T is a hot day in August. Come
take a trip to our friend’s home-
stead in the hills, where the stren-
uousness of city life is unknown. Is
this not a beautiful scene to be reached
by a few hours of travel? The horses
. are weary, so let us ride slowly and
enjoy the pleasures of a summer even-
ing in the woods.
At our feet, the unforked wagon
road winds its tortuous way along the
bank of a brawling mountain stream.
The gigantic mast-like firs cast long
shadows opposite the rays of the set-
ting sun. No sound is heard save the
muffled foot-falls of our slowly mov-
ing steeds, the rustle of a bird in the
wayside hazel, and the drowsy murmur,
coming from the creek far below, of
the water as it slips into the deep, cool
pool where the Dolly Vardens love to
rendezvous. The evening breeze is just
starting down stream bringing sweet
odors of balsam and pine to our nos-
trils, so long accustomed to the city’s
dust.
But what is that smell which brings
memories of long past log-rolling days
on the farm? Is some one desecrating
the sabbath peace of this evening by
burning brush? What causes such a
cloud of smoke to meet us as we
round this protruding hill? Surely a
settler’s slashing fire would not create
so impenetrable a mask over these
sylvan beauties!
The shadows of evening have given
way to darkness as we enter a deeply
wooded stretch of creek bottom. The
smoke effectually hides all stars, in-
creasing the gloom until we can no
longer see our horses’ ears, and must
feel to find the saddle-horn. But see
that lurid patch far up the road where
the timber ceases! A little nearer we
come and a whole city seems to be
726
ablaze. In the foreground, the deserted
buildings of an abandoned logging
camp cluster near the dense timber, in
its gloom, like a brood of young chicks
trying to escape the unwonted light.
A few more yards and we are in a
logged-over area flooded with light shed
by a huge forest fire, which is moving
upstream. Here we see the battle-
ground strewn with smoldering ruins,
as though a devastating army had de-
stroyed a city by the torch. Yonder
hill topped with great hollow snags
which are belching forth columns of
blazing wrath, marks the advance of
the fire, where the battle is being waged
most fiercely. A huge glare lights up
the heavens, disclosing immovable, dark
mountains to the right and to the left
of the narrow valley, while the crash
of falling trees, and the dull thud of
their impact with the earth, recalls the
days of the logging camp, when the
“fallers” were busy. But here is our
homesteader’s cabin, set in the green
oasis of a clover field, safely escaping
the ravaging flames. Here we can rest
for the night, disturbed only by the dis-
tant boom of the falling tree trunks,
and the glare of the receding fire.
A few hours of slumber and we are
aroused by the clank of shovels and
mattocks being thrown to the ground.
Savory odors come up from the “lean-
to” at the rear of the cabin. We hurry
down to find a scene similar to that
common in the mess hall of a military
station. Around improvised long tables
men are seated, washing down hot-
cakes and bacon with black coffee,
while outside a cavalcade of tired,
grimy men just in from an all-night of
labor on the fire line, are stretching
themselves on their tarpaulins, for rest.
But where is the forest fire? Only
an occasional thud is heard as some
IN -THE HILLS OF OREGON
unlucky monster crashes down the
mountain side; no blaze can be seen
save that of the sun which, with
dimmed brightness, is trying to pierce
the pall of cold smoke. Why is the
Forest Ranger so busy instructing his
subalterns—the foremen—to take their
squads to certain strategic points and
renew the attack on an enemy which
seems dead?
Let us go with the Ranger as he
surveys the field, and disposes his
forces where they can best wage the
battle. A closer examination of the
fire-line shows that the enemy is not
dead but only resting and preparing to
take up the fight when the time is more
opportune for its successful forward
march. Observe that line of smoke near
the ground, creeping stealthily up the
hill, eating its way through decayed
vegetation, and occasionally sending a
sentinel blaze up a pitchy pine tree to
spy on the laborers. Let us stay and
watch this wary destroyer, as it gains
confidence from the heat of mid-day,
hop up into a clump of manzanita brush
and crackle with delight.
Just in front of it, the hobo, pressed
into service, wields a mattock by the
side of a white-handed salesman, who
had come to the wilds for a fishing trip.
A little farther is the stalwart woods-
man, with muscles of iron, swinging
one end of a cross-cut saw, while at the
other end, the bare head of a college
man is in evidence. Why are these men
toiling so diligently to construct a
trench and clear out an alley in the
underbrush?
Hear that roar down the hill! The
hot winds from the valley are scurry-
ing to the cool deep woods; the blaze in
the manzanita, with a crash through
the greasewood, leaps to the canopy-
like tops of the conifers and makes for
the ridge in leaps and bounds. It comes
with a shriek and a crash. Great walls
of flame consume the undergrowth and
set fire to the dead snags and green
timber alike. Clouds of sparks, blown
from the snags by a fierce gale, soar
high into the air. On every hand new
fires are springing up. The men work
G27
like demons, but to no avail. With an
impetuous rush, the blazing whirlwind
crosses their trench, and they must
drop back.
Do they give up the battle as lost?
Follow them through the night, as led
by the Ranger and strengthened by the
night crew, they encircle the fire with
a new trench after it has become quiet
in the evening. Here the enemy is
combatted with his own weapon, when
a back-fire started from the new trench
meets the main advance, leaving noth-
ing for it to burn. However, the task
is not yet done, the victory is not yet
won, for the days are hot and the air
full of smoke and cinders, emitted from
smoldering wooden smoke-stacks that
are watching for an opportunity to hurl
their incendiary pillagers into the vir-
gin timber, and start afresh the path
of devastation. By day and by night
the men, with vigilant eye, patrol the
firing line keeping the enemy at bay,
while day by day the atmosphere grows
more like that of the Stygian pit, so
that life becomes a horrible nightmare
of heat, smoke, burns and toil.
But listen! Whence comes that long,
low rumble? Such a rumble as is
heard when an enormous herd of cat-
tle is approaching, on the plains. Note
how the smoke to the southeast has
given way to a dark, lowering cloud.
At sight of this, the men drop their
tools and make a dash for the lower,
open country, hurried on by a cool,
damp wind which increases to hurri-
cane speed by the time they reach the
clearing. Here the scattered trees groan
and hiss as their umbrelia tops sweep
toward the ground; while from the un-
cut hill sides comes a tumult as of a
storm at sea, drowning al! sther sounds
save the crash of trees, weakened by
fire, dashing to the earth with a jolt.
The smoke is quickly pushed down-
stream followed by a sheet of rain
which sounds so cool and refreshing as
it falls on the shake roof of the home-
steader’s cabin. Such a sound as brings
joy and sleep to the exhausted, heavy-
eyed men!
THE EFFECT OF ADVANCING VALUES OF LUM-
BER AND STUMPAGE ON THE CONSERVATION
OF OUR FOREST RESOURCES
By Ropert FULLERTON
HE, value and importance we at-
( ve to natural resources is based
on their abundance and not on the
time or labor cost required in their
production or reproduction. The one
time supposed limitless area of virgin
forest lands in the United States seeded
by Mother Nature with no human aid
and maturing for centuries on the un-
explored, untaxed public domain, was
considered of little or no value; a sort
of elemental inheritance like water and
sunshine, often looked upon as an ob-
structing, expensive embargo in the
civilizing progress of the pioneer home-
steader when clearing his land for the
cultivation and production of necessary
food crops. Some modern industrial
critics with little knowledge of early
pioneer times, or lacking capacity to
rightly understand conditions confront-
ing the homesteader and the lumber-
man in their strenuous efforts to make
a living in the wilderness outposts of
civilization, accuse these hard working
nation builders of thoughtless predatory
vandalism and wanton wastefulness of
an indespensable natural resource. Go-
ing back to colonial times, the abund-
ance of growing timber in New Eng-
land was often considered a nuisance;
a. troublesome hardship to be cut down
and burned up to clear the land for
farming purposes.
A forest of giant oaks or towering
pines is a beautiful sight and fills the
eye with delight. But our forefathers,
while appreciating the beauty and value
of their forest resources, could not
subsist on a diet of acorns and pine
cones, and the obstructing forest trees
had to surrender their first lien to the
soil and the sunshine to make room for
some food producing crop. The Amer-
ican oak had to make way for the Irish
728
potato and the pine and the spruce were
deadened and destroyed that corn and
wheat might grow. Our forefathers
slaughtered their forest trees that man-
kind might live; a survival of the fittest,
that calls for no apology from the gen-
erations that preceded us.
The first settlers in this country were
poor and proverbial for economy; they
wasted nothing that seemed to them of
value; they came from countries where
timber was scarce and highly prized; to
cut magnificent groves of pine and oak
trees that had been maturing for cen-
turies, and consign their splendid lum-
ber-making trunks to the flames, must
have occasioned a feeling akin to
sacrilege in the minds of Puritan
pioneer homesteaders. No settler at
any time ever cut down valuable tim-
ber from a spirit of pure rapacity, and
no lumberman ever permitted a single
log to rot in the woods, if there was
any visible or prospective profit in haul-
ing such logs to his mill and converting
them into lumber.
This statement does not imply that
farmers have not destroyed and wasted
much valuable timber, and that lumber-
men have not left millions of logs in
the woods to rot and burn up, but in
every instance where a farmer de-
stroyed obstructing timber, it was done
from absolute necessity, and the lum-
berman left low grade logs to waste in
the woods rather than involve himself
and his associates in bankruptcy, as the
market price obtainable for lumber
made from such logs, was less than the
labor cost of its production. Lumber-
men who own and operate saw mills
are more interested in saving and utiliz-
ing their forest resources than any
altrustic politicians demanding legisla-
tion to compel the American people to
i
‘
YP
P
ve
THE EFFECT OF ADVANCING VALUES
practice economy and avoid waste in
the management of their business.
When the individual becomes the
wner of any resource, it requires no
legislation to compel him to take care
of his own. Zealous but impractical
advocates of conservation, newspaper
and magazine muckrakers, political
demagogues and insurgent office-seek-
ers, have in late years joined in a chorus
of indignation and condemnation of
American lumbermen as predatory rob-
ber barons, united in law-defying com-
binations, branded as undesirable citi-
zens, public enemies wasting and ex-
ploiting the people’s inheritance of for-
est resources. Consumers of forest
products, childlike in their require-
ments, want to eat their cake and have
it too; demanding cheap lumber which
means the rapid slaughter of our lum-
ber-making forest trees. Any concerted
limitation of the production of lumber
to correspond with the demand is
looked upon as a crime, a violation of
the Sherman anti-conservation law.
The cheapest commodity in the United
States today is forest trees, suitable for
saw logs, the present price of stumpage,
whether it be hard wood or soft wood,
is only a fraction of what it would cost
if the trees had to be grown like any
other soil croup.
Twenty-five or thirty years ago, for-
est trees in this country had only a
nominal value and lumber prices were
based on the cost of bringing the logs
from the woods to the mill and con-
verting them into lumber, the value of
the raw material or stumpage being
only a few cents per thousand feet.
Under such conditions only the large
mature trees easily accessible and of
good quality were harvested by lumber-
men and all inferior or defective logs
were left in the woods to rot or add
fuel to recurring forest fires. Good
lumber was so cheap that low grades
could not be sold for the cost of pro-
duction and freight charges to points
of consumption.
The need or importance of conserv-
ing our forest resources received little
thought or consideration. Timber lands
were cheap and abundant. The magnifi-
cent forests of the Pacific Coast States
729
were just being explored, cruised and
estimated, revealing a supposed limit-
less supply of the finest lumber-making
trees in the world. The yellow pine
of the Southern States was first begin-
ring to attract the attention of north-
ern lumbermen whose stumpage hold-
ings in the white pine forests of Michi-
gan, Wisconsin and Minnesota began
to show signs of exhaustion, and a
corresponding enhancement in stump-
age values. The development of these
new forest resources kept lumber
cheap. Select timber lands selling at
two to five dollars an acre, yielding ten
to twenty thousand feet to the acre,
made a choice pine or oak tree scaling
one thousand feet worth less than fifty
cents.
Contrast the nominal value placed on
this superb forest tree that had been
growing and maturing for a hundred
or two hundred years, surviving the
hazard of devastating cyclones, insect
ravages and destructive forest fires,
with the cost of such a tree, if planted
by the hands of human foresters, the
land on which it grew progressively
taxed for a hundred years, the capital
invested in the forest farm doubling it-
self every ten years through interest
and taxes compounded. Suppose our
forest resources were exhausted and
the American farmer, forester or lum-
berman should undertake to grow for-
est trees for profit, assuming that lands
suitable for forest growth could be ob-
tained for $5.00 an acre and, allowing
$3.00 an acre for planting and pro-
tecting the young trees from fire, he
would start with an investment of $8.00
an acre, the first year. In ten years his
investment has doubled by the addition
of annual taxes and interest charges
compounded. At the end of ten years
his investment is $16.00 an acre. Con-
tinuing this calculation, at the end of
seventy years, the sons or grandsons of
the original planters wouid find their
inherited holdings in growing timber
representing an investment of $1,000.00
an acre; and, suppose the forest crop
has now reached sufficient maturity to
be manufactured into lumber, having
escaped the hazard of fires and cyclones
and yielding 20,000 feet of merchant-
730 AMERICAN
able logs to the acre, we find a stump-
age cost of $50.00 a thousand for im-
mature timber grown to order in con-
trast with a present average stumpage
price of $5.00 per thousand now ob-
tained for giant forest trees that have
been seeded and nurtured in Nature’s
forests since Columbus discovered
America.
The above figures reveal the low esti-
mate we place on a natural resource
that is fast being exhausted. The con-
sumers of lumber complain at any ad-
vance in its price and saw mill owners
confronted with annually increasing
taxes on their reserves of standing tim-
ber, cannot limit their operations. Their
stumpage must be cut into lumber and
sold at competitive prices to pay taxes,
deferred interest and principal on his
Londed raw material. Not one lumber
manufacturer in a hundred can afford
to conserve his forest resources by cut-
ting only the mature trees which would
double the cost of logging operations,
inaking his product thus obtained so
expensive that no profit would result.
Stumpage values in recent years have
steadily increased in value, but even at
present prices, forest trees are the
cheapest crop that grows out of the
ground; cheaper than cotton at two
cents a pound or corn at five cents a
bushel. Suppose wheat or corn were
century plants like pine and oak trees;
it would require an adding machine to
compute the price of a loaf of bread.
The American people do not realize
or fully appreciate the splendid quality
and low price at which they have been
buying their forest products, demand-
ing clear or high grade lumber for
many purposes, when lower grades
would economically have served their
purpose. Extreme cheapness in any
commodity always results in waste and
improvidence in its use.
Fifty years ago our western plains
were stocked with great herds of buf-
falo, a nature product, common prop-
erty, roaming the prairies unowned,
costing no man anything for shelter-
ing, care or pasturage, tempting the
cupidity of reckless pot hunters to pro-
ceed to their wholesale slaughter, the
bide and tongue being the only parts
FORESTRY
of this valuable animal resource of suf-
ficient value to be profitably transported
and sold in competition and substitu-
tion of domestic products for a like
use. It is hardly believable by the
present generation that fifty years ago
a full grown buffalo, in prime condi-
tion, weighing one thousand pounds,
had a less market value than a single
porterhouse steak served to-day in any
first-class hotel or restaurant.
There is no immediate danger of a
serious shortage in our supply of lum-
ber products, but the time has come
when conservation of our forest re-
sources demands thoughtful considera-
tion. The National forest reserves
should be withdrawn from sale and
lield in cold storage just as long as
privately owned stumpage is cheap and
abundant. The present sawmill owners
are financially unable to practice ef-
fective conservation of their stumpage
holdings. Increasing annual taxation
of forest lands, and the exceptional
nature of lumbering operations, requir-
ing the purchase of extensive timber
holdings to provide raw material suf-
ficient to keep their saw mills supplied
with logs long enough to justify the in-
vestment in building and equipping a
modern plant to manufacture lumber,
necessitating the owners of saw mills
to borrow large sums of money, or
bond their reserves of standing timber.
The pressing interest charges, added
to the increasing annual taxes on his
stumpage holdings, force the continu-
ous operation of the saw mill, and the
sale of the product at whatever the
market price may be, to furnish means
to pay his imperative obligations. This
is not a theory but a condition govern-
ing the lumber industry, making con-
servation of privately owned forests
impracticable except in rare cases
where ample capital enables the oper-
ator to cut only the mature trees, pre-
serving and protecting the younger
growth, hoping that advancing prices
of stumpage will repay him for present
loss through his more expensive log-
ging operations.
Human nature shows very little
change since the days of Solomon; self
interest in large measure still controls
INSECT DAMAGING SPRUCE TREES IN MAINE
our actions. Conservation of our pri-
vately owned forest resources will never
become effective until there is a present
or prospective profit in practicing con-
servation. Our National forest re-
serves, now under legislative control
and administration, should be supple-
mented by the several State govern-
ments, as only the Nation or the State
can afford to hold forest lands in res-
731
ervation. The cost of protection and
reforestation being borne by all the peo-
ple, forest lands now held by the State
cr the Nation should be withdrawn
from sale, protected against fire and
reserved for future use, following the
wise providence of the rulers of Egypt,
who in years of plenty stored up their
corn against the time. of scarcity or
famine.
INSECT DAMAGING SPRUCE TREES IN MAINE
By Pror. JoHN M. Briscor
erable attention has been di-
rected to an insect which is dam-
aging spruce and fir trees in this State.
Inquiries and specimens of the insect
have been received both by the Experi-
ment Station and the Forestry Depart-
ment of the University of Maine. The
specimens were identified as the larvae
of the spruce bud-moth (Tortrix fumi-
ferana) which injures spruce and fir,
and sometimes also hemlock and larch.
This insect feeds on the buds and young
leaves of spruce and fir chiefly, causing
a brown and withered appearance of the
infested trees.
About one hundred years ago the
spruce trees west of the Penobscot
River and along the coast of Maine
were badly damaged and many of them
killed by the attack of an insect be-
lieved to be this same species. Some
thirty to thirty-five years ago another
outbreak of the spruce bud-moth oc-
curred, lasting four or five years. Dur-
ing this attack also many of the spruces
and firs along the coast were injured,
und many of these trees while not killed
sutright by the insects, were, owing to
their weakened condition, left as an
easy prey to the spruce bark beetles.
Dr. A. S. Packard, in a paper written
it that time, comments on the depress-
ing and disfigured aspect of the country
about Casco Bay, owing to the depre-
Jations of this insect. It was not, how-
ever, till the spring of 1909 that this
Dycae the past summer consid-
insect again began to attract general
attention, first in Pennsylvania, ‘and
later in New York and Canada. In
1910 it was much worse in the centres
of infestation, and in 1911 it had
spread to the coast of Maine, where its
work is now attracting much attention.
During the past summer the pest was
widely distributed over the State, re-
ports having been received from local-
ities in Aroostook, Penobscot, Han-
cock, and Piscataquis counties, and it
very probably occurs in others also.
The insect which is responsible for
the destruction is a small caterpillar
about three-quarters of an inch in
length when full grown. Its head is
blackish, the body ranging from pale
brown to a rich umber brown, diffused
with green, each joint with several con-
spicuous whitish warts, each with a
dark centre from which a single hair
arises. The miller or moth is about
one-half inch in length, measuring
when spread out nearly an inch from
tip to tip of wing. The legs, body and
hind wings are a glistening umber
brown, the fore wings have a ground
color of bluish gray, and wiien freshly
emerged marked with several conspic-
uous blotches and dashes of dark
brown to almost black. The eggs are
pale green, scale-like, flat beneath and
slightly convex above; and are laid
soon after emergence of the moth. The
insect passes the winter on the trees
as very small caterpillars which, as soon
732
as the new growth starts in the spring,
begin to feed on the leaves of the ter-
minal twigs, thus causing the brown
and withered appearance of the trees
later in the season. These caterpillars
stop feeding by the middle of June and
transform to the chrysalis or pupa stage
in thin webs among the living and dead
needles at the ends of the branches,
sometimes matted in a nest-like forma-
tion, and sometimes more or less sus-
pended from the terminal twigs. By
the first of July the adults begin to come
out from the chrysalis stage and appear
on the wing as small grayish moths,
often appearing in vast numbers on the
trees and flying toward light. They
continue to fly and to deposit their eggs
in small greenish masses on the needles
of the trees until about the middle of
July, when the moths die and disap-
pear. The eggs soon hatch and the
young caterpillars become partly
grown before the end of autumn, pass-
ing the winter among the terminal
shoots of the trees, where they remain
until the next spring, when the life
process is repeated.
There is no practical way of protect-
ing forest trees from the attack of this
AMERICAN FORESTRY
insect, but in the case of a limited num-
ber of small decorative trees around a
residence or in a park, the foliage could
be protected by spraying with arsenical
solution about the time of the opening
of the buds and the appearance of the
new growth in the spring. The spray
should contain 2% pounds of arsenate
of lead to every 50 gallons of water.
The best information obtainable re-
garding the seasonal history of this in-
sect indicates that there is no occasion
for any great alarm as to its continued
presence, or any fear of extensive loss
of spruce and fir as a'result of its
work. The spruce bud-moth has many
natural enemies which multiply very
rapidly as the _Ichneumon and Braconid
flies, both of which were, fortunately,
very numerous this year in this re-
gion. These may be counted on within
a few years to reduce the numbers of
the pest to a point where the limited
amount of damage attracts no attention
and does little injury. Since, however,
one or more years may elapse before
these parasitic enemies of the spruce
bud-moth gain control, the destruction
of some of the spruce and fir trees in
the infested zone is inevitable.
CONSUMPTIVES ON FOREST RESERVE
NOTEWORTHY plan to estab-
lish camps in the State forest re-
serve where persons convalescing
from tuberculosis or threatened with
that disease might spend the greater
part of the year—spring to fall—and be
provided with light work that would
place them upon a self-supporting basis
was outlined a few days ago before the
Wisconsin Anti-Tuberculosis associa-
tion by E. M. Griffith, the State forester
of Wisconsin.
Mr. Griffith, who had been asked to
give his views as to how a part of the
State’s forest reserve of almost a half
million acres might be utilized in the
fight against the white plague, suggested
that the State board of forestry might
set aside several thousand acres of land,
including one or more lakes, for the
use of those recovering from tubercu-
losis and of those menaced by the
disease. It would be necessary, he
stated, for the legislature to make an
appropriation, which need not be large,
to cover the cost of building shacks for
the patients and of providing medical
attendance for them.
The forestry board, Mr. Griffith said,
might give these patients light work in
its nurseries and in planting trees. This
work could be so arranged that the
strength of none would be overtaxed.
For instance, some might work two
hours in the forenoon and two hours
in the afternoon, some three hours in
the forenoon and three hours in the
afternoon, and some four hours in the
COMING MEETINGS 733
forenoon and four hours in the after-
noon, just as the physicianse deemed
advisable. The compensation would be
something like 15 cents an hour. Those
working only four hours a day could
earn enough to pay for their board, and
those who could do a fair day’s work
would earn considerably more than their
board. The idea, of course, would be
not to overwork anybody and to give
all time and opportunity for rest and
recreation.
In the cases of patients who have re-
covered from tuberculosis, for instance,
those discharged from the State tuber-
culosis sanitorium at Wales, as cured,
there is a necessity for a period of out-
door life. Many suffer a relapse if they
return at once to close work in office
or to labor in foundry or factory.
These relapses are very dangerous.
Then again those threatened with tuber-
culosis need outdoor life at once.
The camps, Mr. Griffith suggested,
might be located among the pines, on
dry, sandy soil, near the shores of one
or two lakes that are not so densely
shaded as to shut out the sunlight or to
cause dampness. In this way the cures
of many could be completed and many
would be saved from incipient or threat-
ened tuberculosis.
Another suggestion that Mr. Griffith
made was that those who, after spend-
ing the summer in the State forest re-
serve, found that it was so beneficial to
their health that they wished to stay
longer, could lease small tracts in the
State reserve and raise garden truck,
chickens, and the like, which would find
a ready market at the public resorts and
private homes round about.
Physicians who have made a special
study of tuberculosis have expressed
themselves as strongly in favor of Mr.
Griffith’s plan. It is not necessary, they
state, for persons afflicted or threatened
with tuberculosis to leave the State, but
they must live out of doors and any
opportunity for outdoor life in upper
Wisconsin, amid the sand and the
pines, would be a great help in curing
tubercular patients. Mr. Griffith’s
plan to shelter them, feed them and give
them medical care, and at the same time
provide light work that will permit them
to be self-supporting, so that they will
not be subjected to any real expense
and at the same time will not be charity
patients, is regarded as a long step for-
ward in the State’s fight against tuber-
culosis.
COMING MEETINGS
Officials of forestry, lumber, timberland
and fire protection associations are invited
to send to AMERICAN Forestry notices of
their meetings to be published in this column.
October 29—Third quarterly meeting of
Directors of the American Forestry Asso-
ciation, at the Railroad Club, New York City.
November 5—Georgia-Florida Saw Mill
Association, Tifton, Ga.
November 13—Lumber Manufacturers’ As-
sociation of Southern New England, Hart-
ford, Conn.
November 14—Empire State Forest Prod-
ucts Association, Watertown, N. Y.
November 19-21—National Federation of
Retail Merchants, Planters Hotel, St. Louis,
Mo.
December 2-3—Western Forestry & Con-
servation Association, Seattle, Wash.
December 4-6—National Rivers & Harbors
Congress, New Willard Hotel, Washington,
IDLE
December 7—North Centrai Missouri Re-
tail Lumber Dealers’ Association, Moberly,
Mo.
January 21-23—Ohio Association of Retail
Lumber Dealers, Cleveland, Ohio.
January 22-24—Southwestern Lumbermen’s
Association, Kansas City, Mo.
THE PRESENT SITUATION OF FORESTRY“
By Curer Forester HENRY S. GRAVES
estry in this country during the
past year shows that, in many di-
rections, there has been substantial
progress and positive achievements. On
the other hand, the continued organized
attacks on the National Forest system,
and the efforts to break it down or crip-
ple it, present a situation of real danger
which the country should realize and
vigorously meet. We have before us a
task of constructive activity in practical
work, extending and building on foun-
dations already laid; we have also the
task of preventing a destructive attack
upon National forestry.
During the past few years public in-
terest in forestry has been rapidly
changing from a mere inquiry in regard
to its purpose to a vigorous demand for
practical results. This more intelligent
public sentiment is now finding its ex-
pression in a growing appreciation of
the need of better forest laws, greater
State appropriation for fire control, and
increasing interest in forest protection
by private timberland owners. It often
happens that public attention is caught
only by the most striking new de-
partures and developments, such as a
change in public policy or important leg-
islation, while but little is known of the
steady advance in applied forestry. The
past year has been signalized not so
much by new undertakings as_ by
marked accomplishment in the effective
carrying out of work previously inaugu-
rated.
A REVIEW of the work of for-
PROGRESS IN NATIONAL FORESTRY
_ Every year shows increased efficiency
in the administration of the National
Forests. The most conspicuous advance
has been in organized fire protection.
The disastrous year of 1910 taught
many lessons. While that disaster
could not have been avoided in the ab-
734
sence of better transportation and com-
munication facilities and without a
larger patrol force than the Forest
Service could put into the field, it never-
theless showed how, even under the
present conditions, the work of protec-
tion could be made more effective. Full
use was made of the experience gained
in that year, and during the past two
seasons the loss by fire has been kept
down to a comparatively small amount
through the efficient system now in
force. The problem, however, of fire
protection on the National Forests is
far from being solved. There still re-
main to be built some 80,000 miles of
trails, 45,000 miles of telephone lines,
many miles of roads, many lookout sta-
tions, and other improvements, before
even the primary system of control will
have been established. The funds at
the disposal of the Forest Service are
still inadequate to employ the patrolmen
needed to meet more than an ordinary
emergency. ‘There is even yet danger,
therefore, that in the case of a great
drought, like that of 1910, some fires
might gain the mastery and a similar
disaster follow.
An account of the progress of the
work of the Forest Service in the ad-
ministration of the National Forests
would be an enumeration of the differ-
ent activities in which the work is going
on with constantly growing effective-
ness. Many of the local difficulties of
administration are rapidly disappearing.
This is due to the steadily closer co-
ordination of the interests of the Gov-
ernment with those of the people living
in and using the Forests. More and
more these people are coming to appre-
ciate that their interests and those of
the National Forests are one. With a
better understanding of the aims and
methods of the Forest Service, local
difficulties are disappearing and local
support of the Service is largely replac-
a ae i lately ae
THE PRESENT SITUATION OF FORESTRY
ing opposition. Those who are aiming
to destroy the National Forest system
are not the settlers and others who use
the Forest, but rather men who seek for
their own advantage special privileges
to which they are not entitled, and who
wish to acquire, for little or nothing,
valuable resources for speculation and
personal gain.
During the past year the Weeks Law,
authorizing the purchase of lands on
navigable streams, has been put into ef-
fect, and the Government has already
entered into contracts for the purchase
of 230,000 acres in the Southern Ap-
palachian Mountains, and about 72,000
acres in the White Mountains. These
lands are being secured on the most de-
sirable areas, and it has been possible to
obtain them for reasonable prices. A
special feature of the Weeks Law is the
co-operation between the Government
and the States in fire protection on wa-
tersheds of navigable streams. The law
provides $200,000, until expended, for
such co-operation; but this money can
be used only in States which have al-
ready inaugurated a system of fire pro-
tection under public direction. During
the year. ending 1911 there were 11
States which qualified under this law,
receiving in the aggregate about $40,-
000. During the current year sums
varying from $1,500 to $10,000 have
been allotted to the States of Maine,
New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecti-
cut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland,
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon, and
Washington. There is still sufficient
money left from the original appropria-
tion for substantial co-operation during
another year. It has been the aim of
the Forest Service to spread the money
over three years in order that there may
be a full demonstration of what can be
accomplished and at what cost. It will
then be possible to present to Congress
a satisfactory basis upon which to con-
sider whether Federal aid to the States
should be continued.
The most urgent need of the National
Forest work is more ample provision of
the funds necessary for adequate pro-
tection of the Forests against fire. It is
especially urgent that the work of con-
structing roads, trails, telephone lines,
735
and other improvements needed for fire
protection be extended much more rap-
idly than at present.
PROGRESS IN STATE FORESTRY
A very great obligation rests upon the
State governments in working out the
problem of forestry. Organized fire
protection under State direction, the es-
tablishment of a reasonable system of
taxation of growing timber, honest and
conservative management of State for-
est laws, education of woodland own-
ers to better methods of forestry, and
such practical regulation of handling
private forests as may be required for
the protection of the public, are prob-
lems which require the immediate
action of all States.
While no State is as yet accomplish-
ing all that it should, a number of them
are making very rapid progress, and
are giving as liberal money support as
perhaps could be expected under the
present conditions. The feature of
State forestry which stands out most
strongly is that a number of States have
gone beyond merely passing forest laws,
and have begun to provide the funds
necessary to achieve practical results.
At last it is beginning to be recognized
that the prevention of fire is the funda-
mental necessity, and that this can be
accomplished only through an organized
public service. In order to make laws
effective, there must be adequate ma-
chinery to carry them out. The funda-
mental principle of fire protection is
preparation. A forest region must be
watched for fires, both to prevent their
being started and to reach quickly and
put out such as from one cause or an-
other may get under way. The new
State legislation recognizes this need,
and already there has been inaugurated
a measure of watchfulness im the season
of greatest danger, through patrol or
lookouts under State direction. Dur-
ing 1911, which was a banner year in
the enactment of State legislation, laws
related chiefly to fire protection were
passed by Connecticut, Massachusetts,
Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jer-
sey, Oregon, Washington, and Wiscon-
sin; while Colorado created the office of
736 AMERICAN
State Forester. Since the beginning of
1912 Maryland and New York have
amended their forest laws, and Ken-
tucky has passed its first complete law.
It is exceedingly gratifying that sub-
stantial progress is now being made in
the South. Unfortunately, however,
none of the Southern States, except
Maryland; has hitherto been able to
FORESTRY
qualify to receive Federal aid and fire
protection under the Weeks Law. It
is hoped that during the coming year
progress will be made in those Southern
States in which practically nothing has
yet been done.
*From a paper read to lumbermen and
foresters at the National Conservation Con-
gress, Oct. 3.
FOREST AREA LARGELY INCREASED
mation making alterations in the
Superior Naitonal Forests boun-
daries, the net result of which is to in-
crease 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 corner of Minnesota,
between Lake Superior and the Cana-
dian 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 administered
along the same lines.
The eliminated portions are made up
Qe President has issued a procla-
principally of private holdings and con-
tain too small an amount of land suit-
able for forest purposes to make it
worth while for the Government to re-
tain the areas in the Forest. Through-
out the Superior 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 elimi-
nated lands are withdrawn for classifi-
cation, following which they will be re-
stored to settlement and entry by the
Secretary of the Interior after such
notice as he may deem advisable and
as he may determine 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 Mis-
sissippi, about Lake Winnibigoshish.
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 EUCALYPTUS
By Harry D. TIEMANN
oe for California is a
proposition worthy of hearty en-
dorsement, but it should stand
upon its own merits and not upon
some fictitious attributes. Otherwise
vast disappointment and losses to
the hundreds of small investors who
are counting upon the Eucalyptus
as a timber producing tree are in
store. In your July number appears an
interesting article upon San Diego's
Municipal Forest. The statement 1s
there made that “Eucalyptus is an ac-
ceptable substitute for almost any of
our American hardwoods.” In the same
issue there appears a news note entitled
Fast Growing Eucalyptus, to which has
been subjoined apparently by the editor
a comment that “it is almost unbeliev-
able that trees growing so rapidly pro-
duce a timber as hard and tough as
hickory.”” Unquestionably these state-
ments have been made in all good faith,
but evidently without a first-hand
knowledge of the kind of lumber which
these quickly growing trees less than
half a century old will produce. As
this lack of understanding is very gen-
eral and is likely to lead to serious con-
sequences, I would like, Mr. Editor,
with your assistance, to sound a note of
warning, since I have had considerable
experience in drying the wood from
these trees.
While much that has been claimed as
to the: marvelous growth of this tree is
indeed true, the rapid growing species,
particularly the blue gum, E. globulus,
which is the one of most consequence
is not to be considered a timber produc-
ing tree during its early life of thirty or
forty years, for reasons about to be
given. It is true that the old trees of
Australia which are of great age and
size produce lumber of good quality
which can be seasoned and utilized as
other hardwood lumber, but not so with
the young trees such as are growing in
California, less than forty years old.
This is just where the fallacy in the ar-
guments of the eucalyptus promoters
comes in. ‘The trees actually produce
in volume of green wood what is
claimed, but only a very small portion of
this is convertible into useful lumber.
The main troubles with the wood are
first, that the trees themselves while liv-
ing contain internal stresses, which
cause the logs to check as soon as the
tree is cut, and the boards to warp di-
rectly from the saw. Then in drying
the shrinkage is not only very unequal,
but it is three or four times as great as
hickory, and unlike other hardwoods,
it begins to shrink with the first loss of
moisture as high as eighty per cent of
the dry weight. Moreover the dry
wood will not hold its shape well. In
air drying the wood either checks badly,
honeycombs, or warps, generally all
three. Small specimens and occasion-
ally a larger piece of lumber, and very
carefully selected material have dried
successfully, but this represents so small
a proportion of the standing timber that
the profit is gone. In some experiments
in drying this lumber in a special kiln
of my own invention I have succeeded
in turning out some really fine boards
which will compare favorably with oak
and other hardwoods, but it must be
remembered that this represents se-
lected material, and probably from less
than one per cent of the standing trees,
and even so less than half of the scale
measure of the logs from which cut.
For small articles such as tool handles
good material can be had by selection,
and some concerns in Caitfornia are
now manufacturing these, but the mar-
ket for this material is necessarily lim-
ited and such small stock does not re-
quire a very great stumpage.
Mr. Watson in his article does not
state what species he is planting at San
Diego. It is possible that some of the
slower growing eucalypts, the value of
737
738 AMERICAN FORESTRY
which for lumber has not been tried,
such as E. resinifera, might prove good,
but then on the other hand their rates
of growth are so slow as to be of little
or no advantage over other hardwoods.
This matter should be made very
plain for the benefit of the great num-
ber of people who are investing in
eucalyptus planting. For fuel, wind-
breaks, and soil protection, as well as
for many other purposes, the value of
Eucalyptus trees for California can
hardly be over-estimated, but the ficti-
tious claims which are sometimes made
for the blue gum and other species as
a lumber producing tree in less than
half a century of growth should be re-
futed so clearly that “he that runs may
read.
NEW PLAN OF SEED EXTRACTION FROM PINE
CONES
ing with new ways of extracting
the seed from the pine cones
cheaply and efficiently. The policy is
to collect seed in good seasons and in
localities where an abundant crop has
been produced. Thousands of bushels
are gathered in one place and from
these the seed has in the past been ex-
tracted by the slow process of heating
the cones artificially to make them ex-
pand, when the seed is shaken out,
collected, and cleaned. When con-
ducted in the winter on a large scale
the work is greatly delayed by the diff-
culty of securing plenty of hot air, and
at the same time keeping it dry. The
cones give off their moisture and soon
surcharge the air to saturation and the
admittance of fresh air lowers the
temperature below the point of effcetive-
ness. For these reasons the capacity of
even large plants is usually limited to
turning out from one hundred to one
hundred and fifty bushels per day.
Cin Forest Service is experiment-
During the last season the Service has
been experimenting with modifications
of a grain threshing machine and has
been successful in District 1 this sum-
mer in threshing white pine seed from
the cones when the latter were partially
dry. It is thought that by further modi-
fying an arrangement of the teeth in
the cylinder seeds may be successfully
threshed from cones like yellow pine,
Douglas fir, and even lodgepole pine.
If this proves possible the capacity of a
seed extracting plant can be increased
to ten times its former output. The
chief difficulty to overcome is the crack-
ing and spoiling of the seeds during
the process of threshing. A small ex-
perimental plant on the Kaniksu Na-
tional Forest was installed this spring
and produced results which are greatly
encouraging. Very little harm was done
to the seed and the cones were handled
at the rate of one thousand bushels per
day where formerly one hundred and
fifty bushels was a good day’s work.
JAMAICA'S FOREST WEALTH
Recently the first cargo of hardwood timber shipped from Jamaica to the United States
was forwarded from Port Antonio. This timber was bought by an agent from New York
and consisted of mahogany and cedar trees. Two shipments have thus far been made and)
other shipments are said to be contemplated. Although lumber does not comprise any con-
siderable part of Jamaican exports, some shipments of hardwood timber have been made
from Kingston for a number of years, chiefly to European ports. A body of something like
35,000 acres of forest land is in the parish in which Port Antonio is situated, and the govern-
ment 1s building roads for the development of this timber.. The land is part of a purchase
made by the government from an improvement company which originally received the land as
aa of a railway grant. The entire island is said to contain 400,000 to 500,000 acres of
orests. .
THE MANURING OF FOREST TREES
By ArTHUR SMITH
URING the past quarter of a cen-
tury the question of manuring
forest trees has been given con-
siderable attention in Europe, and,
among other experiments, that of using
sewage effluent has been tried.
Near Berlin irrigating a forest of
trees having considerable size by a
monthly application of sewage water
during two growing seasons was a de-
cided failure and it caused the death of
many of the trees. A similar irrigation
at Gerlitz gave better results. In this
case, however, the growth was consid-
erably younger. The city of Berlin has
obtained encouraging results by top
dressing the soil of coniferous woods
with city refuse.
In view of the long period between
the planting and the cutting of a forest
the direct application of manure in any
form is not likely in a general way to
prove remunerative. At the same time
the question of helping along a planta-
tion of young trees, especially conifers,
is worth considering and in the earlier
stages in the life of forest trees growing
in poor soil the value of some form of
tmanuring may possibly become an
acknowledged fact in practical forestry.
For instance on poor sandy soils
where the nitrogen content is very small
the problem of supplying this neces-
sary plant food in a slowly available
form is worthy of consideration. The
idea of applying nitrates or other com-
mercial forms of nitrogenous fertilizers
may be put aside as impracticable both
on account of cost and because they are
too rapid in action, besides causing an
excessive growth of weeds. Making
use, however, of atmospheric nitrogen
by growing on the land some form of
the Leguminosz appears to be feasible
an dworthy of trial. Upon some sandy
soils in Europe lupins have been used
for this purpose and good results are
reported. Lupins would scarcely be so
suitable for this country as some of the
clovers, such as the White Clover,
Trifolium repens and Alsyke, Trifolium
hybridum. An ideal method would be
to plow in a crop of clover the season
previous to planting, then sow clover
again and plant the trees in the young
clover. Failing, this clover could be
broadcasted over he ground in ‘the
spring. To obtain a stand of clover
upon the more sandy soils the applica-
tion of some form of line would be ob-
viously necessary.
It is of course well known that the
amount of mineral matter retained in
lumber is comparatively small, and, by
the fall of their leaves, trees during
their growth return to the soil the
greater part of the mineral matter taken
from it; this applies, however, more to
deciduous species than to conifers. But
the main point to be considered is that
of giving young newly planted trees a
good start and helping them along dur-
ing the first few years of their life,
when they have the greatest struggle for
existence. It is in this connection that
the value of giving the soil some
previous preparation upon the lines sug-
gested above comes in—of course where
it is practicable—as not only is plant
food added to the soil in a slowly avail-
able form but, what is of the greatest
importance, the early growth is ac-
celerated, being measured by feet in-
stead of inches.
Another means which works to the
same end and which is more applicable
to the heavier classes of soils is that of
keeping the ground in clean cultivation
during the first two or three years of
the trees’ growth. During the past sea-
son the writer has kept about 8,000 two-
year-old conifers under clean cultiva-
tion and another block of 5,000 has
only had the weeds out and left lying.
The soil of the latter is, if anything,
better than the former, but the growth
739
740
of the block cultivated has been more
than double as much as that unculti-
vated. At the end of July, one more
cultivation was given and Crimson
Clover sown at the same time.
Of course it goes without saying that
this more intensive syste mof forestry
is impossible everywhere or upon a
large scale of forest planting involving
many thousands of acres of mountain
land, and, at the best, planting is gen-
erally done upon land that is more or
less uncultivatable. At the same time I
believe that new plantings should have
generally more care given to them than
is usually the case, especially upon
private estates and farmers’ wood lots.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
‘There are many situations where some
methods of assisting young trees to get
a good start are practicable and there
fore desirable, and which would, I
believe, be in the long run profitable.
The conditions connected with the first
few years of a tree’s life have a tre
mendous influence upon the subsequent
results, both in the period when it is
fit to be turned into lumber and money,
and in the number of board feet which
will be produced in a given time.
If a comparatively small expenditure
along the lines suggested will accelerate
the one and increase the other in the
same time, as I feel sure it would, then
surely it is worth while.
FOREST SERVICE AFTER FRUIT PEST
tions of Congress embodied in
the bill recently passed by both
houses providing an appropriation of
$35,000 to enable the Federal Gov-
ernment to assist the fruit inter-
ests of California to prevent the im-
portation of the Mediterranean fly
into that State, the Department of Agri-
culture has sent Charles Lester Marlatt,
assistant chief entomologist for the de-
partment, to Hawaii to inspect condi-
tions there. While in the islands Mar-
latt will make arrangements to take
over the Hawaiian inspection service to
prevent the importation of the pest to
California, or perfect the organization
of a Federal inspection service to co-
operate with the Territorial authorities.
Marlatt said before starting that the
Department of Agriculture was anxious
and determined to establish an inspec-
tion service over all fruits leaving the
islands, to guard against the exporta-
tion of the dreaded Mediterranean fly
ek quickly on the instruc-
er any other fruit pests, and that this
service would be made as effective and
thorough as the funds allowed for the
purpose by Congress would permit.
Marlatt thinks that he will be able to
hit upon a feasible plan of uniting the
efforts of the National Government
with the fruit inspection service al-
ready in operation, and which is pro-
vided at the expense of the California
fruit-growers. If this tentative pro-
posal proves unacceptable, he will or-
ganize a separate Federal bureau.
The selection of Marlatt for this work
has given general satisfaction among
the California fruit-growers, as he is
acknowledged to be one of the highest
authorities on entomology in the Gov-
ernment service. He has been with the
Department of Agriculture since 1889,
and in 1901-02 made an entomological
trip for the department to Japan, China
and Java and other islands in the Malay
Archipelago.
MAHOGANY FOR CANADA
JHE caormees iecresse mm bei eeally Gis for ere esos ee.
©) ime operations throngioet Coz Ip the oid doys the best of ftire @
ada ies bem mctramesial the house aught be made of axy bard
Tease Emporis mip tii coumiry wood or even pime_ with 2 wencer Sash,
_ maboeenr.
= siaieiacs, says Comsal bees saficieotly be pees, ies =
Sx S. S Jobeson, of Kiegsion, Ont lege bts 2 NI NS pe Geos
= ie the cariy growth of the wr hecamse 2t lest people are besme=me
we becidiess. houses and hotels were ee
at changed. 4Mebogeey & wery ge an eet eee
- : etitaom betwrcer New York
= = = aes lmpocted
eS ee mer | BSE coed Marc’ 31 1912 2 mel of
eS paerae aay ra 2.696.455 fect of molnogeny, invonced af
== woe — $314.48. Of ths 301316 iect ome
G=RM4NYS FOREST 4RE4 .
Germany hes aired SRG acres oF forests. Ties is ahoas one-quarter of ste sete!
2b @f te coe Fores per cent of Sie aren belowgs to prcose eed. 32 per
me ap She Saree ged MS fer ore fp _CIeaors. Half of the vremumder belongs ie the
Tae Dene she ress Sp com parcuek. Tikes aren gues Sivze—Zickhs of we cere te enc ome
rei
IMPORTANT MEETING OF DIRECTORS
Ob ae of the most important meet-
ings of the directors of the Ameri-
can Forestry Association in some
years, was held at the Railroad Club, 30
Church St., New York, on Tuesday,
Oct. 29, there being present Chester W.
Lyman, who presided; Col. W. R.
Brown, of Berlin, N. H.; Prof. H. H.
Chapman, of Yale; John E. Jenks, of
Washington, D. C.; Otto Luebkert, of
Washington, D. C.; Charles Lathrop
Pack, of Lakewood, N. J.; Thomas Nel-
son Page, of Washington, D. C.; C. F.
Quincy, of New York City; E. A. Ster-
ling, of Philadelphia; Frederick S. Un-
derhill, of Philadelphia; Capt. J. B.
White, of Kansas City, Mo.; John L.
Weaver, of Washington, D. C., and P.
S. Ridsdale, executive secretary of the
Association.
The chief matter discussed was a ten-
tative plan for co-operative work by the
American Forestry Association and the
committee appointed by the forestry.
section of the Fourth Conservation Con-
gress held Oct. 1-4 at Indianapolis. The
delegates of the Association who at-
tended the Conservation Congress, re-
ported in chief, as follows:
“An unusual opportunity has come to
the American Forestry Association to
do constructive work which will not
only further the general cause but
strengthen the Association and make it
a power and influence in academic and
practical forest work. It is a chance to
continue the general forest propaganda
more effectively and at the same time
work definitely towards the solution of
the more important specific problems.
“At the several informal meetings of
the lumbermen and foresters in attend-
ance at the Fourth Conservation Con-
eress at Indianapolis, October 1 to 4,
the question of more definite work
throughout the year was thoroughly dis-
cussed. ‘I'wo distinct lines of activity
seem advisable: The first is arranging
the program of the Conservation Con-
sress sessions, so as to give more promi-
742
nence and publicity to forest problems.
The second involves the appointment
and guidance of standing committees,
which shall report to a forestry section
of the Congress on definite problems re-
lating to forestry and lumbering.
“The representatives of the American
Forestry Association present volun-
teered the services of their organization
in furthering this work in co-operation
with a committee made up of E. T. Al-
len, Captain J. B. White and H. 6.
Graves, which was appointed to repre-
sent the private and government timber
interests. ‘This latter committee repre-
sents the organized timberland owners
and Forest Service, and it was not until
the Indianapolis meeting that they came
to realize the strong influence the re-
juvenated American Forestry Associa-
tion, as a national body, could and will
exert in the solution of problems of mu-
tual interest.
“The most important feature of the
proposed organization is the appoint-
ment of standing committees for the in-
vestigation of matters of vital impor-
tance to the lumbermen, timberland
owners and foresters.
“Tn the choice of men to serve on the
committees and on the plan of follow-
ing up their work and securing definite
action will depend the success of the
plan. It is the thought to appoint men
best qualified to handle the various sub-
jects, regardless of their affiliations.
“Following the practice of other or-
ganizations which work with standing
committees, it is suggested that at least
one complete report on one of the defi-
nite subjects assigned be submitted each
year, and the other subjects covered by
progress reports. It would be optional
with the committee which subject to
place the most emphasis on. New sub-
jects would be assigned from time to
time.
“A committee appointed at the Con-
servation Congress, comprised of E. T.
Allen, J. B. White and H. S. Graves, is
|
i
|
—
Pe
a
UNIFORM STANDARDS FOR STATE FORESTRY
already in existence. Another committee,
representing the American Forestry As-
sociation and made up preferably of
members of the Executive Committee,
should be appointed. This committee
should have a secretary or chairman to
assist the Secretary of the Association
in the technical work relating to the
standing committees, or to work di-
rectly with the chairman of the other
committees.”
The delegates suggested a tentative
list of subjects for investigation, and
some names of committeemen, and the
subjects, and the committees having
them in charge will be announced after
the two committees meet.
Following a long discussion of the
proposed work, and a hearty endorse-
ment of the plan by all the directors,
Chairman Lyman appointed a commit-
tee of three members of the executive
committee to take charge of the investi-
gative work for the Association, arid
743
confer with the committee appointed at
the Conservation Congress. ‘This com-
mittee comprises Charles Lathrop Pack,
Col. W. R. Brown and E. A. Sterling.
The opinion was generally expressed
that the work should lead to securing
definite results of a practical nature and
will materially aid in securing the closer
co-operation of lumbermen and forest-
ers, and a decided extension of the work
of the Association. It was decided that
Executive Secretary Ridsdale shall at-
tend the annual meeting of the Empire
State Forest Products Association at
Watertown, N. Y., on Nov. 14; and that
Governor Robt. P. Bass, E. A. Sterling
and P. S. Ridsdale attend the annual
meeting of the Western Forestry and
Conservation Association at Seattle on
Dec. 2 and'3.
It was also decided to hold the annual
meeting in Washington, D. C., in Jan-
uary at some date to be decided later.
UNIFORM STANDARDS FOR STATE FORESTRY
N the May number of AMERICAN
ForESTRY mention was made in
these columns of the Conference
of New York State Departments inter-
ested in Forestry, which was held at Al-
bany on April 10th. The Conference
appointed a Committee on Standards to
consider uniform standards’ which
should be employed in connection with
State work in forestry in New York.
The object of this was to secure uni-
form methods in all forestry work
which might be done within the State,
in order that the results might be read-
ily co-ordinated, even though they might
be secured by different departments.
The personnel of the Committee on
Standards is as follows:
Dean Hugh P. Baker, State College
of Forestry, Syracuse University,
Syracuse, N. Y., Chairman.
Prof. Walter Mulford, Cornell Uni-
versity, Ithaca, N. Y.
Wm. G. Howard, Asst. Superin-
ent of State Forests, Conservation
Commission, Albany, N. Y.
The Committee held meetings in May
and June, and also one on October 26th,
at which the questions pertaining to the
standardization of forest mapping were
considered. The Committee held it de-
sirable to retain the forms and symbols
employed by the Forest Service, insofar
as these forms and symbols might be ap-
plicable to conditions in New York
State. It was deemed advisable to use
the following standards for all forest
mapping work within the State. The
following specifications were made up:
Forest Maps. Types to be indicated
by colors. Eight forest types have been
outlined to include all the forests within
the State. In cases where it is not feas-
ible to indicate types by colors, a system
of hatchure may be employed.” The
stand of timber to be designated by the
alpha-numerical system, placing within
each type a circle, inside of which the
T44 AMERICAN
name of the species will be indicated by
letters, and the quantity of forest prod-
ucts of that species by numbers.
It is expected that considerable bene-
fit will be secured and that duplication
FORESTRY
of work will be avoided by the introduc-
tion of the standard methods in map-
ping within the State. The Committee
intends, at an early date, to consider the
questions of standard forms to be used
in forestry work.
AN APPRECIATION
The Lumber World Review of Chicago in
an article headed “A Remarkable Number for
Lumbermen” says of the October issue of
AMERICAN FORESTRY:
“The October issue of the magazine, AMER-
ICAN Forestry, formerly named CONSERVA-
ION, and published by the American Forestry
Association, Washington, D. C., is one of the
most remarkable issues of any periodical for
the perusal of lumbermen that has come to
hand for many years. Space will not permit
more than a brief reference to these inter-
esting articles, but lumbermen who devote
any attention to these subjects, and nearly all
lumbermen do, should purchase this number
before the edition is exhausted, in order to
secure the benefit of the splendid articles
contained therein. One of the most impor-
tant of these interesting writings is the first
article in the magazine entitled, ‘Why Do
Lumbermen Not Apply Forestry?’ This is
written by Dr. B. E. Fernow, formerly For-
ester of the United States and now a member
of the faculty of the University of Toronto,
Ont. The next article is by George M. Corn-
wall, editor of the Timberman, Portland,
Oregon, on ‘Logging Engineering.’ This ex-
cellent article has been printed in the Lumber
World Review within recent time. E. A.
Sterling, President of the American Wood
Preservers’ Association, whose writings have
frequently adorned these columns, has an
interesting discussion on the subject, ‘Wood
Preservation as a Factor in Forest Conserva-
tion.” E. T. Allen, Forester of the Western
Forestry & Conservation Association, of
Portland, Oregon, some of whose articles
have already appeared in this journal, treats
on ‘Method of Forestry Campaigning.’ Mr.
Allen also contributes a poem entitled ‘The
Fire Bug and the East Wind.’ Henry E.
Hardtner, President of the Louisiana For-
estry Association, writes on the subject,
‘South’s Timber Disappearing.’ George
Holt, of Chicago, head of the Holt Lumber
Co. and American Lumber Co., discusses the
subject, ‘Is Lumber a Crime?’ and devotes
special attention to the discrimination made
lately in some quarters against wooden
shingles. Jerome H. Sheip, a prominent lum-
berman and box manufacturer of Philadel-
phia, Pa., has an interesting article on ‘Amer-
ican Forestry.’ Fred R. Fairchild, of Yale
University, treats on ‘Forest Tax Legislation.’
Frederick S. Underhill, of Wistar, Underhill
& Nixon, leading Jumbermen of Philadelphia,
Pa., takes as his text ‘The Price of Forest
Products,’ and quotes a member of Congress
as stating: ‘I want the duty on lumber re-
duced that the mechanic may build his home
cheaper.’ Mr. Underhill says that the Payne-
Aldrich bill reduced the duty on lumber from
$2 to $1.25, and the price of lumber is much
higher instead of lower. Thornton A. Green,
of Munising, Mich., President of the North-
ern Forest Protective Association and promi-
nent in lumber manufacture, contributes an
article on ‘Put Your Camp Fire Out,’ and
gives samples of the advertising undertaken
by the association to prevent damage to the
forests through fires. P. F. Cook, associate
editor of the St. Louis Lumberman, writes
an unusually interesting article on the ‘Social
Side of Lumber Life” C. B. Sweet, of Kan-
sas City, Vice President of the Long-Bell
Lumber Co., describes the ‘Long-Bell Experi-
mental Farm,’ located near Bon Ami, La.
Other shorter articles, containing important
information for lumbermen and timber own-
ers, abound in this issue.’
A NEWLY FOUND TIMBER AREA
Away up in the northern part of Canada, somewhere around what is known as Spirit
Lake,
Pies to four inches in diameter 1s growing.
the Canadian Government reports an area of 2,400 square miles on which timber
The rangers report that this area has beew
overed several times with forests which have been burned off. The present. stand of timber
has grown up since the last fire.
If this area can be protected from flames a large popula-
tion and an immense lumber industry will spring up in that country after the forests now
growing have become large enough for manufacturing. Some of the area has merchantable
timber growing in protected places, the soil is deep and can always be counted upon to grow
another crop of trees if the fires are kept out.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
New Rochelle, N. Y.
Eprror AMERICAN Forrstry.—I am contem-
lating the purchase of a ten-acre eucalyptus
rove in the vicinity of Clay, Sacramento
ounty, California. The price is $200 per
cre, 10 per cent down and the remainder in
1onthly instalments of $20. The company
lants the trees and takes care of them for
en years, when they are to be marketed.
ive hundred trees to the acre; and no in-
rest on deferred payments nor taxes to be
aid by purchaser. The company estimates
lat ten acres will produce 100,000 feet of
mber in ten years. Is this correct? Is
ere a good market for eucalyptus at the
resent time, and at what price does it sell
er M? Kindly give me your opinion as to
1e desirability of this purchase as an invest-
lent for a person of moderate means.
WitiiaAm C. Crossy
Your letter to the Editor of AMERICAN
ORESTRY has been referred by him to the
orest Service for reply. For your informa-
on on eucalyptus, I take pleasure in re-
uesting the Division of Publications to send
ou the following Forest Service publica.-
ons: Circular 59, a planting leaflet on
icalyptus; Circular 179, “The Utilization of
alifornia Eucalyptus,” and Bulletin 87,
Fucalypts in Florida.”
Detailed information on the more im-
ortant species which have been introduced
ito this country can also be found in
orest Service Bulletin 35, “Eucalypts Cul-
vated in the United States,” a copy of which
ay be obtained from the Superintendent of
ocuments, Washington, D. C., for $1
stamps not accepted). There has also been
-epared by the Forest Service in co-oper-
ion with the California State Board of
orestry a bulletin entitled “Yield from
ucalyptus Plantations in California,” which
in be obtained through Mr. G. M. Homans,
tate Forester, Sacramento, Cal. I believe
ese various publications will give you the
formation you desire.
I would call your particular attention to
e discussion on pages 31 to 33 of Bulletin
, concerning the eucalyptus in Florida.
Thether the eucalyptus is planted in Florida,
alifornia, or elsewhere in the United States,
ir present knowledge of the timber pro-
iced by plantations in this country does not
stify a too sanguine estimate of returns
here it is proposed to produce material
her than fuel woods, which requires a
uch longer period to reach marketable size.
‘hile it is believed that a eucalyptus planta-
yn will yield under favorable conditions a
venue equal to any forest plantation, it
mains to be proven whether in the produc-
tion of large material it will yield the
phenomenal returns generally claimed for it.
_ I regret to inform you that no provision
is made for the free distribution by the For-
est Service of forest tree seeds or seedlings.
I take pleasure, however, in inclosing a list
of dealers from whom the stock which you
desire can be obtained.
: Louis S. Murpry,
Acting in Charge of Forest Management
in the East.
Charleston, West Va.
Epitor AMERICAN ForEstry.—Can you give
me the following information, viz.: Have
you any record which shows how many mil-
lion feet of standing timber (board or cubic
measure) is computed to now be contained
within the limits of West Virginia? Also
what cut of timber ought to be annually made
in order to preserve these forests from year
to year, taking into consideration the felling
of timber and new growth?
Wm. SEYMouR EDWARDS.
Dear Sir: Your letter of October 5 to the
American Forestry Association has been re-
ferred to the Forest Service for reply. I take
pleasure in informing you that the only avail-
able records, as far as I know, of the standing
timber in West Virginia are to be found in
the report of the West Virginia Geological
Survey, Volume 5, 1911. According to this re-
port, the total area of virgin forest in West
Virginia is 1,574,295 acres. Of this area, 190,-
000 acres contain from 20 to 90 per cent of
spruce in Randolph, Pocahontas, Webster,
Pendleton, Greenbrier, and Tucker Counties,
with a few outlying patches in Grant and
Preston Counties. The quantity of standing
timber in these 190,000 acres is estimated at
1,500,000,000 feet of spruce, 1,000,000,000 feet
of hemlock and 1,500,000,000 feet of beech,
birch and maple. The forests of virgin hard-
wood contain about 12,000,000,000 feet of
timber, something as follows: White oak,
30 per cent; other oaks, 15 per cent; yellow
poplar, 18 per cent; chestnut, 12 per cent;
maple, 5 per cent; beech, 5 per cent; bass-
wood, 5 per cent; other hardwoods, 10 per
cent,
In addition to the 1,574,295 acres of virgin
forest, there are 2,882,030 acres of cut-over
forest and 5,087,013 acres of farmers’ wood-
lots. On these areas the stand of timber is
not definitely known, In some cases, many
woodlots have from 1,000 to 5,000 feet of
merchantable timber per acre.
As the area occupied by growing timber
is not definitely known, the growth that
takes place over this area can not be ascer-
tained. From the report of the West Vir-
745
746 AMERICAN
ginia Conservation Commission it appears
that on the basis of 8,000,000 acres of land
permanently devoted to productive forest, al-
lowing an annual growth of only 25 cubic
feet for each acre, the possible yearly harvest
from the whole state would be 1,600,000 feet,
board measure. ‘Twenty-five cubic feet of
annual growth per acre is a very conservative
estimate, and if an area of 8,000,000 acres in
the state can be protected from fire and be
kept in a productive state, the estimated
yearly increment for the whole state is none
too great.
You can undoubtedly secure a copy of the
report of the Geological Survey from I. C.
White, State Geologist, Morgantown, W. Va.,
and will be able to find more detailed infor-
mation concerning the timber resources of
West Virginia as each county is taken up
separately in that report.
RAPHAEL ZON,
Chief of Silvics.
Boston, Mass.
Epitor AMERICAN ForEstry.—Please de-
scribe to me a method for determining the
height of trees and estimating the amount
of standing timber?
ABNER H. BARKER.
Mr. ABNER H. BARKER,
146 Summer St., Boston, Mass.:
Dear Sir.—Your letter of September 18, ad-
dressed to the American Forestry Associa-
tion, was forwarded to the Forest Service
for reply. I take pleasure in sending you,
under separate cover, Bulletin 36, “The
Woodsman’s Handbook,” which describes the
methods of determining the height of trees
FORESTRY
and estimating the amount of standing tim-
ber. I am also sending you Bulletin 76,
“How to Grow and Plant Conifers in the
Northeastern States,” which will give you
information in regard to raising and plant-
ing forest trees. I am sorry to say that the
Forest Service has no publications dealing
with the grafting and spraying of trees.
This information can undoubtedly be ob-
tained by writing directly to the Bureau of
Plant Industry, Washington, D. C.
RAPHAEL ZON,
Chief of Silvics.
Epitor AMERICAN ForeEstry.—Being in a
charcoal business, I would like to know if
you could secure me bulletins or books on the
subject. I am just starting a company in
Quebec, and I would be obliged to you if I
could get good hints and information on the
subject.
H. Kierer, C. E.
Dear Sir.—Your letter of October 9 to the
American Forestry Association has been for-
warded to this laboratory for reply. The
Office of Publication has been requested to
send you Forest Service Circular 114, which
is the only Forest Service publication deal-
ing with the production of charcoal. The
literature on this subject is very meager, and
there is practically nothing dealing with char-
coal production without the recovery of by-
products. It would be a pleasure to give
you any further information possible on spe-
cific points not mentioned in the above pub-
lication.
McGarvey CLINE,
Director.
TO STUDY FLOODS
United States Department of
Agriculture has decided to estab-
lish an experiment station on the Manti
National Forest near Ephraim, Utah,
for the study of grazing and water
protection problems. Bids for the con-
struction of the necessary buildings
have been received and it is expected
to have the station in working order
before winter. Already the gathering
of observations on the relations of
erosion and run-off to the forest cover
have begun.
The Manti Naitonal forest was cho-
sen as the site for this experiment sta-
tion because it offers exceptionally good
opportunities for investigating problems
Bynes. Sia WILSON of the
of practical value in connection with
regulated grazing. Ephraim and other
towns in its neighborhood have suffered
severely from floods following violent
rainstorms in the mountains, and it has,
already been proved conclusively that
the over-grazed condition of areas on
which the natural vegetative cover has.
been seriously altered is responsible for
the formation of torrents and the rapid
discharge of -debris-laden flood waters.
In a recent destructive storm the water
ran clear from a part of the watershed
which was within the National Forest,
and in good condition as a result of well
regulated grazing, while from other
areas it swept down sand and boulders.
Ee
STATE NEWS
North Carolina
Another important step in the campaign
for better forest laws for North Carolina
was taken at North Wilkesboro on Tues-
day evening, October 8. At the call of Mr.
C. C. Smoot III, Vice-President .of the
North Carolina Forestry Association for
that district, a meeting was held for the
purpose of organizing the forces in Wilkes
County which are favorable to forest pro-
tection, so that something definite might be
accomplished in this direction at the coming
session of the Legislature next January. Mr.
J. S. Holmes, Secretary-Treasurer of the
North Carolina Forestry Association, was
present and explained the objects for which
the State Association had been organ-
ized and what could be accomplished by a
local club. A permanent organization was
unanimously agreed upon, and the Wilkes
County Forest Protective Association was
formed, the twenty men present all agreeing
to become members. Mr. A. A. Finley was
elected President and Mr. W. E._ Pharr,
Editor of the North Wilkesboro Hustler,
Secretary. Mr. C. C. Smoot, of the CAjG:
Smoot & Sons Tannery, was elected Vice-
President for North Wilkesboro Township.
These three officers were appointed as a
temporary executive committee, to draw up
by-laws and put the Association in thorough
working order. One vice-president for every
township in the county was appointed.
A strong resolution was passed calling on
the Wilkes representatives in the next Leg-
islature to do all in their power to secure
adequate laws for the protection of the
forests of the state from fire.
This is the third County Association or-
ganized since the forming of the North Car-
olina Forestry Association some two years
ago. It is composed of the most live and
progressive men of the county, and they
mean business. ‘They are determined that
men favoring state forest protection shall be
elected this fall to represent Wilkes County
in the next General Assembly.
Vermont
State Forester A. F. Hawes of Vermont
has recently returned from Brandon, where
with an assistant he has been marking trees
for this winter's cutting on the land of
Newton-Thompson Manufacturing Company.
Tis concern is taking a very progressive
stand in the management of its extensive
forest areas, having become interested in
better management through some work done
under the state forester two years ago in
Brandon on land belonging to Miss Julia A.
C. Jackson. Mr. Bump, the president of the
company, told the state forester that when
the forestry work was started in Vermont
he thought that the doom of the lumber busi-
ness was at hand. He has now become sat-
isfied that the lumber industry can only be
perpetuated through forestry.
The Newton & Thompson Manufacturing
Company is one of the most interesting wood-
working establishments in the state, making
all kinds of novelties, pill boxes, toys, etc.,
that are made from wood. Their machinery,
which is nearly all automatic, turns out an
immense amount of work a day, and about
eighty men are constantly employed in the
sawmill, machine shop, and turning mill.
Practically every kind of native lumber is
used, from white pine down to soft maple.
It is this opportunity to use inferior woods,
and even small pieces, which gives this com-
pany such a splendid chance to practice for-
estry.
The company owns about 6,000 acres in
the region, and has now begun a systematic
thinning of its more accessible areas so as
to insure more rapid growth and a per-
manent supply of lumber. The areas marked
by the state forester this year are mostly of
pine growth in the vicinity of Forestdale.
The smaller and poorer pines were marked
to be cut as well as the inferior hardwoods,
such as soft maple and beech. In no case
were there any large openings made since an
undesirable growth of underbrush is almost
sure to follow such a course, especially in
that region. In some of the lots the ground
was covered with little pine seedlings which
have started within a year or so. Wherever
these occurred light was admitted by a heavier
cutting so as to allow the young seedlings an
opportunity to grow. This is a oood illus-
tration that pine may easily succeed itself if
properly treated, despite the common belief to
the contrary. The state forester estimates
that much of this land after thinning will
grow from 500 to 800 board feet per acre per
annum.
Not only is the Newton & Thempson Man-
ufacturing Company practicing forestry on
its own lands, but it is persuading some of
the other woodland owners in the neighbor-
hood to do likewise. Since their supply
comes partially from these neighbors, their
interest in the welfare of these wood lots is
not altogether unselfish, but it furnishes an
excellent illustration of a most advanced
forest policy.
In the industrial future of Vermont there
will probably be fewer and fewer companies
747
748 AMERICAN FORESTRY
engaged simply in lumbering. The tendency
is toward a closer utilization near the forests.
It is such concerns as Newton & Thompson
and the International Paper Company, that
are dependent upon a permanent wood sun-
ply, that will save the forests of Vermont.
The state forester is constantly having more
demands for advice and for marking. This
marking is done for any land owner in the
state on areas up to 50 acres a year simply
for the traveling expenses and board of the
men while doing the marking. In most
classes of timber two men can blaze the trees
to be cut on 50 acres in two or three days.
Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Department of Forestry
has had four of its foresters assisting the
Federal Forest Service in the collection of
data concerning the wood-utilizing industries
within the state. The field work has been
completed.
During the spring planting season there
were set out on the state reserves two and a
quarter million seedlings. Since the planting
operations the foresters have been busy open-
ing, cleaning, and improving roads, building
fire towers and telephone lines. During the
last two months fourteen new telephones were
installed and about fifty miles of new tele-
phone line built, or newly acquired lines re-
paired,
The state has recently acquired a tract of
land at $4 per acre which has a grove of
tulip poplar covering about fifty acres.
Eighty-five per cent of the trees on the area
are tulip trees ranging from 4 to 8 inches in
diameter and average 80 feet in height.
There is also a grove of almost pure black
walnut covering twenty acres. The walnuts
are straight, tall, and thrifty. The soil is
moist and sandy.
The recent Legislature yielded to a large
number of petitioners in northeastern Penn-
sylvania and appropriated $1,000 for the re-
building of a dam on the state reserve in
Pike County. The appropriation was given
to the Department of Forestry to carry out
the provisions of the act. The department
built the dam on the site of an old sawmill
dam, and built it considerably higher. The
new dam is bedded on solid slate rock, with
a concrete toe and proper iron dowels. It is
six feet higher than the spillway of the old
dam and forms a pond covering about 800
acres,
The forest reserves are to be made recre-
ation grounds for the people as well as to
be used for growing timber. This artificial
lake makes one of the largest in the state
and will afford a splendid opportunity to
many to hunt and fish. At the same time,
under the protection of the forestry officials,
game birds and fish will no doubt multiply in
the locality.
Connecticut
Former State Forester Samuel N. Spring
of Connecticut has taken up his duties at
Ithaca, as professor of forestry in the New
York State College of Agriculture. W. O.
Filley, who was Mr. Spring’s assistant for
the past three years, and who since October
1, 1911, has held the appointment as assistant
state forester, has succeeded him. A. E. Moss,
recently of the Forest Service, is to be For-
ester Filley’s assistant, although no assistant
state forester will be appointed at present.
Alabama
John Wallace, Jr., game and fish commis-
sioner of Alabama, is advocating a move-
ment looking to converting all state lands,
whether held in fee or in trust, into state
game refuges and forest preserves.
Alabama owns hundreds of thousands of
acres of swamp and overflowed lands, Six-
teenth Section school lands and tax redemp-
tion lands. It is Commissioner Wallace’s pur-
pose, by an Act of the Legislature, to set
aside these lands as nesting, resting and
breeding places for birds and game, to be
held forever sacred for that purpose, also for
forest preserves. The Department of Game
and Fish would employ wardens to patrol
the lands and see to it that the birds and
game are not disturbed, that the growing
timber is not cut down and destroyed and
that no fire is set to the forests.
This movement has gained great impetus
in Alabama, and the people seem to be a unit
in demanding that the scheme be enacted
into a law. In addition to this specific plan,
Wallace is endeavoring to work out a gen-
eral conservation movement which contem-
plates the creation of a state conservation
commission to have charge of the manage-
ment, control and development of all of the
state’s natural resources.
Maryland
The Maryland State Board of Forestry is
making extensive preparations for the fire
season this autumn. Additional! patrolmen
have been engaged and several lookout sta-
tions are being provided for in the mountain
section.
Mr. Chapin Jones, who came to Maryland
as assistant state forester on August 1, will
have charge of the fire protection work.
Mr. Jones graduated from the Yale Forest
School in 1909 and has since been in the
employ of the United States Forest Service,
forestry department of the Pennsylvania
earn and in State work in New Hamp-
shire.
Maryland is co-operating with the Forest
Service under the Weeks Law and, with the
increased appropriations for fire protection
STATE
secured last winter, the state is in good shape
to handle the forest fire situation.
New York
The New York Conservation Commission
has adopted the policy of fall shipments of
trees, and a large number of orders have
been filled and many plantations made during
this present fall season.
Three hearings have been held, and a field
investigation will be commenced within the
next week in order to determine the efficiency
of the top-lopping law.
Bulletin No. 8 on the three new forest tax-
ation laws has been issued, and various mat-
ters in connection with the enforcement of
these laws are now under consideration by
CPR Petts:
The Commission has also issued Bulletin
No. 1 on general forestry and Bulletin No.
7 on shade trees, by Forester Gaylord.
new nursery of five acres has been
established at Lake Clear, and about three-
quarter million trees have been transplanted,
and an equal number of trees have been set
out on state land near Paul Smith’s.
Forester Rosenbluth is engaged in pre-
paring a working plan for the state prison
lands at Dannemora, in the Adirondacks.
An exhibit of the forestry work of the
Commission was made, not only at the State
Fair, but at about fifteen county fairs.
The reports of forest fires will approxi-
mate about 5,000 acres for the entire season
-up to the present time. Last year nearly
40,000 acres were burned. The decreased
loss is due largely to the increase in the num-
ber of mountain stations and greater effi-
ciency in the fire protective work as indicated
by the fact that the number of fires this year
were as great as last year, and the drought
during June and July was as severe as in
former years.
Massachusetts
No state in the union has made more rapid
progress in building up a constructive forest
policy than has Massachusetts during the
past five years. The recommendations of
State Forester Rane made to the Legislature
from year to year have been received with
favor, and all of the important ones have
been enacted into legislation. Perhaps the
most gratifying accomplishment of the de-
partment has been the development of the
forest fire service, which has now been
brought up to the highest point of efficiency.
Eighteen lookout stations have been in oper-
ation throughout the season, from which over
2,000 fires have been reported. The prompt-
ness with which these fires have been dis-
covered and reported by the observers has
made possible in most cases their extinguish-
ment before serious damage had resulted. In
addition to the above system of reporting
fires, arrangements have been made with the
NEWS 749
United States Post Office Department to have
all rural and star route mail carriers report
to the forest wardens or deputies any fires
which may occur on lands bordering their
routes. Early last April the Massachusetts
Division of the Boy Scouts of America gen-
erously volunteered to co-operate with the
state in its efforts to reduce the forest fire
evil, and by reporting fires and aiding in
their extinguishment have been a valuable
factor in making the work a success. Each
scout master has been furnished a copy of
the fire laws and book of instructions pub-
lished by the forestry department, containing
the names of all forest wardens and deputy
wardens in the state.
Recognizing the importance of a change in
the present methods of taxing forest lands
if the encouragement is to be given forest
land owners, which is necessary to con-
structive forestry, the Legislatures of 1911
and 1912 passed a resolve providing for an
amendment to the Constitution, empowering
the General Court to prescribe the method of
taxing such lands. This proposed amend-
ment will be submitted to the voters of the
state at the coming election for their accept-
ance or rejection.
If it is accepted, and it is the general belief
it will be, a committee appointed by the Mas-
sachusetts Forestry Association and the Bos-
ton Chamber of Commerce, working jointly,
will begin immediately the preparation of a
bill to be introduced into the incoming Leg-
islatures, designed to eliminate some of the
objectionable features of the present method
of taxing wild or forest lands.
Michigan
Professor Tyler, of the Michigan Agricul-
tural College, announces the formation of
local organizations in several counties to
prevent the useless waste of trees. Besides
preventing the waste, the organizations will
also attempt to teach the farmers and others
interested how to utilize their waste ground
in the interest of reforestation. Mr. Tyler
says: “Unless we do something for the
trees there will soon be no forests in the
northern part of Michigan on account of the
great forest fires, and in the southern part
we are tree destroyers instead of tree plant-
ers. Only 1 or 2 per cent of the number of
trees cut down are replanted in southern
Michigan.”
Under the plan which Mr. Tyler has
worked out an experimental woodlot of five
acres will be provided in the community
where each organization is affected. The
farmer who gives up five acres of his land
to this work will have to contract with the
college not to cut a tree during the first
twelve years nor make any radical move
without first obtaining the permission of the
extension service of the college. Seedlings
will be furnished by the college and set out
750 AMERICAN
under the direction of Mr. Tyler. If he says
plow the land and sow oats in August, the
farmer will have to do so, but all the profits
of the experimental work will be his and the
trees will be his at the end of the twelve
years. If any question arises which he can
not answer, he has back of him the forestry
department. Should the forestry department
be unable to answer it, then it can go to the
National Government.
Indiana
An experiment with the culture of Jersey
pine trees in Indiana will be made by the
State Board of Forestry as a part of its work
for the coming year. The trees will be
planted on the forest reservation in southern
Indiana.
Charles C. Deam, secretary of the board,
asserts that the Jersey pines are not grown
extensively in Indiana at this time, and that
the board is desirous of introducing them,
particularly to test their productiveness in
this state. Mr. Deam says pine trees are pe-
culiar in that they thrive in poor soil. There
are some on the reservation now measuring
two feet in diameter.
At a meeting of the board recently the
year’s work at the reservation was mapped
out. Fifty acres of various sorts of trees
will be planted during the year. The list
includes hickory, sycamore, arlanthus and
locusts. In addition to these there will be
three kinds of oak planted, the red, white and
burr oaks.
Tennessee
The Nashville Board of Trade has ap-
pointed a committee of prominent members
to consider measures for the preservation of
the forests of Tennessee. Charles M. Mor-
ford, a lumber manufacturer and shipper, is
chairman of the committee, and most of the
members are lumbermen who belong to the
board of trade. The object of the board of
trade is to co-operate with the Nashville
Lumbermen’s Club in taking such steps as
can be taken to conserve the forestry re-
sources of the state. It is probable that the
next Legislature will be asked for an appro-
priation to aid in the enforcement of the
forestry laws of the state.
Kentucky
The new forest policy of Kentucky was
outlined recently by J. E. Barton, state for-
ester, who was the guest of the Louisville
Hardwood Club. Mr. Barton took the first
opportunity to convince the lumbermen that
the work of the forester and the practical
timberman are mutually beneficial, and made
so favorable an impression that he was elect-
ed an honorary member.
The plans of the new state forestry board,
of which he is the active representative, in-
clude the following:
FORESTRY
The establishment of nurseries, both for
demonstration purposes and as a_ business
proposition, including the sale of seedlings
to private concerns which are engaging in
forestry work.
The purchase of lands and the acquirement
of others by gift where forest reserves may
be established and timber raised in commer-
cial quantities.
The study of the possibilities of preventing
waste in timber logging and manufacturing,
and the utilization of by-products, involving .
the establishment of a laboratory for the use
of lumbermen and wood users.
The protection of the forests by the enact-
ment of adequate laws looking to proper fire
protection and the prevention of grazing on
’ forest lands, which would result in young
trees being killed or seeds destroyed.
The study of streams and stream flow, and
regulating them by the planting of forest at
their headwaters, thus preventing floods.
Study of water power possibilities is also to
be included in this provision.
Co-operation with individuals in examining
timber tracts, laying out a plan of scientific
management and aiding in the operation of
the property. This work will be begun early
in 1913, when the forestry work will have
been fully organized.
Montana
President Taft has issued proclamations
changing the boundaries of the Missoula and
Madison National Forests, Montana. From
the former 4,960 acres are eliminated and
from the latter 68,140 acres. These elimina-
tions are the result of field examinations
which the Department of Agriculture has
been making in pursuance of a general plan
to correct the National Forest boundary
lines.
The areas eliminated from the Missoula
National Forest are along the borders of the
Flint Creek and Rock Creek exclusion of the
Southern Division. They consist of small
areas along the foothills, chiefly valuable for
grazing purposes.
The greater part of the Madison elimina-
tion embraces what is locally known as the
Lower Madison Basin and lies in two main
bodies, one in Tps. 9 and 10 S., R. 1 W., and
the other in Tps. 11, 12 and 13 §S., Rgs. 1
and 2 E. Another rather large exclusion
occurs in Tps. 9 and 10 S., R.4 W. The re-
maining areas are small tracts at various
points along the borders of the forest. Most
of the lands excluded are grazing lands,
although some areas in the Lower. Madison
Valley are susceptible of cultivation.
The public lands within the areas were by
the same proclamation withdrawn for classi-
fication under the Act of June 25, 1910, to be
restored to settlement and entry at the dis-
cretion of the Secretary of the Interior.
S UATE,
New Jersey
The New Jersey Forest Commission an-
nounces that the Forest Fire Patrol main-
tained in North Jersey in co-operation with
the United States Forest Service is being
reorganized for the fall work. Instead of
emphasizing particularly the railroad expo-
sure, as has been done during the spring and
summer, attention will be centered more on
the danger in the woods.
During the summer there have been 93
fires reported by patrolmen, none of which
were allowed to assume any size, and most
of which were put out by the patrolmen
themselves, thereby preventing possible
forest fires, with their consequent damage
and costs. Whether it be primarily due to
the patrol, to increased activity and efficiency
of the local wardens, or to a growing public
interest in forest protection, there is no doubt
that fires are markedly fewer and less serious
in this section than heretofore.
The fall work is planned with especial ref-
erence to automobile and nutting parties and
the sportsmen. A small number of men went
on duty on October 1 at places particularly
exposed, and the full force will be available
from October 15 to the end of the season.
The patrol this year will differ from that of
last season in that the patrolmen will be less
restricted to the roads and are expected to
pick up those responsible for fires in the
woods. Though their first duty is to watch
for and notify the fire wardens of fires, they
are particularly instructed and are empow-
ered to arrest all violators of the law, in
the woods or along the roads, whether build-
ing fires without permits or dropping lighted
matches, tobacco, etc. In this way the Forest
Commission expects to put a stop to the care-
lessness with fire so prevalent among those
in the woods for an outing or hunting trip.
These officers, with the rural mailmen, who
also are serving as patrol under an order of
the Postmaster General issued last spring,
are expected to minimize the fire danger this
season.
State Fire WARDEN.
Prof. Ferguson Returns to Penn State
After an absence of one year, during which
time he has been head of the Department of
Forestry at the University of Missouri, Prof.
John A. Ferguson returns to the Department
of Forestry at the Pennsylvania State Col-
lege as its head. Before going to Missouri
Professor Ferguson was connected with this
school for three years and was in charge
for nearly two years in the absence of the
head of the department.
NEWS 751
California.
A great deal of interest has been displayed
of late by the various women’s clubs through-
out the State concerning forestry, especially
that phase of it dealing with forest fire pro-
tection. Ata recent meeting of the Northern
District of the Federation of Women’s Clubs,
Forestry in California was the main issue
of discussion. During this meeting, many
resolutions concerning forestry were adopted,
chief of these being to assist in a real
publicity campaign against forest fires.
Forestry in California is still in its infancy
and such cooperation as exists, at present,
between the various Women’s Clubs and this
department, concerning the educational fea-
ture of the work, is very encouraging indeed.
So far, the work of the department has
necessarily been of an educational nature,
due to a lack of funds to carry on any other
work. However, with the small amount that
was available—an investigation of cut-over
and timbered land, with special attention paid
to slash conditions and waste in logging,
was made during the summer months. The
results of these investigations will be fully
discussed in the biennial report of the State
Forester which will be available about Jan-
tary 1, 1913.
California is badly in need of a forest fire
system and legislation looking toward that
end is being drawn up with a view of pre-
senting it at the next legislature.
Much valuable information concerning the
kinds and amounts of wood produced in the
State and demanded by the industries manu-
facturing finished products, as well as a
directory of such manufacturers, is contained
in a volume recently issued by the State
Board of Forestry, in cooperation with the
U. S. Forest Service, and entitled “Wood
Using Industries of California.”
The volume is for general distribution
among people who are interested and a copy
may be obtained by addressing the State
Forester, Sacramento, California.
_Mr. R. H.-Boynton has resigned his posi-
tion as Assistant State Forester to go into
private business. Mr. Ralph W. Sloss, who
has been a field assistant in the department
for the past year, has been appointed to fill
the position vacated by Mr. Boynton.
Early Conservation ideas
In the provincial charter of 1691, under
which the Plymouth colony and the province
of Maine were united with Massachusetts, it
was provided that all trees of the diameter
of twenty-four inches and upward, twelve
inches from the ground, growing upon land
not heretofore granted to any private person,
should be reserved to the crown for the fur-
nishing of masts for the royal navy.
752 AMERICAN
A surveyor-general of woods was ap-
pointed to see that this provision of the char-
ter was carried into effect. Near the coast
all white pines of suitable dimensions were
marked with the “broad arrow’—three cuts
across the bark with an ax, like the track of
a crow. This was the King’s mark.
Long after the Revolution had obliterated
the royal authority men who had been taught
in boyhood to respect the King’s mark hesi-
tated to cut such trees.
In felling a tree it was necessary to “bed
FORESTRY
it” to prevent its breaking. This was done by
cutting the small growth and placing the
small trees across the hollow, so that there
should be no strain upon one section more
than upon another when the monster pine
struck the ground.
The mast was hauled out of the woods on
one strong sled, whether in winter or sum-
mer, and so many oxen were required that
the hind pair were often choked in crossing
a hollow, being hung up in their yoke by the
pulling of those ahead of them.
FIRE NOTICES TO TEACHERS
The State Forestry Department of Minnesota has mailed 15,000 circulars to superin-
tendents of high schools and public school teachers of the State, calling attention to Fire
Prevention Day. Approximately seven circulars will be given each teacher, and observation
of the day is asked in the public schools of the State.
The circulars sent out by the State Forester call attention to the danger of fires, and
ask an observance of rules for the prevention of serious conflagrations.
“Minnesota has suffered more than any other \State through forest fires,” the circular
reads. e
worth of property has been consumed.”
“Hundreds of our people have been burned to death.
Untold millions of dollars
CURRENT LITERATURE
MONTHLY LIST FOR OCTOBER, 1912.
(Books and periodicals’ indexed in the
Library of the United States
Forest Service.)
Forestry as a Whole
Gaylord, F. A. Forestry and forest resources
in New York. 58 p. pl. Albany, N. Y.,
1912. (New York—Conservation com-
mission—Division of lands and forests.
Bulletin 1.)
Hay, R. D. General principles of forestry.
2p. Sydney, 1912. (New South Wales
—Department of forestry. Bulletin 1.)
Proceedings and reports of associations,
forest departments, etc.
India—Bengal—Forest dept. Annual prog-
ress report on forest administration in
the lower provinces of Bengal for the
year 1910-1911. 51 p. Calcutta, 1911.
India—Eastern Bengal and Assam—Forest
dept. Progress report of forest admin-
istration for the year 1910-1911. 91 p.
Shillong, 1912.
Russia—Lyesnoi department (Forest dept.)
Ezheghodnik (Yearbook), 1910, v. 1-2.
St. Petersburg, 1912.
Forest Aesthetics
Hurst, Charles. The book of the English
oak. 196 p. pl. London, Lynwood & Co.,
1911.
Street and park trees
St. Louis—City forester. Annual report for
the fiscal year ending April 11, 1912. 8
p. St. Louis, Mo., 1910.
Forest Education
Graves, Henry Solon. The profession of
forestry ditepe) Washi DiC. Aono no:
S.—Dept. of agriculture—Forest service.
Circular 207.)
Forest Legislation
British Columbia—Legislative assembly. An
act respecting forests and crown timber
lands, and the conservation and preser-
vation of standing timber, and the regu-
lation of commerce in timber and prod-
ucts, (Of. ‘the utorest: = 52,npho Vactorias
B. C., 1912.
Forest Description
Maryland — Geological survey. Prince
George’s county. 251 p. pl. and atlas.
Baltimore, 1911.
CURRENT LITERATURE
Forest Botany
Trees; classification and description
Perez, Georges V. Le Juniperus cedrus. 3
p. il. Paris, Société nationale d’horti-
culture de France, 1912.
Silvics
Studies of species
Harper, Roland M. The diverse habitats of
the eastern red cedar and their interpre-
tation. 10 p. N. Y., Torrey botanical
club, 1912.
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. Broadleaf maple; Acer macro-
phyllimhy 4 ps Wash. DCs aSt2n Cus
S.—Dept. of agriculture—Forest service.
Silvical leaflet 51.)
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. Oregon oak; Quercus garryana.
4o psu Wash) Da Canlot29 (CUA S—Depet.
of agriculture—Forest service. Silvical
leaflet 52.)
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. Red alder; Alnus oregona. 4
p. Wash. D. C.; 1912. (U. $—Dept.
of agriculture—Forest service. Silvical
leaflet 53.)
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. Western hemlock; Tsuga hetero-
phylla: 6 p.) Wash Do C.2918% (U2 S:
—Dept. of agriculture—Forest service.
Silvical leaflet 45.)
Zederbauer, Emil. Versuche tber indivi-
duelle auslese bei waldbaumen; 1. Pinus
silvestris. 12 p. il. pl. Wien, W. Frick,
1912.
Silviculture
Planting
Gollan, A. A. Afforestation. 5 p. Sydney,
1912. (New South Wales—Dept. of for-
estry. Bulletin 2.)
Hay, R. D. Re-afforestation. 4p. Sydney,
1912. (New South Wales—Dept. of for-
estry. Bulletin 4.)
Forest Protection
Insects
Forbes, Stephen A. Some important insects
of Illinois shade trees and shrubs. 67 p.
il. Urbana, Ill., 1911. (Illinois—Agri-
cultural experiment station. Bulletin 151.)
Diseases
Forbes, Stephen A. What is the matter with
the elms in Illinois? 22 p. il. Urbana,
Ill., 1912. (Illinois—Agricultural experi-
ment station. Bulletin 154.)
Fire
Plummer, Fred G. Lightning in relation to
forest fires. 39 p. il., p. Wash., D. C.,
1912. (U. S—Dept. of agriculture—
Forest service. Bulletin 111.)
753
Forest Management
Forest mensuration
Maw, P. Trentham. Complete yield tables
for British woodlands and the finance
of British forestry. 108 p. London, C.
Lockwood & Son, 1912.
Tkachenko, M. Das gesetz des inhalts der
baumstamme und seine bedeutung fiir
die massen—und sortimentstafeln. 23 p.
Berlin, P. Parey, 1912.
Range management
United States — House — Congress — Com-
mittee on public lands. Improvement and
regulation of grazing on the public lands
of the United States; hearings on H. R.
19857, May 3, 4, 7, 10 and 29, and July
29, 1912. 127 p. Wash., D. C.,, 1912.
Forest Economics
Statistics
Lewis, R. G., comp. Forest products of
Canada, 1911; tight and slack cooperage.
13 p. Ottawa, 1912. (Canada—Dept. of
the interior—Forestry branch. Bulletin
311)
Switzerland—L/inspection fédérale des foréts.
Produktion und verbrauch von nutzholz.
—A. Einleitung: Einige statische angaben
tiber die forstlichen verhaltnisse der
Schweiz, .'77-p.. -maps., )Zamiehy 11912.
(Schweizerische forstatistik, 3. lfg.)
Forest Administration
National and state forests
Gibson, Henry H. Appalachian national for-
est.) 12) ps) JChicaco, Milky iardwood
record, 1912.
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. The national forest manual;
general administration and _ protection.
Si paw \Vash. Oi Ceangie:
United States—Congress—House—Commit-
tee on public lands. Consolidation of
certain forest lands; hearings on senate
bill 4745, Feb. 28 and 29,1912. 30 p-
Wash!, D: €:, 1918:
Forest Engineering
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. Instructions fer the building
and maintenance of telephone lines on
the national forests. 54 p. il. Wash.,
IDC A vakehlp.
Forest Utilization
Wood technology
Cline, McGarvey, and Heim, A. L. Tests of
structural timbers. 123 p. il, pl., map.
Washes Ce i1oT2! (U. S. Dept. of
agriculture—Forest service. Bulletin
108.)
754 AMERICAN
Dunlap, Frederick. The specific heat of
Wood: 28ipiil.! pla Washi Mier eigta)
(U. S—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. Bulletin 110.)
Knapp, Joseph Burke. Fire-killed Douglas
fir; a study of its rate of deterioration,
usability and strength. 18 p. il., diagrs.
Wash., D.: C.,, 1912. (U.S —Dent, of
agriculture—Forest service. Bulletin
112.)
Wood preservation
Powell wood-process syndicate. The Powell
wood-process, for rapidly seasoning, pre-
serving and improving wood, security
against dry rot, protection against white
ants and wood-destroying insects. 79 p.
il. London, 1912.
Teesdale, Clyde H. The absorption of creo-
sote by the cell walls of wood. 7 p. il.
Wash. Di Cy 1912) COs S:—Dept: of
agriculture—Forest service. Circular
200.)
Winslow, Carlile P. Condition of experi-
mental chestnut poles in the Warren-
Buffalo and Poughkeepsie-Newton Square
lines after five and eight years’ service.
13. ps aky) "Wash, (ID. Ci, aoa, Ss
Dept. of agriculture—Forest service.
Circular 198.)
Auxiliary Subjects
Conservation and natural resources
Canada—Commission of conservation. Re-
port of the third annual meeting held at
Ottawa, Jan. 16, 1912. 154 p. pl., map.
Ottawa, 1912. ;
Michigan—Public domain commission. Joint
conference of those interested in the
conservation and development of the
natural resources of Michigan, held June
12, 1912. 121 p. maps. Lansing, Mich.,
1912.
National parks
United States—Congress—House—Commit-
tee on public lands. Western boundary
of Yosemite national park; hearings,
March 20, 1912, on H. R. 21954. 13 p.
Wash., D.C. 1912)
United States—Department of the interior—
Office of the secretary. Sketch of Yosem-
ite national park and an account of the
origin of the Yosemite and Hetch Hetchy
valleys, 47 \p..il., Wash.,’ BD) C., 1912,
United States—National park conference.
Proceedings held at the Yellowstone
national park, Sept. 11 and 12, 1911. 209
p. Wash., D. C., Gov’t printing office,
1912.
Game protection
Palmer, T. S. National reservations for the
protection of wild life. 32 p. il. Wash.,
D. C., 1912. (U. S—Dept. of agriculture
—Biological survey. Circular 87.)
FORESTRY
Periodical Articles
Miscellaneous periodicals
Continental magazine, April, 1912—The con-
servation idea, by G. Grosvenor Dawe,
p. 8-10; The forests of Minnesota, by
Wm. T. Cox, n. 44-6.
Country life in America, Sept. 1, 1912.—
White pine conservation on the farm, by
Phil M. Riley, p. 33-5.
Country life in America, Oct. 1, 1912.—
Caring for a farm woodlot, by Phil M.
Riley, p. 35-6. ;
Gardener’s chronicle, Aug. 24, 1912.—Mistle-
toe in Shensi, by F. Kingdon Ward, p.
147-8.
Hearst’s magazine, Aug. 1912.—Our doomed
chestnut trees, by H. §. Williams, p.
102-3.
Journal of the Association of engineering
societies, Aug., 1912.—The value of saw-
mill refuse as fuel in gas producers, by -
Chas. E. Snypp, p. 35-41.
Philippine agricultural review, Sept., 1912.—
Shade trees for the Philinrines, by P. J.
Wester, p. 480-7; Trees for street plant-
ing, by Wm. S. Lyon, p. 496-501.
Review of reviews, Oct., 1912—The Ever-
glades of Florida, by Thomas E. Will,
p. 451-6.
Science, Aug. 30, 1912—Resins and _ their
chemical relations to the terpenes, by G.
B. Frankforter, p. 257-63.
Scientific American, Sept. 21, 1912.—The
mahagua tree as a source of fiber, p.
240; Cultivation of the true cinnamon,
p. 242.
Scientific American supplement, Sent. 7, 1912.
—The conservation of snow; its depen-
dence on forests and mountains, by J. E.
Church, p. 152-5.
Technical world magazine, Sept., 1912—To
stop the waste of forest products, by
Robert H. Moulton, p. 49-52.
Trade journals and consular retorts
American lumberman, Sept. 14, 1912.—Guar-
dianship of the public forests of British
Columbia, by W. R. Ross, p. 41-2; Closer
utilization of Pacific coast timber, by
J. B. Knapp, p. 43-4; Methods of fores-
try campaigning, by E. T. Allen, p. 44-5.
American lumberman, Sept. 28, 1912.—An
analysis of observations at an Arkansas
logging operation, by R. C. Bryant, p.
38-9; Relation of wire rope to the lumber
business, p. 48; Doweled doors; an Eng-
lish aspect, by W. J. Blackmur, p. 71.
American lumberman, Oct. 5, 1912.—Forestry
conditions in China, p. 30-1.
American lumberman, Oct. 12, 1912.—Taxa-
tion of timberland holdings, by W. H.
Shippen, p. 39; The present situation of
forestry, by Henry Solon Graves, p. 45-6;
CURRENT LITERATURE
Development and status of wood preser-
vation, by E. A. Sterling, p. 47-8.
Barrel and box; Sept., 1912.—Various types
of bread boxes, p. 51-2. |
Canada lumberman, Sept. 1, 1912.—Sorting
and rafting on, the Restigouche, p. 60-1;
Nova Scotia’s domestic use of wood, by
J. B. Whitman, p. 62; Forestry methods
in province of Quebec, p. 67-8; The pulp
and pulp-wood trade of Quebec, p. 69-70;
Newfoundland’s timber and pulp trade,
by M. S. Sullivan, p. 78-9; Typical small
B. C. logging operation, by G. H. Prince,
p. 90-2.
Canada lumberman, Sept. 15, 1912.—Sacri-
ficing pulpwood for Christmas trees, p.
28; Quebec’s timber and pulp resources,
by Gebhard Willrich, p. 32; How to make
hardwood business pay, by H. E. Miles,
p. 36-8; Piano case wood, p. 53.
Canada lumberman, Oct. 1, 1912—New
Brunswick logging conditions, p. 32-5.
Engineering news, Aug. 1, 1912.—Wood in
compression; bearing values for inclined
cuts, by Malverd A. Howe, p. 90-1.
Engineering record, Aug. 10, 1912.—The new
Port Reading creosoting plant, n. 148-50.
Furniture journal, Sept. 10, 1912.—Best
methods of laying floors, by Arthur
Clausen, p. 51; Cork making an inter-
esting process, p. 51.
Furniture journal, Sept. 25, 1912.—Fashion’s
favor in furniture; how fine cabinet
woods are chosen, p. 62-3.
Hardwood record, Sept. 10, 1912.—Red haw,
p. 25-6; Natural durability of wood, by
S. J. Record, p. 28-9; Crabwood and its
uses, by C. D. Mell, p. 29; Use of blight-
killed chestnut, by S. J. Record, p. 30-2;
American white oak of quality, p. 35-47;
Evolution in lumber seasoning, n. 49-50;
Forest school, Michigan college, p. 51-2.
Hardwood record, Sept. 25, 1912—The
principal shuttlewoods, p. 24-5; Manu-
facture of meat blocks, p. 26; Prima vera
and its uses, by C. D. Mell, p. 27; Save
your sawdust, p. 27-8; Woods used in
saw handles, by S. J. Record, p. 28;
Dagame of commerce, by C. D. Mell, p.
29; In far-off Alaska, by Felix J. Koch,
p. 29; Important Brazilian woods, by C
D. Mell, p. 31.
Hardwood record, Oct. 10, 1912—The manu-
facture of wooden pipe, p. 23-4; Spring
and summer wood, p. 25-6; What is
padoulk? by I2°L. 1D ‘p,27; ‘Phe,:com-
mercial spruces, p. 28-31; Japanese oak
abroad, p. 31; The fuel value of wood,
by S. J. Record, p. 32-3.
Lumber trade journal, Sept. 15, 1912—
Methods of preparing wood block paving
in France, by P. Labordere, p. 19.
Lumber trade journal, Oct. 1, 1912.—The
southern logger and forest fire protec-
75d
tion, by Henry Solon Graves, p. 20; Log-
ging as an engineering science, by George
M. Cornwall, p. 24-5; Recent develop-
ment of the electric logging engine, by
J. M. Matthews, p. 25; Comparative com-
bative qualities of various preserving oils,
by H. Lynn Beach, p. 26-7.
Lumber world review, Sept. 25, 1912.—For-
est surveys in timber land operations, by
E. A. Sterling, p. 24-5.
Pacific lumber trade journal, Sept. 1912.—
How Philippine forests are being de-
veloped and what they offer, by Charles
Kirkwood, p. 41-2.
Paper, Sept. 11, 1912.—The scientific manu-
facture of sulphite pulp, by Chas. M.
Bullard, p. 15-16.
Paper, Sept. 18, 1912——Bamboo cellulose, by
William Raitt, p. 22-5.
Paper, Sept. 25, 1912.—The soda process for
cellulose manufacture, by Edwin Suter-
meister, p. 15-16; Grinding conditions
affecting mechanical pulp. by McGarvey
Cline and J. H. Thickens, p. 20-5.
Paper, Oct. 9, 1912—Water powers and for-
ests of Wisconsin, by Chas. R. Van Hise
and E. M. Griffith, p. 20-3.
St. Louis lumberman, Sept. 15, 1912—Timber
resources of Arkansas, by Robert M.
Hutchins, p. 22-3; Evolution in lumber
seasoning, p. 57-8.
Spokesman, Sept. 1912.—Cottonwood lumber
and its progress, by J. W. Darling, p.
575-7.
Timberman, Sept. 1912—Canadian forestry
association holds 14th annual convention,
p. 24-40.
United States daily consular report, Sept. 16,
1912—Lumber market in Smyrna, by
George Horton, p. 1403.
United States daily consular report, Sept. 18,
1912—Shipping Jamaican hardwoods to
the United States, by Julius D. Dreher,
p. 1422-3.
United States daily consular report, Sept. 23.
1912—New method of working timber
in India, p. 1515.
United States daily consular report, Oct. 9,
1912—Growing use of Australian woods,
p. 172.
Wood craft, Oct. 1912.—Clock cases; their
design and construction, py John Boving-
don, p. 10-14; The olive wood of West
Africa, by Charles Davis, p. 28.
Forest journals
Allgemeine forst-un jagd-zeitune, Aug. 1912.
—Neuere erfahrungen ‘iber die. anzucht
einiger Juglandeen, by Rebman, p. 257-74.
Allgemeine forst-und jagd-zeitung, Sept.
1912.—Plenterwald, by Martin Wernick,
p. 293-310.
756
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Boletin de bosques, pesca i caza, July, 1912.
—Cortezas i taninos, p. 14-16; Las lec-
ciones que se deducen de las inundaciones
del Sena en Francia, p. 54-58.
Boletin de bosques, pesca i caza, Aug., 1912.
Bull
—El cipres de Monterey, o Cupressus
macrocarpa, by Federico Albert, p. 73-87;
Algunas definiciones silvicolas, by Ernes-
to “Maldonado, p. 87-93; El servico for-
estal en Rumania, by Federico Albert,
p. 106-9.
etin de la Société centrale forestiére de
Belgique, Sept. 1912.—Le boisement et le
défrichement des terrains incultes dans
la province d’Anvers, p. 524-32; L’ex-
ploitation forestiére au Congo belge, p.
532-9; Expériences sur les essences ex-
otiques en Prusse, by A. Schwappach, p.
539-48; Les arbres fétiches, by H. Frick,
p. 566-8; Le bois de hétre, by Louis
Testart, p. 568-72; Le sucre d’érable au
Canada, by H. M. Nagant, p. 574-5.
Forestry quarterly, Sept. 1912.—Standardiza-
tion of instruction in forestry, p. 341-94;
Ranger schools, by Henry Solon Graves,
p. 395-8; Forest assistants in the Forest
service, by Theodore S. Woolsey, p. 399-
401; Teaching students how to conserve
energy, by S. B. Detwiler, p. 402-6; The
application of scientific management to
Indian forester, Sept.,
forestry, by Karl W. Woodward, p. 407-
16; European study for foresters, by A.
B. Recknagel and Theodore S. Woolsey,
p. 417-39; Forest types of Baden, by E.
C. V. Gilman, p. 440-57; A method of
investigating yields per acre in many-
aged stands, by Herman H. Chapman, p.
458-69; Forestry on Indian reservations,
by J. P. Kinney, p. 471-7; Utilization at
the Menominee Indian mills, Neopit,
Wis., by Nelson C. Brown, p. 478-83; A
working plan for western yellow pine
lands in Central Colorado, by P. T.
Coolidge, p. 484-94.
Indian forest records, 1912—Report on the
investigation of bamboo as material for
production of paper-pulp, by W. Raitt,
p. 1-37.
1912.—Silvicultural
research from a financial standpoint, by
R. S. Troup, p. 429-36; Fire protection
in the tropics, by H. C. Walker, p. 436-
52; Forest fires, by R. S. Pearson, p.
452-5; Some facts about camphor, by
Ambrose Warner, p. 485-9.
Revue des eaux et foréts, Sept. 1, 1912.—
Cylindrage mécanique des routes fores-
tires de la Joux, by J. Thiollier, p. 513-
16; Le mouvement forestier a l’étranger;
Finlande, by G. Huffel, p. 518-9.
INDIA’S GREAT FORESTS
The hill forests of the United Provinces and the Punjab in India hold very extensive
stores of spruce with which is assoctated the well-known silver fir. Both these species yield
timber somewhat similar to the European deal, which is used for planking, tea boxes,
packing cases, and shingles. If creosoted the timber should be suitable for railway sleepers.
It would yield enormous quantities of cheap planking, and there is little doubt that the
wood both of the Himalayan spruce and silver fir would be excellent for the manufacture of
matches and for paper pulp. The trees grow to a very large size, with a girth of 20 feet,
and a height of 200 feet is by no means uncommon.
AUSTRALIA’S IMPORTATIONS
During 1911 Australia imported from the United States timber valued at $13,850,000,
compared with $10,470,000 during 1910. During the earlier year that country exported tim-
ber valued at $4,840,000, compared with $5,105,000 during 1911. Of the forest products im-
ported during 1911 wood and manufacturers of wood imported from the United States
amounted to $9,658,282, compared with $8,786,580 in 1910.
American Forestry
VOL. XVIII
DECEMBER, 1912
No. 12
RIVER DRIVING
By W. R. Brown
He, latter part of April is a time
of suppressed excitement from
the general manager down to the
last “river hog.” At almost any mo-
ment over the ‘phone may come a call
from some camp watch far up in the
wilderness that the ice is going out, the
streams are opening up and there is
a good “driving pitch” or “head of
water” bank full, which means that the
logs can be floated and men should be
rushed to take advantage of the freshet.
Word is quickly passed to walking
bosses, clerks, toters and wangin men,
and the various foremen start their
straw bosses on a hustle through the
boarding houses and saloons known as
‘blind pigs,’ to gather up the “white
water’ men for their particular
‘wangin,’ and straighten out many a
timber jack, who for the last two or
three weeks, since returning from the
winter camps, has been industriously
liquifying his roll. As rolls are by this
time scarce, and borrowing precarious,
it is now only a question with “Jack”
whether to go with the short drive as a
‘river hog” or “joker,’ and so return
in the minimum time to the Elyseum
Fields, or hire out as a crackerjack
‘white water’ man on the “long route.”
Meanwhile a warm April drizzle falls
from under a leaden sky, and the news
spreads like “pay day” that there is
vood driving on Kennebago.
- All the previous winter the silent
Aakes had been piling up a deep blanket
yf purest white under the thickly shaded
hillsides, and solid floors of ice had been
rccumulating back in the dismal swamps
as reservoirs for the coming flood.
During the bright, sunny days of March
the warm breath of Spring came to
touch and invisibly dissipate the great
drifts, and later a series of hot days
and warm nights in April breathed
deep upon the still white carpet in the
green woods, which could almost be
seen to settle into a litter-strewn yel-
lowish mass through which roots and
stones pushed their heads and the wet
branches of fallen trees glistened in the
sun. Each complaining, imprisoned
stream burst from its wintry sleep in a
torrent that rose and fell as the frost
of night succeeded the warmth of day,
and dashed away to the lakes or rivers
below, piling up sparkling walls of ice
along each bank. The logs piled in
deep tiers on the banks, or across the
icy back of the brook, tremble with fet-
tered energy, needing only a touch to
send them rolling downstream on the
breast of the rising torrent. From the
little stream they float to the larger
river, possibly across sveral lakes, and
finally, joined by many thousand more
from other tributaries, form one large
body in the still waters above some mill.
To gather them all safely in fills two
exciting months of the river driver’s
life, and the moment for departure is
eagerly awaited.
The expert driver is an interesting but
disappearing type of American fron-
tiersman. He first is seen as he sallies
forth from the company’s stcre, where
he has been trusted for an ouifit, sport-
ing a pair of laced shoes with long
caulks or spikes in the soles, to give a
footing on the rolling logs; heavy pants
not yet “staggered’—that is, torn off
below the knee to afford greater ease in
running about over the logs—and held
up by a brass-studded belt; a red flan-
nel shirt and felt hat, a meal sack
»
‘
75
MEMBERS OF A FRENCH
thrown over one shoulder with a change
of “dunnage,” and a copious pipe to
complete the outfit. The meal sack,
known as a “Kennebecker,” because
first used on that river, contains two
small potatoes, one in each corner,
around each of which and the mouth
ropes are tied to form a_ knapsack.
This is filled with what is known as
“wangin,’ a change of clothes, and
those of Johnny Cannuck are soon sur-
reptitiously ovrehauled by the cook to
confiscate the offensive and evil-smell-
ing tobacco, which the native Canadian
delights to raise and smoke and which,
it is said, will locate him for miles.
The drive finally takes its start from
the front of the company’s store in a
long farm wagon, across the sides of
which boards serve for seats and which
is soon crowded to overflowing with
forty or fifty river drivers. With a
great crack of the toter’s long whip, the
six heavy horses start with it up river,
a tardy candidate appearing at the
eleventh hour and racing wildly after
the disappearing van, helped on by the
AMERICAN FORESTRY
AND INDIAN CAMP CREW.
efficacy of many waving bottles.
Hilarious and pugnacious, the crew
rolls along for a day or more, by farm
land and settlement, until at last at the
“Jumping off” place, a sobering walk of
fifteen miles through the melting snow
knee deep, brings them to the “landing”
or scene of work, where is either a
deserted winter logging camp, or a few
white tents pitched in the snow around
a roaring fire.
Here what is known as the “rear”
is started. Many tiers of logs, rolled ten
deep, have been piled, end for end,
down the bed of the brook, through
and under which the rising water
eurgles and roars, and it takes but little
loosening to send glut after glut quickly
on its way down the stream. This is
comparatively easy, and the qualities
which go to make up the real river
driver do not appear until a clear chan-
nel is effected and work upon the open
water begins. ‘Then latent forces come
into action; each man’s skill and expe-
rience is at the test in contention with
the might of nature ; courage is opposed
RIVER DRIVING 759
to chance, and the ever-hovering sable
wings of death. A day with the river
drivers at this time may be full of inci-
dent, and we have chosen as character-
istic, and the cause of much comment,
a race between the Swift and Dead
Diamond drives in the year of 1900.
It was betimes that gray morning that
we rolled over in our warm spreads to
the prolonged and artistic ‘“’T-U-R-N
O-U-T” of the “cookee,”’ that omni-
present assistant to the cook, which
would have shamed the Angel Gabriel,
as it swelled out into a high-pitched
scream.
Outside the big open fire was crack-
ling loudly, and the gruff comments and
yawns of the men mingled with the rat-
tle of tin dishes. Although assured of
the lateness of the hour by the tin clock
in the cook’s tent, we could just see a
thin, white streak of dawn growing
visible in the starry heavens above the
black cathedral spires fretting the ridge
of the eastern hills. This incident of
the clock, set ahead quietly by the cook
the previous evening, although time-
honored and well known to all, evinced
on the part of the boss the evident
desire to avoid the appearance of
crowding, but did not prevent a thin,
gray, crescent moon from throwing her
frosty light over a scene not lacking in
the elements of the picturesque. Our
tents had been pitched in a gorge
between two hills which rose above us,
silent and mystical in their primeval
forest vastness. The little river, in dim
outline beneath us, flowed through a
now disused dam, whose posts and piers
were faintly visible in the silvery mist
between the cliff walls, where the water
gurgled and boiled. Our tents, four in
number, stood around an open fire, each
shining white and faintly luminous, like
some spectral thing, by the dim rays of
a single lantern. In sharp relief, and
ruddy against the fire, the various pots
and kettles of that autocrat, the cook,
boiled and simmered on many jointed
“S” hooks at various heights above the
blaze, while at each side tin bakers filled
with browning pans of warm biscuit
caught the full glow of the ruddy logs,
A SEE AD? OF WATER
FROM
THE DAM.
760 AMERICAN FORESTRY
— es
~ e =
SLUICING LOGS AT A DAM.
and crackling sparks peppered the soft
tops with a steady bombardment. At
last, with a final shift or two of the
pans, to even up each one’s share of
sparks, that “stomach burglar,’ com-
monly known as a cook, with a deft
twist, turned each pan upside-down on
the board table, and offered for our
delectation that steaming creation tech-
nically called ‘“‘sinkers.” At this signal
to “fall to,” the dim forms of the river
drivers moved, tin plate in hand, around
the fire, seeking their turn at the
various pails and pans, a cookee stand-
ing meanwhile at each side with steam-
ing kettles of tea to fill their proffered
cups, each .calling out the while the
exceeding great merit of his own decoc-
tion over that of his comrade, and
embellishing his claim for attention by
serving up in fancy all kinds of
favorite drinks, both to show their
whereabouts in the dark mass of fig-
ures and to relieve the tense gloom of
the men. Beyond their frequent calls,
like guiding bells in a fog, nothing but
low murmurs were heard, for the river
driver commonly arises stiff and sore
and eats his mince pie with his “hat
on.” Neither is he given to joking until
his sore feet have become accustomed
to the stiffened and cold driving shoes
in the softening influence of the water,
and the boss is at such times some-
times referred to as “Bruin,” on account
of the growl which he hands out to
some would-be deserter in pointed ref-
erence to their past, present and future
characters and possible condition. ‘That
they are stiff and sore is not to be won-
dered at, for all the previous day they
had been waist deep in icy water from
early dawn to twilight, and had
tramped through the snow and slush in
the gloaming back to camp, and, after a
hasty change of wet for dry nether gar-
ments, had crawled in between the
spreads to rest, dry out and sleep all
that was possible; which to the tender-
foot was not a large item, due to the
tuneful notes emanating from the more
hardened.
As the river mists lift to the hill tops
like a gauzy veil, one by one, the men
disappear down the dark road where it
wound cavernous beneath the roof of
.
RIVER -DRIVING
761
“BOOMING OUT” AT A DAM.
firs, the sparks fly far up above the
trees to mingle with the few remaining
stars, and we sit by the fire in privilege
alone, save for the now silent cookees,
who steal about collecting the scattered
plates and dishes, and for a few mo-
ments we linger to drink in the wild-
ness of the solitude and the splendid
breath of the new day crimsoning the
east.
The stream we were driving was
called the Diamond, which separates
near its mouth into two branches, the
Swift and the Dead, the first of which
it was our duty to clear, and our en-
deavor was to drive our rear past the
point of juncture before a rival crew
on the other branch could arrive.
Telephone lines which met at a com-
mon central below and ran on trees
along each stream, kept us in constant
information as to the progress of the
other crew, and on the day in question.
owing to their equal nearness, a close
race was promised. The natural rivalry
of the two bosses during many previous
seasons brought each of them a fair
share of victories; enough to create the
liveliest interest in the success of this
drive, and their eagerness spread to the
other men in a desire for the first place
this year.
Our boss, his beard grey in the woods
service, was a short, wiry little man of
dynamic energy, and tireless and fiery
in disposition and in his treatment of
the men. Knowing every rock and eddy
in his particular stream, he was like it,
quick and impetuous in action, and
when stirred to a high pitch, capable of
great things but liable to unforeseen
rocks and jagged corners. His rival, on
the other hand, was immense of stature
and ponderous, of equal age, will and
experience, but careful and circumspect
in disposition, relying more on well-
laid plans than on the opportunity of
the moment, and weli suited to his
stream, which flowed deep and still for
many miles in a flat ana alder country
and, when not overcharged with floods,
carried the logs evenly and smoothly to
its mouth. It was jokingly said of him
“that he could run logs ona heavy
dew,” but should the rising floods swell
above the low banks, the logs would, in
762
every direction and in the most perverse
way, twist as if alive and “gill-poke”
into every “logan” and estuary.
Both men had a small coterie of old
hands who followed their fortunes year
by year and upon whom they put the
most important work, who tended dam
or telephone, watched gorge or eddy,
ready to blow up with rend-rock a
quick-forming jam, or were to be relied
upon wherever especial diligence and
alacrity was demanded. With such a
nucleus, a various and motley crew had
been gathered together, composed of
every nationality and color, the body of
whom possessed a certain swing and
balance that bespoke the woodsman, but
inevitably containing some specimens of
the “farmer” and “gill-poke” variety,
soon to be weeded out by a process of
“white water’ isolation. The retribu-
tion of such incompetents, taken along
on their sole statement of ability, was
swift and certain when the logs, being
all rolled in from the landings on the
banks, began to run in quick water and
their awkwardness became apparent, or
LOGS GOING OVER A DAM
an invitation to
AMERICAN FORESTRY
they were found hugging the shore, not
being able to “cuff them out” with the
others. Immediately they would be
spotted by the irate boss, followed by
see the clerk about
“time, and started with little due them
on a long walk back to the settlements
from which they had so lately come in
teams as “white water,” “crack-a-jack”
drivers.
We had but four miles to drive to
reach the mouth of our stream, and
conflicting rumors had reached us over
the telephone of the whereabouts of the
other rear, sent out apparently to avoid
disclosure and lull the immediate activ-
ity of our division. But after a careful
estimate of the situation, held in front
of the fire in the evening, it was decided
that to be at all safe, a special effort
must be made to reach the conflux of
the brooks the following day.
It was given out among the crew that
the rival crew would surely be there
and that their only hope rested on a
few hours. Immediately a messenger
was sent off into the darkness to carry
ON THE WAY TO THE MILL.
RIVER: DRIVING 763
A “WING”
the word many miles above to the great
pond dam to lift all the gates at mid-
night and allow the imprisoned body of
water stored there to rush down in a
flood that would reach us by dawn and
furnish the power to raise and loosen
the tightly snarled “jams” and “wings.”
One day alone could be drawn from
this reservoir, and that exhausted, the
golden opportunity would be lost, so all
the hostages possible having been given
to fortune and the dim twinkle of the
messenger’s lantern having danced to
nothing among the trees, we at length
follow the tired crew and await the
events of the coming momentous day.
Not many minutes had we reached
the banks that gray morning and the
men scarcely taken their first cold
plunge, when far above came a long,
low rumble on the wind, accompanied
by a faint intonation of the booming of
logs, and the word was passed around
that the “head” was coming. Little by
little, the roar of the surging water
seeking an outlet increased in “volume,
and the deeper notes of the great butts
resounded like cannon. Up a clear
stretch of stream from our vantage
OF LOGS.
point a thin, silvery line of water glis-
tened first and rapidly grew into a dark
flood wall, upon the face of which a
seething mass of sticks tumbled over
and over and swept everything before
them. Loose logs, caught up by the
rapidly hurrying water, ran continu-
ously where the current was swiftest
and were soon borne to the front as
the shores retarded the side water,
causing them to outrun the flood itself
and charge again and again to the shal-
lows as if taking a fortress
Instinctively we drew back as this
pounding mass rushed by, and then all
hands to work with a will on the now
floating and impatient “wings,” trem-
bling with vibrant energy. Here the
men ran, unloading a log or twisting
one there, until, of a sudden, the front
of the “wing” gave way, and a quick
scramble for shore ensued from off the
moving pile as it slowly unrolled in the
quickening water. Often there was not
even time to reach the shore, and a few
were seen performing to the best of
their ability a lively sample of footwork
on the largest stick obtainable, their
cant-dog used for a balancing pole and
764
carried rapidly perforce downstream,
until some favoring eddy offered a
quick jump to the shore. Or often a
“center” being loosened from off a
sunken boulder, a man or two would be
left, knee deep, on a pedestal of rock,
unable even to turn around, and obliged
to stand there for long minutes like dis-
consolate cranes, waiting with what pa-
tience he possessed the arrival of the
bateaux and rescue.
A great shout and laughter goes up
from the men on shore as some unlucky
fellow rides by, his log rolling quietly
back and forth as it runs through the
curling waves, and many sallies enliven
his interest to keep uppermost, such as
requests for dry matches, to close the
door after him when he goes in, or
carry their respects to the muskrats, etc.
One man who persisted in wearing a
derby hat, because he claimed it shed
water better than the usual felt, was
soon called “Beaver” from the spec-
tacle he presented when, having lost
his balance and gone in off a breaking
glut, nothing was visible of him but
the crown of his hat bobbing along on
the waves toward the bank. Many a
narrow chance is taken by such men
when, clinging to some log, they are
drawn swiftly sideways upon a “wing”
and, taught by experience or observa-
tion, extend full length upon the top of
the water to avoid the under-tow, which
would draw them in, as it often does
some poor fellow, never to emerge
again until the “wing” is rolled away.
In such a case they shoot out over the
top before the oncoming logs crush them
as ina vise. In a predicament of this
kind a certain wag of the camp, being
in a condition of equal unstability and
jollity, came up beneath a floating log
so that his head and feet protruded on
each side. As the men hastened in the
bateau to extricate him from his dan-
gerous position, he sung out to them:
“Never ye mind me, but ketch that poor
devil standing on his head there be-
yont.” In the stiller water downstream,
where loose sticks float during the night
and form in gluts, deer have been found
strangled by the oncoming logs while
attempting to swim across.
It is the danger that gives zest to the
AMERICAN FORESTRY
work, the fascination of meeting and
conquering Nature in her wildest form,
a comradeship with the tree on its last
long journey to oblivion, that calls to
the woodsman each spring with an in-
explicable power, once felt, never
wholly to leave, like the thrill of the
Alpine climber or the control of great
speed. Many an expression betrays this
as the loneliness of the river after the
logs are gone or the cheers and excite-
ment in the running. This tenseness of
interest carries men along without
fatigue for many hours, unconscious of
their exposure in the interest of the
advance, and end being always in view,
while constant opportunities for for-
warding the whole body in brilliant in-
dividual work appeals to their personal
pride. It is this tendency to do some-
thing brilliant that has constantly to be
checked in operation for the surety of
combined effort over spasmodic, unor-
ganized work is nowhere so evident. A
good illustration of this was going on
before us. From bank to bank the
stream was full for some hundred
yards back with a tight tangle, and near
the shore, to one side, a crew of ten men
were quietly working as one man under
the experienced leadership of a sub-
boss. Arduously they worked a chan-
nel along the shore, although here the
logs lay dry and hard. Out in the cen-
ter, where the whole mass was a-trem-
ble and gave every appearance of break-
ing apart in a moment, two men were
trying first one log and then another,
seeking the key which held. For a
moment they seemed successful as the
jam settled, only to come up hard
again on the selfsame obstruction, till,
of a sudden, a cheer broke the air from
the men at the side, and, sighting over
the top of the pile, it was seen to be
slowly moving downstream, and the
heaping logs, wedged together in a
“nose hole” until now, flattened out to
the sides in the channel, and shouting to
“keep her going,” all together the men
pushed with might and main and used
their cantdogs for bunters between
shore and the edges of the squeezing
and groaning raft, till at length, due to
the gathering momentum, all uncer-
tainty was over, and onto the broad
RIVER DRIVING
LOGS ON THE ICE JUST BEFORE THE SPRING FRESHET.
back of the jam, some of the men, to
celebrate their victory, like their Indian
ancestry of old, danced up and down
with yells of triumph before running
for the shore.
Our force was divided into two
equal crews to take the rear on each
bank, and a shout would be exchanged
across the water as one crew passed the
other and obtained temporary advan-
tage. Behind all, in a bateau, the “rear’”’
boss, with a long pole over his arm,
caught any straggling logs and rescued
any stranded men and was relied on to
leave the shore clean as he passed.
About eight o’clock, on a ‘small
promontory which commanded the
river, a thin column of smoke was seen
ahead, showing where the “first lunch”
was pitched, and the clarion tones of the
cookee, in a prolonged tone, echoed,
first up and then down stream, for
“Tunch-o-o-o-n,” and at once, from far
and near, his cry was carried along the
turns until the farthest man “tending
out” received the welcome news. Won-
derfully quick over logs and through
swamps, the men made their way to
where the steaming kettle of beans and
the buckets of biscuits and sweet-
stuffs formed an inviting circle to their
hungry gaze, and, with hands and tin
plates heaped high and a cup full of tea
from the kettle of the ever-circulating
cookee, they throw themselves on the
ground and enjoy to the full a few
minutes of rest and the satisfaction of a
ravenous appetite. Then, when a pipe
was lighted and well going, the boss
first and the most ambitions second,
shoulder their cantdogs and file off
again to work.
We had come two miles since early
dawn. Below was Ellingwood Falls, a
long, narrow gorge for a quarter of a
mile or more, whose ragged cliffs rose
sheer from where the water ran swift
as a sluice, and ragged boulders and
sharp turns, made famous for jams,
ended in a flat shallow at the foot.
Upon this, up-ended and bunched, logs
hung and gathered and refused to be
floated. Years before, “abutment
sheers” had lined the way and an
“apron dam” or two across some ugly
pools had served to mitigate the worse
places, but most of these had long since
rotted or worn away, and, all together,
it was an ill-omened and treacherous
place. ‘Tradition had it that one drive,
766 AMERICAN FORESTRY
before the days of telephones, had been
“hung” upon a jam at the foot, while
a messenger was on his way above, fill-
ing the whole length with a tangled
mass, and before it could be picked
apart a good week had slipped by, to-
gether with the best of the spring water,
and the bleaching logs had to be “hung
up” to await the return of another
year.
A few, only, of the men were chosen
(Oe heaty thie difficult part, while the
rest went below. This was a fine place
to watch the more expert and adven-
turous. A quick and, for the moment,
exciting incident occurred before us
which was the means of saving one
unlucky man’s life, but otherwise unno-
ticed by the principals. A driver was
out alone in some particularly rapid
water upon a “center” putting down a
charge of dynamite tied to a long pole
He had lighted the fuse, about a foot
long, and estimated to give him time to
retreat, and had jammed the sputtering
stick to its full length beneath the tan-
gle and turned to run for the shore,
when, by some mischance, his foot
slipped and he sprawled full length
upon the quivering timbers. We ex-
pected each moment to see him go sky-
ward above the heavy charge, when,
like a flash, a short Irishman, named
Crowley, made a desperate leap to the
jam, caught him as he ran by the collar,
jerking him to his feet, and together
they barely reached the shore when off
went the charge, throwing up great
junks to the tree tops and raising a per-
fect geyser of water. The jam lifted
as if alive and rushed pell mell down-
stream, while umnconcernedly, as_ if
nothing happened, the two men turned
to the woods and sought a crossing
below. If thanks were ever extended,
it was probably in the settlements later,
when the little Irishman himself,
strapped, might live for days or weeks
on the good-will of his comrades, for
Jack is commonly altogether free-
LOGS ARRIVING AT A SAWMILL AFTER THE RIVER TRIP.
ee A fe
RIVER’ DRIVING
handed when off duty and believes in a
short life and a merry one.
Our advance guard had done their
work well, and the thin walls left at
the front, where the wings had lain,
crumble at a touch and vanish down-
stream, so that, after an hour’s hard
work, this difficult part of the river was
clean and the forward march taken up
again with new vim. Hardly from this
point could we follow the winding
shore or detour around some intercept-
ing bayou fast enough to keep abreast
of the moving “rear,” and after an
unusually long advance, would come
out upon some point where a long view
was to be had of the river, only to see
far above us a thin line of forms filing
along the shore like Indian warriors,
partially hidden in the intercepting
foliage, or again, on nearer approach,
like their enemies, the stern Puritan
musketeers, marching with matchlocks
over the shoulders, as the cantdogs
shone in the sun.
The long shadows of the pointed firs
were creeping fast up the eastern bank
of the stream when the rattle and
clamp of the camp outfit is heard ap-
proaching through the stillness of the
evening wood. Soon it drew in sight,
piled high and well corded upon a large
dray, sounding along the road to the
merry tinkle of the pails and pans and
passes us drawn by four straining
horses. The men exchange shouts with
the ‘“‘toter” and a retinue of camp fol-
lowers, whose appearance augured well
for the advance, nor could they now
turn back, for was it not to be set up
at the very mouth of our stream and
goal of victory? Following it ahead to
the forks, no immediate sign was seen
of the other drive but a messenger who
had been sent ahead secretly as a scout
reported them at great endeavor not far
away. Thither we turned to estimate
chances. Their progress had been slow
but sure. Each winding turn and “pole
logan” had been systematically searched
and the logs therein gathered into rafts,
towed out and sent adrift in the main
channel. Their certainty of arriving
that night had been figured out to a
nicety and no possible chance was sup-
posed to have enabled our division so
to do. But now that we were known
SHEER LOGS.
to be approaching, the inert logs moved
all too slowly in the meandering water,
and the alders held back stray sticks
with pernicious obstinacy, trying to the
patience and spirit of the men. Near
the mouth, a widening of the stream
at the turn of a bend formed an im-
mense eddy where the logs swing round
and round in a circle, and six boats
were feverishly engaged at this time in
trying to sweep this maelstrom. Every
time the great mass swung around two
men jumped from each boat onto the
logs at the outer edge and gathered as
many together as could be reached and
bound with the long pick-poles, while
the crew in the boat waited expectantly
on their oars until all together, at the
command “head boat,” they churned
the water to foam to tow out their
small glut from the vortex and guide
it down stream. For a critical moment,
each boat, as it came around in suc-
cession, hung in a balance against the
might of the current and the slightest
turn of a stroke determined their sepa-
ration. High up on the bank at one
768
side the boss was standing to direct
the movements of all six boats and to
facilitate their co-operation with shouts
of encouragement and fierce denuncia-
tions of failures. His customary re-
serve had deserted him, and minus coat
and hat, he was intent on every move-
ment, waiving his arms and occasionally
enlarging the English language in a rich
and poignant manner.
Returning to the forks we watched
the small encampment rise as if by
magic, the six-foot fire logs drawn to-
gether and lighted, the rolls of spreads
untied and stretched out inside the
tents and the many small kitchen uten-
sils unpacked and made ready for im-
mediate use, while the neighing of
hungry horses, the barking of dogs and
the rattle of dishes woke the evening
echoes to a lively scene. Turning from
the blazing fire we now heard the sharp
click of the striking cantdogs above on
our stream and the lusty shouts of the
men who were soon abreast of us as
they rolled in the last logs by the faint
light of the evening glow and the fire’s
uncertain gleam, and at last, wet and
thoroughly tired but exultant, they
swarmed about the fire for their last
supper on the drive, nor did the crew
AMERICAN FORESTRY
above on the rival drive care to de-
scend until we had well moved away
in the morning. ‘The gathering dark-
ness had made further work on the
eddy impracticable and it must needs
be left to soak itself clear during the
night.
For this meal extra rations had been
set out by the cook, to which was added
great basins of milk from a neighboring
farm and all else in abundance that
ingenuity could suggest, and upon the
arrival of the “rear” boats, racing at
top speed to the landing, for the last
time the clear notes of the cookee
sounded the invitation to “turn to”
which was immediately and unanimous-
ly accepted. For a time all was in
confusion as each man prepared his
gunny sack for an early start in the
morning or exchanged congratulations
or plans with his comrades, but as we
smoked far into the night with the
boss, one by one the men crept to their
tents, until the last form to break the
stillness of the scene after all others
had turned in, was the bent form of
the clerk, painfully writing on the top
of a soap box by the dim light of a
dripping candle, upon which rested a
table of wages and a small bottle of ink.
FIRE LINES DESPITE THE LAW
| | Wir orage teeter the in-
junction issued by the Court of
Chancery last spring restraining
the New Jersey State Forest Commis-
sion from enforcing the so-called “Rail-
road Fire Line Law” the three rail-
roads having the greatest exposure in
the State have voluntarily undertaken
to extend their lines during the coming
winter. The Pennsylvania Railroad
Company will make new lines on the
Freehold and Jamesburg Branch, on
the Long Branch Railroad, and on por-
tions of the West Jersey and Seashore
System. The New Jersey Central Rail-
road Company will make lines along the
New Jersey Southern Division south
of Lakewood. The Atlantic City Rail-
road Company will extend its lines in
Gloucester, Atlantic and Cape May
counties. All three roads will also do
considerable work in cleaning up and
making effective the lines that have
been constructed heretofore. The
length of fire lines now in service on
all railroads approximates 250 miles.
The increase this year will probably
raise the total to at least 300 miles.
It is rather remarkable that this law
which has been declared unconstitu-
tional should still be so effectively sup-
ported by the very parties against
whom it was directed; that is, the rail-
roads which endanger the forests of
the State. The Forest Commission ex-
pects that the decision of the Court
of Chancery will be reversed by the
Court of Errors and Appeals. Such a
decision is earnestly hoped for as a
means of enforcing the provisions of
the Act where less liberal minded or less
far sighted railroad companies are con-
cerned.
PAPER MILLS AND FORESTRY IN CANADA
By E,woop WI11Lson
O little is known of Canada in
Europe and the United States,
and so vague are the ideas re-
garding this wonderful country, that it
may not be amiss to give in a few
words some description of it. While
far larger than the United States, its
habitable portion is comparatively small,
although this, through modern engineer-
ing enterprise, is rapidly growing, the
hardy pioneer pushing forward his rail-
way lines and establishing himself
where civilized life seems hardly pos-
sible. As one passes from East to West
the habitable zone rapidly widens from
a narrow strip on the inhospitable Lab-
rador coast, fifty to a hundred miles
north of the St. Lawrence in Quebec,
gradually growing through the prairie
regions until in British Columbia it
stretches 1,000 miles, almost to the Arc-
tic circle. Stunted, almost worthless
timber in Labrador, immense forests of
medium-sized conifers mixed with hard-
woods in Quebec. Large spruce and
great forests of white pine in Ontario,
treeless prairies and forests of poplar
through Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Al-
berta, and, finally, the magnificent for-
ests of British Columbia to the Pacific.
Of all the provinces which form the
Dominion, Quebec is in many respects
the most interesting, representing as it
does one of the oldest civilizations on
the American Continent, differing from
its sister provinces in language and re-
ligion, and retaining traces of the old
French tongue and medieval customs.
Three-quarters of the population are
French, and the majority of these farm-
ers, “habitants,” who earn their living
in the winter by working in the woods.
Along in late August and early Sep-
tember, when the crops are all gathered
in, they go to some one of the big lum-
ber or pulp companies and make a con-
tract to cut and haul so many thousand
logs 131-2 feet long. This is called
jobbing and the man a jobber. The
jobber takes his sons, if he has any
over fifteen—if not he hires a man or
two—takes his horse and sleighs and,
sometimes, even his whole family, and
goes off into the woods, frequently a
hundred or more miles from home.
Here he gets provisions from the
nearest Company depot, and, building
a log camp, walls, roof and floor all of
logs, he settles himself for the winter.
The camp has one room for the people
and one for the horses, sometimes all
are in the one room. Bunks of poles
are built along the wall, two or three
windows about 2 feet by one, are cut in
the walls, a rough table and a couple
of benches are hewed out and a big
iron stove set up. Here the jobber
spends the winter, cutting and piling
logs until Xmas, going home then for
his ‘‘devoir,’ as commanded by the
Church, having a jolly time with friends
until “Little Xmas,” and then back to
haul his logs on one-horse sleighs to the
nearest lake or river, and going home
in March.
In the days of the lumberman this
was all, but now have come, dotted here
and there like islands throughout the
province, the pulp and paper mills, of-
fering indoor labor, bringing in new
ideas, founding towns and _ bringing
modern ‘civilization,’ which, while not
an unmixed blessing, is progress and is
bringing light into a darkness almost
medieval. The first requisites of a pulp
mill are water power—no other can
grind wood profitably—a plentiful sup-
ply of clean water and a river to carry
the logs on their long journey from the
forest to the mill, covering, in some
cases, two years. So the mill must
locate beside a waterfall, and as these
occur in most out-of-the-way places,
towns of one to five thousand souls
have sprung up in the heart, of the
wilderness. As the entire personnel
of such companies must be brought in
from other places, it is necessary to
769
2
~2
S
GRAND MERE
provide enough of the comforts and
conveniences of modern life to keep
them. Some of the mills have given
just enough, but the wiser ones have
gone much further.
As wood of coniferous trees is the
raw material of pulp and paper, these
must be an abundant, accessible and
sufficiently cheap supply. All of the
larger mills, therefore, own their own
forests, but not absolutely, and here it
is necessary to explain the wonderfully
advantageous position of Canada from
the standpoint of conservation. All
lands in Canada, as originally in the
United States, belonged to the Crown,
and while in the latter the Government
after the War of Independence, in the
effort to encourage colonization, parted
with them carelessly and recklessly, by
wise foresight, Canada acted differently.
Here the land is divided into three
broad classes: farming land, forest and
mining land, over which the Govern-
ment retains all rights, as well as over
water powers, hunting and fishing. An
ideal situation were it carefully carried
out, and it is, as a general rule. Land
fit for settlement is sold on very low
terms and easy payments to the settler,
who must, however, clear a certain
amount of land each year and build a
VILLAGE IN
AMERICAN FORESTRY
19038.
house. Licenses to mine, to cut timber
and to hunt and fish are sold to the
highest bidder at auction, and so long
as he pays his annual rental and com-
plies with the Government regulations,
he is left in undisturbed possession and
may sell his rights or will them to his
children. The Government demands an
annual rental of $5.00 per square mile
per year, the protection of the forest
from fire and a tax of $1.30 per thou-
sand feet, board measure, when the tim-
ber is cut. At first the Government
protected the forests from fire itself,
charging a fire tax, but this protection
was so poor, owing to inefficient organ-
ization and too much politics, that the
licensees petitioned to be allowed to
protect their own lands at their own
expense, and this request was acceded
to. The licensees choose their own
rangers, who are commissioned by the
Government. ‘This system has worked
well, but has been further improved by
all the owners of licenses forming an
association, which protects the limits.
The association is the largest on this
continent, representing over 7,000,000
acres of timber lands. Rangers on gas-
oline speeders patrol the railway lines,
following all trains, and crews of two
men each, with tent, canoe and camp-
GRAND MERE FALLS. LAURENTIDE
COMPANY’S MILL.
U72 AMERICAN FORESTRY
ing outfit, patrol the rivers, which are
the only highways through the wilder-
ness. One lookout station has been
built, and the coming season will see
several more finished and a number of
miles of telephone lines also. The cost
for the season has been a little more
than one-quarter of a cent per acre, and
it is hoped that a more liberal appro-
priation can be secured. The Quebec
government, through its Minister of
Crown Lands, Mr. Allard, has been
most sympathetic with this work and
has agreed to contribute $3,000 toward
its cost for the current year.
The forestry policy of this province
has been an advanced one. For many
years there has been a diameter limit
below which no one was allowed to cut,
and a law has been on the statute books
giving anyone who plants an acre of
land in trees the right to choose Govy-
ernment lands which may be for sale
to the value of $12.00. About eight
years ago the Premier chose two young
French Canadians and sent them to the
Yale Forest School, and then to study
in Europe. After completing their
studies, he established a Department of
Forestry, placing them in control, and
they have organized this work and made
considerable progress along forestry
lines: As, there was. acereati lack of
trained men, especially those who could
speak French, a Forestry School was
established as a branch of the great
University of Laval in Quebec, and the
students are given their practical expe-
rience as Government rangers and in-
spectors during their course and after
graduation are given higher positions.
A forest nursery has- also been
started, where the students have prac-
tical training in planting work. In
some sections of the province, there are
considerable areas of sand dunes, and
these will be planted up as radidly as
possible. The great need is for men
with some training in forestry who can
travel in the woods. There are few
sections on this continent where travel-
ing is so difficult. The only avenues
are the rivers, with the lakes which
empty into them, and the former are
filled with rapids which make the
descents dangerous and the swiftness of
THE LAURENTIDE COMPANY’S OFFICE AND SHORE 1903.
eg il rai
SSS Seng
SEN
>
Vit
GRAND MERE IN 1908,
T74. AMERICAN FORESTRY
the current makes the ascents most
toilsome. In running rapids much ex-
perience is necessary, and many lives
are lost each year in trying them. As
the old trappers die out, few men go
into the woods very much, and it is
almost impossible to get enough woods-
men to act as fire-guards and forest
rangers. ‘The present generation of
natives are going to the towns and into
the factories, and the forest no longer
calls to them as to their forbears. So
the only hope of building up a corps of
men to care for the forest lies in estab-
lishing ranger schools for natives, which
will fit the men for their work, giving
them training in woodcraft and incul-
cating an esprit de corps, paying suff-
cient wages to make the work attractive.
This will cost money, but the Govern-
ment can well afford it, and it has cer-
tainly been proved in every industry
that men who are satisfied with their
pay and well cared for will turn out
much more work than dissatisfied un-
der-paid hirelings whose only object in
life is to loaf on the job.
All the problems mentioned above
which confront the Government, must
also be solved by the licensees of timber
lands, and of these the only ones who
can possibly solve them satisfactorily
are the large companies who have suffi-
cient investment at stake in large plants
to make it worth their while. The
holder of a small territory who sells
his cut or who owns a small temporary
sawmill cannot afford to do anything
but exploit his lands and get his return
from them as soon as possible. but
with the large companies, with millions
of dollars invested in plants which are
entirely dependent on their holdings for
their raw material, the situation is en-
tirely different. They must take care
for the future. Here in Canada, as
elsewhere on the American continent,
this is just beginning to be realized, and,
up to eight years ago, everyone acted as
if the supply of timber was inexhausti-
ble. You heard of the “inexhaustible
timber supply,” “our rich resources” on
every hand. The most accessible timber
was cut, the waste was prodigal, and
fire was allowed to .run unchecked.
“Why, we have always had fires.” “We
can’t afford to fill the woods with men.”
“We have timber enough to last for-
ever.” All this in-spite of the fact that
the country is dotted with the evidence
of past conflagrations. One fire about
thirty-five years ago completely de-
stroved the timber on over three hun-
dred square miles in one section. The
situation was indeed a difficult one.
Owing to the vast areas and the diffi-
culty and expense of travel and the
rigors of the climate, no maps had been
made. ‘The main rivers and large lakes
and some of the timber holdings had
been mapped, but only in the roughest
way, and no holders knew about their
lands. ‘The only people who knew any-
thing were a few old foremen and
woods bosses who had traveled the
country and knew their way around
and had a vague idea about what par-
ticular sections would yield.
About 1895 a small pulp company
was formed to operate a fine water
power on the St. Maurice River called
the “Grand Mere,” from the fact that
right in the middle of the fall there is
a rocky island which shows very dis-
tinctly the profile of an old woman.
There is an Indian tradition of a
maiden who waited for her lover until
she became old and grey and then was
turned into this rock. This company
built a small village in the forest and
commenced operations. The town was
a long way from civilization, commun-
ication with Montreal and Quebec, the
nearest cities, was difficult, as the rail-
roads were in shocking condition, and
in winter one never knew how long it
might take to cover the eight-six miles
to Montreal. It took three days once,
and it was always wise to take snow
shoes, so as to be able to get to the
nearest farm house for food. The em-
ployees of the company lived in little
frame shacks and had no conveniences
and mighty few comforts. Things also
went very badly financially, and about
1903 the company was_ reorganized.
The new manager realized that the first
necessity was the comfort and well-
being of the employees, and, as soon as
he had gotten the company a little on
its feet, began to build up a model vil-
lage. When one realizes how much in
advance of the time such an idea was
and what it meant to change over and
PAPER MILLS SAND FORESTRY IN CANADA 7
build up a whole community, most of
whom were of the most primitive type
and who spoke a different language and
were naturally distrustful of strangers
and strange ideas, it seems a large
undertaking, and it showed broad-
mindedness, idealism and courage of the
highest type.
_ The first step was to put the village
in sanitary condition ; sewers were built,
a plentiful supply of pure spring water
was obtained, and a hospital was built.
The town had been a hotbed of typhoid
fever, but in a year this was stamped out.
It was necessary to discharge laborers
occasionally because they would persist
in drinking the polluted water. Then
housing and office and mill conditions
were improved and opportunities for
recreation were provided, bowling al-
leys, tennis courts and a skating rink.
The younger men were encouraged to
form hockey and baseball teams, and
the success of the hockey and tennis
teams in winning championships has
done much to rouse local pride and to
bring the people to united effort for the
good of the place. Probably the most
important improvement was a school.
This is open to all the citizens and is
fully equal to the best public schools
in the United States, with an excellent
kindergarten, and a manual training
course for the boys and sewing classes
for the girls. Then the improvement
of the village was begun. A landscape
architect was engaged and a plan for a
“village beautiful” prepared. Old and
unsightly buildings were torn down,
roads were laid out and macadamized,
concrete sidewalks were built and beau-
tiful elms planted along the roads, and
masses of shrubbery placed where they
would add to the general effect. Vines
were planted on the buildings, and many
buildings which were inharmonious
were remodeled.
The social and spiritual sides of life
were not neglected, aid was given to the
struggling mission churches, and the
people were encouraged to get together
for the mutual good. One of the most
helpful things was a founding of a
branch of the Victorian Order of
Nurses. There are two great events of
the year when all gather for a general
good time—the “Christmas Tree” in the
-~z
C
winter and the “Clam Bake” on Labor
Day.
A beautiful park was laid out in the
center of the village, and here on sum-
mer afternoons and Saturday half holi-
days everyone gathers to watch the ten-
nis matches. The park is not only good
to look at, but gives the children a safe
and healthful playground. A _ club
with reading and assembly rooms, gym-
nasium and billiard rooms, is open to
all and during the long winters is used
for dances, amateur theatricals and con-
certs. ‘Then labor conditions were 1m-
mensely improved, working hours
were shortened, guards were installed
to prevent accidents from the machin-
ery, wash room and sanitary lockers
were provided, sanitary drinking foun-
tains placed at convenient points and
lighting and ventilation much improved.
In summer the daylight saving plan is
in operation, and the employees are
free at four o’clock and have the long
summer afternoons for healthy outdoor
sports.
In 1905 the forestry question was
taken up, and the immense holdings of
the company, over 2,000 square miles
of timber lands, were investigated with
a view to introducing practical forestry
methods. Accurate surveys of all the
company’s holdings were commenced
and have now been completed. The
maps show all topographical details, the
location of all burns, swamps and tim-
ber, and the areas in the different types
of the latter, and all lumbered areas.
Stock has also been taken over a large
part of the forest lands, so that the
amounts and kinds of timber which may
be cut are known. Volume tables have
been prepared, the first for Canadian
trees, and growth studies made of the
different species. In 1908 the company
began to plant, beginning with 5,000
trees, and plantations have been con-
tinued. Last year a small nursery was
started, and this has been eniarged this
year and will be still further developed.
Experiments are under way with dif-
ferent species, in the hope of finding a
tree which will be suitable for pulp’and
will grow faster than the native ones.
Norway spruce is naturally the first to
be tried. When this problem is settled
776 AMERICAN FORESTRY
all the company’s waste lands will be
planted.
In 1908 the company started the first
efficient fire-protection system and in
1909 persuaded the licensees to unite
for the protection of the timber lands
along the right-of-way of the new Na-
tional Transcontinental Railway. This
was the beginning of the Protective As-
sociation mentioned previously.
In addition to engaging a forester,
the company put a forest engineer, Mr.
M. C. Small, in charge of its logging
operations, and under his efficient man-
agement an enormous amount of waste
in the woods has been eliminated in the
way of high stumps and large tops,
burnt timber has been utilized, young
growth better protected, better condi-
tions for scalers and more careful
methods of measurement. Roads have
been opened up, telephone lines have
been built, gasoline launches placed on
the large rivers and comfortable quar-
ters built for the men in charge of
depots and for the inspectors and
sealers. ‘The logging department has
instituted the first system of competent
logging inspection ever tried here, and
this season is trying the experiment
of marking trees and lopping tops under
competent supervision. “Scientific Man-
agement” has been in use for years, and
the cost-keeping system of this depart-
ment is a model.
The employees have also been given
an opportunity to subscribe to the stock
of the company and have taken advan-
tage of it, and each one feels that he
has a ,deepe personal amterest (in. its
success.
The influence of all this work has
been felt in the surrounding towns and
country, and other companies have been
encouraged by it to make a beginning
along the same lines.
The work of this one man, with a big
idea, the infection of which has spread
to all whom he has associated with
him, has borne most abundant. fruit,
not only in social betterment, better
living conditions and higher standards,
but in greater financial prosperity for
the company, which has made a record
in earning capacity and values.
MR. JOHN £. RHODES’ NEW POSITION
John E. Rhodes, of Tacoma, Wash., a member of the editorial advisory board of,
American Forestry, will, in January, become the manager-secretary of the National Lumber
Mnuufacturers Association with headquarters at Chicago. It was recently decided by the
Association to combine these two offices and Mr. Rhodes succeeds Manager Leonard
Bronson and Secretary George K. Smith, who have so ably filled the positions for some
time. Mr. Rhodes, who is thoroughly conversant with the lumber business, having been
in it fora number of years, is at the present time visiting the chief lumber trade centers,
of the country, ascertaining the sentiment of the lumbermen and the nature of the work
which they desire the association to do in their interests. Having thoroughly sounded them
he will be in a position, when he takes charge of the work, to develop a comprehensive
campaign, which with his great energy to direct it will certainly be carried to a successful
conclusion.
TEACHING FORESTRY TO CHILDREN
The New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University, designated and estab-
lished by the Legislature for educational work in Forestry in New York, has sent a letter
to the principals of all the high and preparatory schools of the State offering to give
illustrated lectures and demonstrations upon Forestry before the schools so that every child
in the State may understand what Forestry is and may learn to love the trees and forests.
CLEVERLY ADVERTISING. BIRCH
The Northern Hemlock and Hardwood Manufacturers Association is sending out a
very attractive book on the value, uses and beauty of birch together with a sample of birch
wood, the two making a decidedly good advertising feature. The book comprises sixteen
pages, handsomely illustrated, and showing plans, exteriors and interiors of buildings in
which birch is used as well as a number of styles of birch finish.
‘Co Ts
MUNICIPAL FORESTRY
By Netson C. Brown
Photographs by H. P. Baker and the Writer
ONSERVATION has become im-
mensely popular in this country.
From the initial subject of for-
estry it has been broadened out to
cover nearly every conceivable resource
—not only the forests, minerals, soils,
etc., but health, human energy, and al-
most everything else which we can asso-
ciate with the term conservation. Real
conservation is beginning to be prac-
tised with our forest resources. Not
only has the Government taken up the
practice of forestry on the timbered re-
gions of the public domain now called
National Forests in the West, but many
of our states, realizing the impending
DOQUARTERS OF THE SYRACUSE CITY
HEATATELES LAKE AND THE HIGHWAY, 1
MEANS OF TRANSPORTING THE PRODL
I
3
C
scarcity of the lumber and wood sup-
plies, have taken steps to set aside for-
est reserves. Lumber companies are
following these examples and are aban-
doning their short-sighted policy of
stripping timber without regard to the
future. It will not be a great while be-
fore our more progressive cities will
gradually take up the practice of for-
estry on extensive parks, reservoir wa-
tersheds and on nearby waste lands.
Already a number of cities have ap-
pointed city foresters to look after the
care of ornamental shade trees along
the streets and in the parks. Some of
these positions include the management
*OREST. SHOWING A PORTION OF SKAN-
OTH OF WHICH WILL BE UTILIZED AS
“TS OF THE FOREST TO MARKET.
-1
~
~
OLD
4
4
GROUND ARE
q
4
FORI
4
‘S IN THI
TREES
vty
SE
THE LARC
“
4
LAKE
LES
4
NI
A
OVER SK¢
LOOKING
~.
. 7 wt.
# os we o ase, 5 . u ‘ * £ ‘
LOOKING FROM THE FOREST OVER SKANBATELES LAKE, THE SOURCE OF WATER SUPPLY FOR SYRACUSE. _IN THE FOREGROUND ARE
OPEN AREAS WHICH WILL BE PLANTED TO WHITE PINE, SCOTCH PINE AND NORWAY PINE.
‘
cid Pe
780
AMERICAN FORESTRY
A VIRGIN STAND OF HEMLOCK THAT HAS BEEN PROPERLY THINNED OUT, a
THE TALL STRAIGHT TREES FOR INCREASED GROWTH. NOTE THE MANNER IN
WHICH THE TREES HAVE NATURALLY PRUNED OFF THE LOWER LIMBS.
of extensive forest parks—remnants
of the original virgin stand of primeval
forest for both aesthetic and commer-
cial purposes.
Municipal forests are common in Eu-
rope. They are common and popular
because long ago it was found that by
developing waste lands or those of lit-
tle value in the vicinity of the cities for
growing timber, good profits could be
made in forest rotations of from thirty
to sixty years. In this way material as-
sistance was given in meeting the citv
budgets, and, consequently, in decreas-
ing the property tax rate. In a few in-
stances municipal forests under skillful
silvicultural management have yielded
a return sufficient to meéet all the ex-
pense of the city and in addition have
provided a sinking fund for future
emergency, or, in some cases, a dividend
to the stockholders of the city, who, in
other words, are the property owners.
Besides the commercial aspect of
these city forests, they have contributed
immeasurably to the health and pleasure
of the people by furnishing an enjoyable
breathing spot and place for recreation.
In addition, European cities are some-
times wholly dependent upon their
municipal forests for their fuel and lum-
ber supply. Thus in many ways they
enter into the municipal and domestic
economy.
It is only a question of time before
American cities will realize the desir-
ability of acquiring waste forest lands
within or near their limits, that are un-
fitted for agricultural development or
undesirable for building or other more
valuable purposes with the view of
placing them under scientific forest
manangement. Several municipalities
and private water companies have
recognized the advisability of develop-
ing their forest lands on the drainage
basins of reservoirs both as a source of
revenue from the yield of wood prod-
ucts and to maintain the best sanitary
conditions. Municipalities and corpora-
tions permanent in their nature are bet-
ter fitted to practice forestry because
they can borrow money at such low
MUNICIPAL FORESTRY
rates of interest. Forestry is not a busi-
ness of quick returns.
Consistent with its progressive atti-
tude on many municipal problems, the
city of Syracuse has recently taken
Mpmatne. opLactice. of “forestry: on a
tract of timber land on the watershed of
Skaneateles Lake, the source of the
city’s water supply. The forest was
purchased primarily to avoid the possi-
bility of contamination. With this ob-
ject accomplished, it has sought to
develop the timber along commercial
lines, while still maintaining a contin-
uous forest cover to protect the water-
shed. A good forest growth is con-
ducive to clear pure water, whereas a
denuded or barren watershed is often
responsible for floods and the washing
down of silt with a consequent muddy
water supply. With this in view, the
city has placed the management of the
tract in the hands of the New York
State College of Forestry at Syracuse
University, to serve not only as a
demonstration of the possibilities of
practical forestry, but also as a business
proposition for the city.
IRGIN STAND OF HEMLOCK, BEECH AND _B
* VAND EXCELLENT FOREST CONDITIONS ARE
781
The tract consists of approximately
150 acres along the shores of Skaneat-
eles Lake, one of the chain of the so-
called “finger lakes,” including Cayuga,
Seneca, etc., in Central New York. The
timber is middle-aged, second growth,
mixed hardwoods of practically every
known species of the region, with some
hemlock. The principal trees repre-
sented in order are the basswood, hem-
lock, chestnut, oak, hard maple, and
some scattering beech, hickory, ash, yel-
low birch, cherry, elm and yellow pop-
lar. Many of the trees are still in the
young “pole” stage of development. An
estimate of the tract shows that there
are approximately 6,000 feet, board
measure, per acre. In terms of cord-
wood there are about 35 cords per acre.
This is an excellent yield of timber con-
sidering the age and the past neglected
condition of the tract.
The object in forest management will
be to favor the chestnut, provided it
continues to be free from the blight at-
tack, which has spread with such dis-
astrous effects over Long Island, Con-
necticut, and eastern Pennsylvania.
i
KEPT OUT
rHESE
HAVE BEEN
3IRCH. FIRES
BEST SEVERAL OF
ESTABLISHED.
TREES HAVE NEARLY REACHED MATURITY AND SHOULD SOON BE CUT.
782
Oak, basswood and cherry will also be
favored. ‘These are the most valuable
and rapidly growing species, and all will
find a ready market in the near vicinity.
There is an especially good market in
the neighboring cities for poles, posts,
ties, cordwood, and box-boards. ‘The
soil and site conditions, moreover, are
very favorable for forest growth. The
species that will be discriminated
against are the hemlock, soft maple,
aspen, beech, and ironwood, owing to
their slow rate of growth, difficulty of
silvicultural treatment and relatively in-
ferior quality of wood produced.
In putting the tract under scientific
forest management the first operation
was to make a topographic map of the
area to ascertain the boundaries and the
configuration of the land. Along with
this, an estimate was made to determine
the character of the forest and to take
stock of the amount of cordwood and
lumber that is now standing on the
tract.
For the purposes of fire protection,
trails three feet wide were cut down to
mineral soil on the boundaries, where
no protection such as the lake and roads
were afforded, to prevent destructive
surface fires either from coming over
from adjacent timber land or from
spreading from the city forest. An im-
provement cutting was next made to
clean out all the dead, diseased and
insect-infested trees and to discriminate
against the inferior in favor of the more
desirable species. In this operation, an
excellent opportunity was given to dis-
play the fine points-of the forester’s
knowledge of the proper handling and
improvement of woodlands. In connec-
tion with this work four permanent ex-
perimental plots were laid out for the
purpose of studying the rate of growth
of the different species and the effects
of different methods of silvicultural
treatment.
Based upon evidences of a rapid rate
of growth as a result of unusually fa-
vorable soil conditions, the growth is
estimated to be at least one cord of
wood per acre per annum. With care-
ful treatment this rate of increment laid
on each year should be materially in-
creased. Thinnings made about every
AMERICAN FORESTRY
tenth year should easily pay for them-
selves. It is planned, also, to plant up
some open waste areas and part of the
tract where the forest cover is not suf-
ficiently dense with white pine, Norway
pine and Scotch pine. The city forest
is especially well favored in its location
and soil conditions for successful forest
plantations, and there is every evidence
that these species can be brought to
merchantable size in from thirty to fifty
years, depending upon the kind of
product that is desired on the markets.
The portion of the tract to be planted
consists largely of stony old pastures
and fields once covered with apple
orchards. Already young seedlings of
oak, ash, elm and poplar are appearing
in them. It will be more desirable and
profitable, however, to plant these areas
to white, Scotch or Norway pines on
account of their rapid growth and high
technical quality. of the wood product,
particularly with the white and Nor-
way pines.. For permanent forest man-
agement, it will undoubtedly be more
profitable, in the long run, to introduce
these rapidly growing conifers rather
than to continue with pure hardwoods.
Generally speaking, hardwoods are
comparatively slow in growth and do
not grow so densely in the forest. This
consequently means a greater yield with
the conifers in a shorter length of time.
In Europe the most splendid exam-
ple of successful forestry is found in
the Sihlwald, the city forest of Zurich,
in northeastern Switzerland. ‘This has
yielded an annual income per acre of
$7.57. Many municipal forests in Ger-
many have yielded a net income of over
$5.00 per acre annually, after all ex-
penses of administration and protection
have been deducted. In comparison
with agricultural yields, these figures
are not proportionately high. However,
when we consider that these forests are
occupying soils wholly unsuited and
unfit for tillage or more valuable pur-
poses, it is an excellent return on the
capital invested. In addition, these
forests are serving a real purpose in
putting otherwise waste lands to profit-
able use, in equalizing the stream flow to
prevent floods and in providing a cheap
and abundant fuel and lumber supply.
THE FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE
FORESTER OF MINNESOTA
By Pror. FE. G. CHEYNEY
Director of the Forest School, University of Minnesota
est to the first report of any new
undertaking to see what it prom-
ises 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 ap-
propriation allotted to it in the easiest
and least disturbing way? Will it be-
come a part of the political machine,—a
roosting place for lame ducks—using its
appointive power to secure the votes of
otherwise useless employees? Or will
it really be an efficient organization,
grasping the problems presented to it
with a broad comprehension of its pos-
sibilities, striving for the welfare of the
State and seeking to get value received
for every penny expended?
(TD: always look forward with inter-
That is the most important question
and it is answered in the first annual
report of the State Forester of Minne-
sota 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 po-
sitions through efficiency.
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 build-
ing of watch towers, the improvement
of trails and portages, the construction
of telephone lines, the surveying and
mapping of tracts of absolute forest
peeks 2 eee as oe
I * WAY FOR RAILROAD THROUGH DENSE TIMBER—SLASH
SNe CREAN, UNDER RECTION OF RANGER—PULP WOOD WILL BE
HAULED OFF.
‘VLOSHNNIW NYHHLNOS ‘WaHATY OYMWAZ HHL ONO’IV
LSHYOT GOOMAUVH
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AMERICAN FORESTRY
THIS WAS A WAGON ROAD BEFORE THE FIRE WENT THROUGH.
land, a study of the extent and distribu-
tion of the State’s forests, the forest’s
share in the wealth and welfare of the
State, the education of the people at
large in the value and benefits of per-
manent forests.
That outlines a far-reaching and com-
prehensive 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
enormous responsibilities.
But let us vent our criticisms first and
be through with it. The worst, practi-
cally 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 con-
trivance, and its omission seems inex-
cusable.
Naturally the bulk of the report
deals with the fire problem—the first
that the forester must meet in any field.
The organization consists of the State
Forester with the Assistant State For-
ester working through a force of fifteen
permanent District Rangers, who in
turn have under them a force of tem-
porary patrolmen. ‘The first object is
fire prevention; the second to extin-
guish existing fires as quickly as possi-
ble. Every effort is directed first to-
ward prevention.
To those familiar with the former
attitude of all those interested in for-
est fires in Minnesota the most remark-
able feature of the whole report is the
truly wonderful degree to which all
these diverse interests have been in-
duced to co-operate with the new Forest
Service in the protection of the forests.
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 railroad kept reserves to act as
patrolmen along their rights of way at
the call of the rangers in the danger
season, and extended many courtesies
to aid the new service.
Some of the timber owners hired
patrolmen of their own to work under
the rangers.
A large number of organized towns
taxed themselves to add their patrol-
men to the State force.
The number of patrolmen, and hence
the working efficiency of the service,
was more than doubled through co-
operation.
One of the most interesting features
brought out, especially interesting be-
787
SLASHINGS PROPERLY
cause it is a new idea, is the protection
of the towns in the forest areas by the
construction of firebreaks around them.
Such breaks were built only at the in-
stigation 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
PEAT BOG FIRES BURN eS AS WELL AS SUMMER
PILED FOR BURNING.
years. The method and cost of con-
struction makes interesting reading.
But even more interesting is the de-
scription of the great firebreak 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 contribution from the Red Cross
—
|
i ae
|
” er
|
THEY MUST BE
UG OUT.
il
Lid
FOREST
EREC
»
NITY
MINNESOTA
GULL LAKE,
fund for the aid of the fire sufferers in
that district, is the most comprehensive
system of firebreaks in the country that
have ever been constructed for the pro-
tection 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, cov-
ering an area of 236 acres, by means
of a power ditcher and constant con-
trol, 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 totally neglected.
Although this work of fire preven-
tion and fire fighting naturally occu-
SERVICE
TED AUGUST 2
AMERICAN FORESTRY
TOWER AT
COST $36.30.
STEEL
5, 1911.
pies most of the State Forester’s time
at present and a large proportion of his
report, he makes it distinctly under-
stood that he considers it only as the
preliminary step which will make his
proper work, the scientific management
of the State’s forests, possible.
Among the interesting facts con-
tained 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 con-
tain 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 por-
tion of this is made up of hard woods
located in the southern portion of the
State.
*0JOYUd I9912AIS qSIAO DIOSAUWL YT
H.LVLS
nm
¥
cI
Nod OL LISIA SAVd NOLLVIDOSSV ‘IVINOLIG
Nao, SNA)
xc
S
b
c
¥
LUVd VOSVALI NI
oS
790
AMERICAN FORESTRY
WHERE TRAILS GIVE OUT FOREST OFFICERS MUST BUILD
RAFTS TO CROSS
COOK COUNTY.
THE
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 valuable informa-
tion. Its honest striving for the wel-
fare of the State and its pointed calls
for the needs of the future should en-
list the sympathy and support of every
true patriot. It is a true, manly ap-
peal 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 photo-
graphs illustrating the text very well.
It is to be regretted that more space
in the report cannot be given to the
“State Forests.” That, however, is
NAMELESS LAKES, NORTHERN
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 con-
trol 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 specu-
lator, who alone profits in the subse-
quent sales and re-sales to unsuspecting
purchasers. ‘These lands should be pro-
ducing valuable timber crops. It is to
be hoped that the great State of Min-
nesota will soon turn over some of
them to the State Forester, so that they
can be cared for in a businesslike man-
ANNUAL REPORT
STATE FORESTER OF MINNESOTA 7
91
MOOSE EATING LILY ROOTS
EL
ner, thus adding, with their productive-
ness, to the wealth of the State.
Among the most interesting para-
graphs of the report are the following:
MUNICIPAL, FORESTS WOULD PAY.
The value of a woodlot or convenient
grove to a farm is not fully realized
by a man accustomed to living in tim-
bered country until he has liv ed on the
prairie. There he is dependent upon
distant coal mines for his fuel, and as
shown by recent railroad tie-ups and
car shortages, he is by no means as-
sured of enough coal. Every farm and
every town, with a woodlot of sufficient
extent, is assured of independence from
one form of monopoly.
That prairie dwellers realize the value
of a woodlot, as a wind break, and as
a fuel supply, is made evident by the
fact, that the farmers of the prairie
region have planted groves which
amount tn the aggregate to several hun-
dred thousand acres. This fact should
give pause to any farmer, who 1s
rapidly reducing his woodlot, without
thought to the future. Although a
bounty has been offered as an induce-
ment to plant trees on the prairie, it
has amounted to very little to the indi-
vidual. Even when the labor of plant-
ELY, IN NORTH-
ESOTA.
ing is done, he must wait a number of
years for his timber to grow to usable
size. In the meantime he is dependent
upon outside sources for his fuel, and
his buildings are exposed to the force
of the wind. In how much better cir-
cumstances is the man whose farm is
situated in the timber, and who has been
thoughtful enough to retain a good-
sized woodlot? Such a man, if he has
kept enough timber, is independent of
any rise in fuel prices, and by careful
use, this independence may be made
permanent.
FOREST INFLUENCE ON FARMERS.
economic im-
4 or in-
more
Aside from taxes, the
portance of this “raw-material,
dustrial, side of the forests
far-reaching in Minnesota than is ordi-
1S
narily understood. ‘They are not of
value only to the parts of the State
where merchantable timber is found.
They are of gerat importance to the
farming regions; thus: The great tim-
ber industries in woods anc town and
city require large numbers of draft
horses; in fact, are principa! buyers in
the horse markets. Horses are be-
coming one of the great sources of
profit to Minnesota farmers, more and
attention being devoted to that
more
792
branch every year. As the forest in-
dustries decrease in extent every year,
the market for horses decreases and
new markets have to be sought out.
With the rapid increase in the cities
and elsewhere of the use of automobiles
where formerly horses were used, the
markets for horses are becoming re-
stricted. The farmer, therefore, should
do all in his power to perpetuate that
lumbering industry, in the logging end
of which, at least, horses cannot be
displaced by autos. Horses require
feed—oats, corn, bran, hay. Immense
quantities of these farm products are
purchased every year to feed the log-
ging teams of Minnesota. Further-
more, the camps in the woods, of which
there are 1,500 in Minnesota this year,
require immense quantities of beans,
beef, pork, potatoes, cabbage, onions,
and almost every variety of farm prod-
ucts, to feed the great army of woods-
workmen. ‘Therefore, a decrease in the
logging industry directly affects the
farmers of Minnesota to a really large
extent. ‘The latter, therefore, should
wish to see this industry prolonged,
and perpetuated, wherever forest can
grow most profitably, and they should
co-operate in this work of fire preven-
tion.
HOW RECEDING FORESTS HAVE AFFECTED
MOISTURE IN THE GROUND.
Formerly timber on the hillsides and
bottom lands protected the heavy snow
from too rapid melting, permitting the
water therefrom to soak into the soil,
and so gradually to reach the river.
Raging spring floods were then not so
common; power projects could depend
upon an equable amount of water all
summer, until the fall rains renewed
the ground supply, and reservoirs were
not filled up with mud. Now, however,
the snow in the spring, unprotected by
forests on these particular watersheds,
goes so rapidly that only a very small
part of it, with the rains, has time to
soak into the ground. Most of the
melting snow and the rain water there-
fore runs off swiftly over the surface,
all of it being poured into a stream
practically at once. This causes a tor-
rent. Immediately when the snow is
gone, the flood subsides through lack
AMERICAN FORESTRY
of supply and the stream shrinks to
normal stage. The latter is maintained
for a time by seepage from what little
moisture the ground has retained. This
exhausted, the stream becomes a creek,
and log drives are “hung up,” causing
the shutting down of sawmills and lack
of employment for many men. Flour
mills, run by water power, must keep
their head-gates closed days at a time,
in order that they may get “head”
enough to run for one day. Normal
rainfall does not reach the streams,
being absorbed and retained by the dry
earth. With heavy rains or cloudbursts,
the surface runoff not being retarded
by forest cover, great floods again
occur, with like ensuing conditions,
often leaving a trail of death and de-
vastation behind them. ‘The flood of
Johnstown, Pa., and more recently that
of Austin, Pa., and Black River Falls,
Wis., are cases in point ‘These and
similar calamities have repeatedly oc-
curred in the United States and in this
State, where no active consideration
has been given to retaining forests to
regulate water run-off.
WHY EVERYONE SHOULD CO-OPERATE IN
PRESERVING THE FORESTS.
The forests of Minnesota are of di-
rect value to every citizen; their loss
would be in equal proportion a direct
loss to every citizen. Consistenly,
therefore, there is no person in Minne-
sota who should not be eager to co-
operate with the service in its initial
undertaking toward perpetuating those
forests, namely, in protecting them
from ruin by fire. Nor should the peo-
ple stop there. They should further
co-operate with the service in retaining,
upbuilding and scientifically developing
the forests so that they may be a
permanent source of income to the peo-
ple. They should co-operate thus be-
cause of the great and undeniable
economic value of the forests to the
people as a whole. True, this may be
said of almost any great industry, such
as farming. But farming is on the in-
crease. Scientific methods of farming
have been and are being rapidly evolved
and generally adopted. So widespread
is the interest in this upward move-
ment, so much private and public money
ANNUAL REPORT STATE FORESTER OF MINNESOTA
is being devoted to it, that farming is
on a firmer footing in this country than
ever before. The same may be said of
other industries. The reverse has been
true of the forests. ‘This should not
be so. ‘There is as great need for
practicing scientific forestry as there is
for practicing scientific farming on the
agricultural lands.
For years, the forests of Minnesota,
so long regarded as an inexhaustible
resource, have been diminishing in ex-
tent. ‘This has been going on with no
attempt until recent years to check it;
has been going on for years in face of
the fact that the trwe economic value
of the forests is second only in im-
portance to that of the farms. The
downward movement is to be observed
not only in the decrease in annual in-
come directly from the forests, but in
its harmful effect upon so many in-
dustries which touch upon them. Fur-
793
thermore, it is apparent in the increased
cost of forest products to the consumer.
The time is at hand when that down-
ward movement must be stopped, or the
gradual loss will soon become a perma-
nent state calamity. To this end, there-
fore, not only should the lumber com-
panies, railroads, settlers and others,
cbserve the laws for forest preserva-
tion, and give organized assistance in
that work, but every one should, for
his own benefit, co-operate to the utmost
extent that he may in the work of
preserving and perpetuating the forests.
Without the combined individual and
organized aid of every one, the work
of the service for the forest welfare
must, proportionately as that aid is
lacking, be hindered and lack in eff-
ciency. Only with that aid can the
forests be brought to the point where
they will be productive of the greatest
benefit to the people.
VIEW FROM ONE OF THE MOUNTAIN LAKES OF COOK COUNTY, MINN.
BREEDING FUR-BEARING ANIMALS
The Fur News Publishing Company of 71 West a3rd St., New York, has
interesting book entitled “Fur Farming for Profit.
: : : a: pe a he
-bearu nimals either as a distinct industry, | Spec
ee mins o s of the subject in twenty-nine well-written chapters which
ized or general farming and treat
are profusely illustrated.
issued a very
It is designed as a practical text book
y, or in connection with special-
A NEW BOOK BY DR.C. A. SCHENCK
The third and revised edition of “The
ture” by C. A. Schenck, Ph. D.,
It will be found an excellent text book
lumbermen and foresters.
director of the
lgt } nd is now in its present form enlarged an
Pe eo eeatlont teat be for students and will be also of much value tol
Art of the Second Growth or American Sylvicul-
Biltmore Forest School, ts just out. It was
d brought up to date.
EMPIRE STATE ASSOCIATION MEETING
© more successful meeting has
ever been held by the Empire
State Forest Products Associa-
tion than the one at Watertown, N. Y..
on November 14, which was attended by
about a hundredmen interested in forest
conservation and water power preser-
vation. They heard many excellent ad-
dresses, were delightfully entertained
and derived much benefit from the
meeting, which resulted in decisions
for closer co-operation between the As-
sociation, the American Forestry Asso-
ciation, the Camp Fire Club of America
and the Society for the Preservation of
the Adirondacks. The tenor of the
addresses showed that there was keen
realization of the fact that these organ-
izations, working together, could accom-
plish much that is desired in forest and
water conservation in New York State.
President Frank L. Moore in his
opening address said:
“There has been in the past too much
theory and to» little practical know-
ledge of the vast forest areas that are
the property of the people. This prop-
erty, which has been purchased by
levying laws, of which you and I have
paid our proportion is of inestimable
value, but under the constitution of the
state we are prevented from deriving
any revenue from a matured and de-
caying crop. That same constitution
says that we must not use any of the
people's property to create storage
reservoirs for the benefit of the people
of the State. I say this advisedly be-
cause wherever power can be created,
manufacturing industries spring up,
population of towns increases, and the
ever alert assessor places your prop-
erty on the assessment roll of the State
and then taxes from which death alone
can separate you. If you and I man-
aged our business this way we would
be classed unsuccessful.
“It is evident that the people, the real
owners of the vast estate, had rather
pay a direct tax and allow a maturing
794
FRANK L.
RE-ELECTED
PRESIDENT OF
EST PRODUCTS
MOORE, OF
FOR THE
WATERTOWN, N. Y.,
THIRD TERM AS
THE EMPIRE STATE FOR-
ASSOCIATION.
and ripe crop to rot, than to say that
we will amend the constitution, pick
out someone to manage this property
and put it upon a revenue-producing
and self-sustaining basis. When this 1s
done, a direct tax will be unheard of.
“Another phase of our forest man-
agement that is causing serious thought
by those directly responsible is: shall
we continue to make annual appropri-
ations for further purposes under our
present constitution, or shall a way be
found where this money may be ex-
pended for the perpetuation of our
forests and at the same time produce a
EMPIRE STATE ASSOCIATION MEETING
revenue to the State? I do not believe
in investments that will not produce
some return. The people of the State
should arise en masse and demand an
income from their investment which
should be applied to lessen their taxes.
Until our constitution can be amended
we should ask the Legislature to pass a
law permitting the people to acquire
larger interests in forest lands. I
believe a law could be drawn that
would be constitutional and that would
permit the State to reforest private
lands under the following conditions:
“An individual or corporation to
make application to the conservation
department to reforest certain lands,
the growing crop to be free from tax-
ation. ‘The trees, when matured, to be
cut under State supervision and a
stumpage paid to the State, the stum-
page to be a lien against growing crop.
The amount of stumpage to be agreed
upon by the owners and the commis-
sion in charge, the trees to be consid-
ered matured when they reach a diam-
eter of 12 inches.
“T believe a law framed as the above
would promote continuous reforesting
along our rivers and streams.
“T believe also that the constitution
should be so amended as to permit the
cutting of matured trees upon State
lands under control of the State de-
partment, and the proceeds of the sale
of the stumpage be applied to further
purchases or to help defray the ex-
penses of government.
“The Bird amendment so-called was
the result of initiative taken by your
officers, and to-day we can point with
pride to the loyal support it has from
all associations interested in permanent
growth.
“T believe in enlarging forest fire
service. Reforestation will accomplish
but little with inadequate fire protec-
tion.”
Prof. Nelson C. Brown, of the New
York State College of Forestry at Syr-
acuse, read an excellent paper on the
development of forest utilization in
this country and said he believed the
practice of forestry in this country 1
the future would be devoted as much to
complete utilization of the timber re
sources as to the growing of timber.
795
He advocated a more liberal policy in
the management of the State-owned
timber land.
An address on the work of the
American Forestry Association, and
the important investigative work to be
undertaken next year in co-operation
with the lumbermen and _ timber-
land owners, State foresters and fire
protective associations, was given by
P. §$. Ridsdale, the executive sec-
tetary;; A. S:> Houghton, ef -sthe
Camp Fire Club of America, spoke on
the growth of forest conservation in
New York State and the increasing in-
terest of the lumbermen in the work.
Dr. Edward H. Hall, of New York
City, the secretary of the Society for
the Protection of the Adirondacks,
urged, in a witty and impressive talk,
an open discussion of any differences
of opinion between his association and
other organization regarding differences
in policy in efforts to preserve the
Adirondacks.
W. L. Sykes, of Buffalo, who had
driven forty miles through the rain
and over muddy roads in an automobile
from Cranberry Lake to get to the
meeting, made an interesting report for
the forestry committee, of which he is
chairman, and this was followed by a
general discussion of conditions in the
forests. Mr. Sykes urged that the
State adopt a more liberal policy in
permitting private owners to build roads
across State lands in order to market
their timber.
Prof. Samuel N. Spring, of the for-
estry department of Cornell, who is a
member of the State board, which 1s
investigating the question of forest
taxation, lucidly described different
methods of taxation reforms which
have been proposed and in which those
present were greatly interested. This
talk. too, was followed by a general
discussion, during which Prof. Spring
answered a number of qtiestions about
various features of forest taxation laws.
At the banquet in the evening there
were addresses by WEA. Hoover, ot
the State Conservation Commission ;
State Senator ‘TI. Harvey Fe?ris, of
Utica: James L. Hutchins, of Roches-
ter, and an illustrated talk on State
forestry by Dean Hugh P. Baker, of
796
the New York State College of
Forestry.
The resolutions adopted at the meet-
ing denounced the Canadian reciprocity
treaty, approved the Jones bill relating
to the taxation of forest lands, and
went on record as favoring the placing
of fire wardens under the civil service
laws.
The first of the resolutions follows:
Resolved, That the Empire State
Forest Products Association reaffirms
its desire to confer with the Camp Fire
Association, the Association for the
Protection of the Adirondacks, the
New York Board of Trade and Trans-
portation and any other association or
individuals for the purpose of harmon-
izing the several interests in the Adi-
rondacks ; and we hereby pledge our co-
operation in support of any reasonable
improvement in establishing rational
scientific forest management, with due
consideration to vested rights, to the
end that the forests in the State of New
York may be operated and maintained
for the greatest good to the greatest
number.
The association, by resolution, com-
mends the Burd-Merritt amendment for
an adequate system of water storage in
the Adirondacks to regulate the flow of
streams.
The following resolution was adopt-
ed on the State College of Forestry:
Resolved, That we commend the effi-
cient educational work of the New
York State College of Forestry in
training professional foresters and
practical woodsmen in its Ranger
School, and the study which the col-
AMERICAN FORESTRY
lege is making of the wood-using in-
dustries of the State in co-operation
with the national forest service, to the
end that the proper use of our forest
lands will be more generally and better
known. It commends especially the
State-wide work which the college is
doing in taking forestry to the high
schools, granges and other organiza-
tions as well as its work along experi-
mental lines.
Frank L. Moore was re-elected presi-
dent for a third term. F. J. Jones, of
Buffalo, was chosen as vice-president,
and H. J. Cadwell was re-elected secre-
tary and treasurer. The following com-
mittees were named:
Board of Directors—Rufus Sisson,
Potsdam, - chairman; G. H. P.- Gould
Lyon Falls; Charles F. Moore, New
York; Ferris Meigs, New York; E. K.
Harroun, Watertown; FE. J. Jones, Buf-
falo; Maurice Hoops, Glens Falls.
Legislative— Ferris Meigs, New
York; George Ostrander, Glens Falls;
George C. Sherman, Watertown;
Charles Moore, New York; E. J.
Jones, Buffalo; V. K. Kelloff, Water-
town; Charles Sisson, Potsdam, and
J. G. Hoffman.
Transportation — John D. White,
Utica, chairman; J. N. McDonald,
Utica; Charles Griffin, New York;
Fred Cleveland, Albany, and C. H. Tif-
fany, New York.
Forestry—W. L. Sykes, Buffalo,
chairman; George A. McCoy, Tupper
Lake; R. W. Higby, New York; F. P!
Wilder, Watertown; Isaac Kenwell and
Prof. Nelson C. Brown, Syracuse.
A REPORT ON FOREST FIRE LOSSES
Forest resources having a valuation of more than $25,000,000 are lost annually through
fire, according to Fred Ga Plummer, geographer of the United States Forest Service.
Besides this great loss of timber, there has been an average loss of seventy human lives al
year in the forest fires of the last half century.
In a study which he has just completed, Mr. Plummer has drawn upon all the forest
fire statistics known to exist, and has worked out for the government a system of standard-
ized reports which will give to future generations data of the causes, extent and effects
of forest fires which will be far more complete and accurate than the records which have.
been kept heretofore.
Mr. Plummer makes a point of the fact that there are enormous
forest fire losses from the destruction of young tree growth, deterioration of the soil,
damage to watercourses, interruption of business and the depreciation of property which
are important, but which cannot be estimated accurately.
THE FOREST RANGER edi
[wa <.
$
a
s
f
A RANGER TRACING LINES IN WINTER UNDER DIFFICULTIES, MINNESOTA
NATIONAL FOREST.
THE FOREST RANGER
A. G. JAcKsOoN
Who is this forest ranger man we hear so much about?
What does he do, how live his life, where is his daily route?
The forest ranger is the man who guards the nation’s wood,
Performs his Uncle Sam’s odd jobs and does his duty good.
His life is lived away from town, and often quite alone
He rides the trail or climbs the ridge wherever trees are grown,
He gathers seed in autumn from the sturdy forest trees,
And scatters them where barrenness exists by fire’s decrees.
The snow-clad peaks, the mountain lakes, the river’s rushing brim
The cabin and the jungle dark alike are known to him.
1 counts each one his friend.
By their first names he calls the trees an
their lives they spend
He knows the furtive wood folk too, and how
He finds the way and builds the trail where few have been before;
And to a beauty spot long closed he leaves an open door.
lowlands to the higher,
flames he battles torest fire.
In August’s heat he makes his beat from
And oftimes mid deep smoke and
798 AMERICAN FORESTRY
A RANGER TRACING LINES IN WINTER UNDER DIFFICULTIES, MINNESOTA
NATIONAL FIREST.
With compass, aneroid and book he makes the forest maps,
And carries quilt and frypan with his surveying traps.
Each day you'll find him on the job in charge of timber sales,
And every log or bolt that comes with diligence he scales.
And nursery rhymes he croons at night to baby firs and spruce
That soon will grow to take the place of old trees put to use.
The ranger’s works are legion: he cooks, he packs, he rides.
He’s carpenter and mason, he paints and drafts besides.
He’s sometimes building cabins and installing telephones,
And sometimes cruising timber, and sometimes hauling stones.
For any work that’s needed on his unc’les forest land,
The ranger’s ever ready with a willing skilful hand.
On what he sees, and what he does, wherever he resorts,
He must embody all the facts in various reports.
The forest ranger sometimes wears a Service uniform;
More often khaki overalls keep his strong figure warm.
The ranger likes his T-bone steaks and strawberries and cream;
His frequent food is “mulligan’” beside some mountain stream.
The forest ranger sometimes works but eight hours for a day,
And days when he puts in sixteen, they don’t increase his pay.
The forest ranger on his trips as he goes down or up,
Oft takes along for company a well bred Airdale pup.
THE FOREST RANGER 799
re forest ranger likes his job: he has no time to knock
nd when at length promotion comes it strikes him with a shock
yt :
Thus the ranger’s life 1s lived with nature wild and free
His soul uncaged by city walls—His is the life for me
Berlin, Wash., Oct. 27, 1911.
A RANGER PILING AND BURNING BRUSH IN THE WINTER.
THESPOULURE SUPPLY OF HICKORY
i America must soon begin to plant hickory or this country will face a serious shortage
1n one of its most useful hard woods, according to Raphael Zon, expert in charge of the
office of silvics in the Umted. States Forest Service.
America 1s now supplying the hickory which is used over the entire world, A fact not
known to the average person is that hickory is distinctively an American tree, growtng only
in the eastern part of the United States. Jt is usually scattered among other hard woods,
and up until the present time sufficient guantitte s have been found lo supp AY the demand at
reasonable prices, but experts in the United States Forest Service now realize that the
timber must be planted if the future supply is to be guaranteed.
CONSERVATION
REALIZED IN MASSACHUSETTS
By Harris A. REYNOLDS
Secretary, Massachusetts Forestry Association
with coal or copper mines, nor
oil and gas wells. Consequently,
it. has none of those natural re-
sources to conserve. It has a prob-
(Dee is not blessed
lem, however—the preservation of
its forests, and the reclamation of
its waste dlandsye lt] emaya) SuLpiise
those who are not familiar with Massa-
chusetts to learn that as one of the
States first settled, it is still nearly one-
fifth wild or waste land. About 1,000,-
000 acres of the State are covered with
scrub growth, or deserted farms where
the soil is either too wet or too rocky
to produce profitably without the appli-
cation of scientific farming methods.
On the other hand, this land is ideal for
the growth of white pine, which thrives
like a weed all over the State. It is
evident that permitting this land to lie
idle is a great economic waste to the
State and community at large amount-
ing to millions of dollars annually.
Conservation was practiced in this
State, however, long before the Con-
servation Commission produced its
voluminous report. In 1898, the Mas-
sachusetts Forestry Association was
organized and incorporated. It is a pri-
vate organization and consisted at that
time of only a few far-sighted citizens
who saw the need of preserving our
shade trees and protecting our forests.
Until the past year, its energy was
directed mainly toward procuring
forest legislation. ‘The Tree Warden
Law was passed in 1899, requiring
every town to select a citizen whose
duty it is to protect the trees and see
that the shade tree laws are obeyed. To
create the office of State Forester was
more difficult. It took several years to
convince the Legislature that such a
State Department was needed. This
was done only after the Association
had employed a forester and gave his
services gratis to the people of the
800
State for one year. The following
year the office of State Forester was
created and the State Forestry Depart-
ment organized. ‘This department last
year spent $355,000, including the
Gypsy Moth Funds, which were $315,-
000. In bringing the Weeks Bill into
life as an Act of Congress, this asso-
ciation took a leading part. The pur-
pose of this act is to create national
forests on the headwaters of navigable
streams, especially in the White and
the Southern Appalachian Mountains,
the forests to be so located as to protect
the watersheds against erosion and to
regulate the flow of the streams.
Last year, largely through the instru-
mentality of this association, the State
Forest Fire Warden Act was passed,
creating the office of State Forest Fire
Warden under the direction of the
State Forester. Mr. M. C. Hutchins,
formerly of the New York State Fire
Service, took charge of this work, and
for the past year he has been perfecting
our fire protection system. Lookout
stations have been established on the
high points in the State, from which
men who are stationed there during the
dry seasons can observe every part of
the State. These men are connected
by telephone with the fire wardens in
the respective towns surrounding them,
and immediate alarm is given at the
first sign of smoke. The damage done
by forest fires this year has been only
about one-twentieth of that of the pre-
vious year, before the system was in-
stalled, and the system itself is not yet
perfected. This assures owners of
woodlands that their timber will be
protected, and reforestation is begin-
ning in earnest.
The present tax system in this State
is not favorable to woodland owners
and this year a resolution to amend the
State constitution was passed whereby
the Legislature is given the right to
CONSERVATION REALIZED IN MASSACHUSETTS
revise the system of taxing wild and
forest land.
Now that the fire hazard and taxation
difficulties are coming under control,
the great problem of afforesting the
hfth of the State is being solved in this
way by the association. Branches of
the Association are being formed in
the towns and cities of the State.
These local organizations serve as vil-
lage improvement societies, except that
their energies are devoted almost ex-
clusively to forestry and shade-tree
work. ‘The branches are independent
locally, having their own by-laws, which
conform with the by-laws of the main
association. Their membership con-
sists only of members of the Massachu-
setts Forestry Association. Their sec-
retaries send copies of the minutes of
all meetings of the branches and their
executive committees to the main office,
where records of all branches are kept.
In this way, the main association is in
direct touch with the work of the
branches and by constant vigilance, they
are kept from becoming delinquent.
Local improvement is brought about in
this way, and, consequently, the whole
State is benefited. The organization as
a whole, becomes a body of workers,
and local public spirit prompts the
members to help in this organized effort
to improve our forest and shade-tree
conditions.
Unlike the average village improve-
ment society which starts from a local
impetus, these branch associations are
not permitted to die out after one or two
important objects have been accom-
plished. When a branch is organized
it is at once set to work. A committee
is appointed to draw up by-laws for the
suidance of the branch. Another com-
mittee is appointed to study the local
problems and present resolutions at the
next meeting as to what the branch shall
work for in the future. A date for that
meeting is usually set before the organ-
ization meeting adjourns. ‘This starts
the branch to work, and the resolutions
adopted at the second meeting are re-
corded with the main association, which
keeps bringing these resolutions up
before the branch continually, and
urging it to carry them out. In that
way, a branch is never totally idle, and
801
the very fact that it has something to
do will keep it alive and self-respecting.
A retired or moribund organization of
this sort is worse than a dead one.
This work is being pushed as rapidly
as funds will permit. The State has
been divided into five districts and an
assistant secretary is placed in each
district, whose duty it is to do the pre-
liminary work of organizing these
branches by arousing local interest and
by giving advice in forestry matters.
We aim to keep these positions filled
with trained foresters who do much
good by advising individuals concern-
ing their forests and _ shade-trees.
These men are in line for positions as
city foresters, which positions we are
creating through the means of these
branch associations. In turn, the city
foresters are educating the people to
the advantages of afforesting the water-
sheds from which the drinking water of
the town or city is obtained. In a few
instances this work has led to the con-
sideration of having town forests,
something on the order of the German
Municipal Forests. This is the point
we were coming to. Just as soon as
the benefits of having such a forest
is recognized, our wild and waste land
will soon be put under cultivation. Our
people are fast awakening to this fact
through the educational influence of the
Branch Association work and we feel
safe in predicting that within a very
few years most of these million acres
of wild and waste land will be planted
to trees. When each town plants a few
acres yearly, and scores of individuals
take up the work as they have alrea:y
begun to do, in addition to what the
State Department reforests annually,
we shali soon change the face of Massa-
chusetts.
Already these Branch Associations
have done excellent work fcr their own
communities. The Fitchburg Branch
alone was the means of procuring over
$4,200 extra appropriations this year
for forest, shade-trees, and park and
playground work. Some have brought
suit against offenders of the shade-tree
laws. Plans have been laid by all for
important future work and on the
whole, the start made by these Branch
Associations has been very satistactory.
802
The idea is spreading rapidly and hun-
dreds of people are becoming members
of the Association in order to forward
the good movement now under way.
The membership of the Association has
been more than doubled this year by
AMERICAN FORESTRY
this means and people who have never
heard of the organization are now
among its enthusiastic workers. We
believe that we are on the right track,
and our theories of conservation are
fast becoming realities.
WESTERN FORESTRY AND CONSERVATION ASSO-
CIATION MEETING
N excellent program has been
arranged for the annual forest
fire conference of the Western
Forestry and Conservation Association
at Seattle, Wash., on Dec. 2 and 3,
which will be attended, as delegates of
the American Forestry Association, by
director E. A. Sterling and executive
secretary P. S. Ridsdale.
Besides members of the forest pro-
tective organizations of the Pacific
Coast there will also be present repre-
sentatives of the State, Federal and
British Columbia Forest Agencies.
Following the opening address by
President A. L. Flewelling and the re-
port of Secretary-Treasurer G. M.
Cornwall, Forester E. T. Allen will re-
port on the work of the Association
in regard to fire effort and losses, and
there will be short reviews of 1912 ex-
periences of private owners, by W. E.
Wells, vice president of the Northern
Montana Forestry Association; A. W.
Laird, president Northern Idaho For-
estry Association; Geo. S. Long, presi-
dent Washington Forest Fire Associa-
tion; Charles S. Briggs, vice president
of the Oregon Fire Association; and
R. D. Swales, manager of the Redwood
Fire and Protective Associations. These
will be followed by reviews of State
and Government experiences by United
States District foresters F. A. Silcox,
for Montana and Idaho; Coert DuBois
for California; state foresters C. W.
Jungberg, for Mantana; J. R. Welty,
for Washington; F. A. Elliott, for
Oregon, and Chief Forester H. R. Mc-
Millan, for British Coumbia.
In the afternoon there will be dis-
cussions on safeguarding logging
operations by J. J. Donovan and Doug-
las Rodman; on slash disposal, by F.
A. Elliott and J. L. Bridge; on railroad
co-operation, by M. J. Buckley, of the
O. W. R. R. & N. Co., and T. J. Hume
bird, president of the Clearwater Fire
Protective Association. A banquet by
the Seattle Lumbermen will be given in
the evening.
On Tuesday there will be addresses
on trail and telephone building, by W.
E.. Herring, Engineer of the U. S. For-
est Service and Carl Bush, of the
Western Electric Co.; on possibilities
of wireless in fire work, by R. H.
Sawler, of the Marconi Co.; on men,
tools and supplies in fire fighting, by
Coert DuBois and F. J. Davies; on fire
fighting and patrol, by D. P. Simons,
of the California Forest Protective As-
sociation, and R. E. Benedict, of the
British Columbia Forest Service; on
forest legislation, by C. S. Chapman, of
the Oregon Forest Fire Association,
and E. G. Ames, of the Washington
Forest Fire Association, and on pub-
licity work, by F. C. Knapp, president
of the Portland Chamber of Commerce.
These will be followed by addresses
by Geo. S. Long and Prof. C. H. Shat-
tuck, the latter of the University of
Idaho.
MR. OLMSTED WITHDRAWS FROM FIRM
Fisher, Bryant & Olmsted, consulting foresters, of 141 Milk Street, Boston, Mass.,
announce that Mr. Frederick Erskine Olmsted has withdrawn from the firm and the busimess
has been incorporated and will be continued under the corporate name of Fisher
Bryant, Inc.
Mr. Olmsted leaves to practice consulting forestry independently and along special lines,
but will maintain close relations with the new corporation.
Street, Boston, Mass.
His address will be 21 Lime
a
NATIONAL FOREST RESERVE IN WEST VIRGINIA
r J. A. VIQUESNEY,
Forest, Game and Fish Warden.
N account of the peculiar location
of the State of West Virginia,
perhaps no State in the Union
needs a larger forest reserve, but no
action has yet been taken by the State
to purchase or control any forest lands,
neither has any law been passed con-
trolling the cutting of timber so that
our cut-over lands may again be re-
forested.
This is a deplorable condition, but
nevertheless true, and the effects may
be seen by traveling over many railroads
of the State and looking at the cut-
over areas, that are almost depleted of
vegetation and practically useless for
all time to come.
However, the National Government,
having made a careful study of these
conditions and realizing, especially, the
great danger that we are facing on ac-
count of the drying up of the fountain
heads of our great commercial streams,
sometime ago, under the Weeks Law,
made an appropriation for the purpose
of making investigations looking to the
purchase of large areas of wooded lands
in several States.
Among the States that have properly
qualified or passed laws, allowing the
United States Government to purchase
land for the purpose mentioned, are
Maine, New Hampshire, Maryland,
Virginia, West Virginia, North Caro-
lina, Tennessee, South Carolina and
Georgia, and naming the counties in
West Virginia in which this land will
be purchased as parts of Pendleton,
Hardy, Randolph and Pocahontas.
For many years the United States
Congress has been endeavoring to have
a law enacted and appropriations eile
for the purpose of purchasing sufficient
forest reserves to insure an even supply
of water to our navigable rivers, were
only successful in having such bill be-
come a law until a recent session of
Congress.
Anticipating the passage of such a
law by the United States Gov ernment,
the West Virginia Legislature of 1909,
in conformity with the suggestions of
Governor Dawson, in his biennial
message, passed a bill which gives the
United States Government the right to
acquire such property. This bill. com-
prises Chapter 61 of the Acts of 1909,
and is as follows:
“An act to empower the United
States of America to acquire lands in
West Virginia, by condemnation or
otherwise, for a national forest reserve,
and granting to the United States all
rights necessary for the proper control
and regulation of such reserve.
Section 1. That the consent of the
Legislature of West Virginia be and is
hereby given to the acquisition by the
United States, by purchase or by con-
demnation with adequate compensation
of such lands in West Virginia as in
the opinion of the Feder ‘al Govern-
ment may be needed for the establish-
ment of such a national forest reserve
in that region; provided, that the State
of West Virginia shall retain a con-
current jurisdiction with the United
States in and over such lands so far
that civil process in all cases, and such
criminal process as may issue under
the authority of the State of West Vir-
ginia against any person charged with
the commission of any crime without
or within said jurisdiction may be exe
cuted thereon in like manner as if this
act had not been passed.
hereby
Sec. The power iS con
ferred upon Congress te pass such
laws as it may deem necessary to the
acquisition, as hereinbefore provided,
for incorporation in said national forest
resenvic of such forest covered lands
in West Virginia as in the opinion of
the Federal Government may be needed
for this purpose.
Sec. 3. The power is hereby con-
803
804
ferred upon Congress to pass such
laws and to make or provide for the
making of such rules and regulations,
of both civil and criminal nature, and
provide punishment therefor, as in its
judgment may be necessary for the
management, protection and control of
such lands as may be from time to time
acquired by the United States under
the provisions of this act.”
The question of forests with their
manifold benefits to the continued ex-
istence of mankind on earth, would fill
volumes and cannot be properly dis-
cussed in an article of this character,
but the benefits to be derived by our
State and Nation by establishing a na-
tional forest reserve in the’ territory
mentioned is so apparent that it de-
serves at least some passing comment.
The basic idea of the Federal Goy-
ernment in acquiring these reserves is
to regulate the flow of water in the
streams originating in these forest
areas, which eventually form the navi-
gable streams of our nation. But the
control of such forests by the Federal
Government would be of benefit in
other matters, such as helping protect
our forests from fire; maintaining an
even flow of our streams, thus making
them better for fish culture and furnish-
ing better protection to our game and
birds. While these lands will not be
game preserves in a strict sense, yet
with the protection from fire and
under the patrol and care of the United
States Government, it will, at least,
make a refuge where game and birds
can be protected from the pot hunter,
The public will have the right to hunt
and fish upon these lands, in accordance
with the State laws, where they are
located.
One has to but take a glance at the
map of the portion of the United States
which comprises this adventure, to be
impressed with the wisdom of the gov-
ernment in acquiring same. Along
these two great ranges of mountains
the water sheds are formed that con-
trol the supply of water for all the
Eastern part of the United States.
The position that West Virginia oc-
cupies in this undertaking is unique and
more important than that of any other
State affected, for the reason that two
AMERICAN FORESTRY
of the greatest navigable streams in
the United States take their rise in the
Appalachian Mountain ranges, in the
counties that are covered by this propo-
sition.
While there are 282 navigable
streams in the United States, it is
shown by statistics that two West Vir-
ginia rivers, the Monongahela and
Ohio, carry almost 25,000,000 tons of
freight each year, or about one-fifth of
the whole tonnage carried on navigable
streams in the United States. For this
reason, the protection of forests in
West Virginia is of immense importance
to the nation’s inland commerce, for
without this protection the time must
come when these great navigable
streams of commerce will fail on
account of the drying up of the foun-
tain heads of these streams.
The Government’s aid in creating
forest reserves in West Virginia will
mean even more to us than maintain-
ing a water supply for commercial
purposes, and should not only be en-
couraged by State aid in every way
possible, but corporations, firms and in-
dividuals should be reasonable in
quoting prices on land which they have
for sale in these designated regions. It
is the purpose of the commission to
obtain lands that can be purchased for
a low or reasonable price, and not pay
any fancy price for land for this pur-
pose. There are thousands of acres of
such lands in the mountain ranges men-
tioned that are scarcely valuable enough
to justify the owners in paying taxes on
same, which can be used to great ad-
vantage in this work and should be
turned over to the Federal Government
at a nominal price.
By establishing these forest reserves
an even supply of water will be main-
tained for all time, and the great
freshets and floods that have been in-
creasing in the last few years will be
held in check; the soil that is now held
in place by these forest tracts will be
retained and used in reforesting the
cut-over areas, and the care that is
taken of the tracts of the Federal Gov-
ernment will inspire others to take sim-
ilar care of their forests, and in numer-
ous ways the State will be benefited.
Thousands of acres of land in West
DANGER TO NATIONAL FOREST POLICY
Virginia that have been cleared would
be worth more in its primitive condi-
tion, and every available acre of forest
land in the State, unless it is very val-
uable for agricultural purposes, should
be retained as a forest reserve.
The United States forest service of-
ficials are doing a great work in edu-
cating the people to see the great good
to be accomplished by protecting the
forests. This is now regarded as one
of the most helpful branches of the
Department of Agriculture. This de-
partment undertakes the study and so-
805
lution of forestry problems, that can-
not be handled by the States and indi-
viduals, and by sending out literature
1S creating an influence among all
classes that will aid in protecting and
conserving these great gifts of nature.
Many States have spent large sums
of money to build up their forests that
have been recklessly and needlessly de-
stroyed. We have in West Virginia
several millions of acres of forest lands,
and if properly cared for, either by
State or Government’s aid, it will be of
untold benefit to future generations.
DANGER TO THE NATIONAL FOREST POLICY
By Henry S. Graves
Chief Forester
CT exe has been during the past
two or three years a steadily
growing movement to turn over
the National Forests to the individual
States. During the past session of Con-
gress a rider to the Agricultural Ap-
propriation Bill was offered in the
Senate providing for the grant of the
National Forests to the several States,
together with all other public lands,
including “all coal, mineral, timber,
grazing, agricultural and other lands,
and all water and power rights and
claims, and all rights upon lands of
any character whatsoever.” While the
amendment was ruled out on a point of
order, it received a surprisingly large
amount of support.
The proposition so far as the Na-
tional Forests are concerned is to turn
over to the individual States property
owned by the Nation covering a net
area of over 160 million acres. This
property has an actual measurable
value of at least two billion dollars,
while from the standpoint of its indi-
rect value to the public no estimate on
a money basis could possibly be made.
These are public resources which should
be handled in the interests of the public.
Moreover, the problems involved are
such that they should definitely remain
in the hands of the National rather
than be turned over to the State Gov-
ernments. The property belongs to
the Nation as a whole, and every citi-
zen has an interest in it. The Govern-
ment has already made enormous
grants to the individual States, but al-
ways to further specific objects of
National importance. There should
not be a moment’s consideration of the
proposal to turn the Forests over to
the States unless it can be clearly shown
that the interests both of the States
and of the Nation are consistent with
such action. In the case of the Na-
tional Forests, public interests both of
the Nation and of the States require
their continued retention and manage-
ment by the National Government.
The scope of this article does not
permit a full discussion of this problem.
It must suffice to mention a few cogent
reasons for Government ownership.
1. The property is now owned by
the Nation, and should be administered
from the standpoint of National as well
as of local needs. ;
2. The problem of protection from
fire and of timber production on the
National Forests is one of National
scope and can be properly handled only
by the Government; its solution is a
National duty.
3. The problem on water control is
no less a National duty. Nearly all
of the National Forests lie on head-
806
waters of navigable rivers or interstate
streams. The Government is now
purchasing lands in the East on head-
waters of navigable rivers because of
the disastrous results to the public
which are following abuse under private
ownership. It certainly should not
part with title to the same class of
lands which it now owns in the West.
Every interstate stream presents prob-
lems which can be properly handled
only through the Federal Government.
The Government can not permit the
citizens of one State to be damaged by
the action or failure to act of citizens
of another State. It is of vital im-
portance for this reason alone that
property at the headwaters of inter-
state streams be retained under Govy-
ernment administration.
4. Not only are the interests of the
individual States and communities now
fully protected, but in many ways far
more is being done for local communi-
ties than would be possible under State
ownership. In the long run, as the
timber and other resources are brought
into use with improving markets, the
States will receive from the 25 per cent
of the gross receipts now allowed them
and the additional 10 per cent appro-
priated for road improvements a larger
amount than would come in from local
taxes under private ownership.
5. The States are not as well pre-
pared, financially or otherwise, to
handle the National Forests as is the
Federal Government. If the Forests
were owned by the States and handled
in the real interests of the public, there
would be substantially the same system
of administration as today, at a greater
ageregate cost for supervision by a
considerable number of independent
State staffs of technical men. The
financial burden would be far too great
for the individual States to assume.
The result would be either poor ad-
ministration and lack of protection, or
a sacrifice of the public interests in
order to secure revenue to meet the
financial needs.
6. The successful application of for-
estry demands a stable administrative
policy for long periods. This can be
secured far better under National than
under State control.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
”%. A much higher standard of con-
structive and technical efficiency is
possible under National than under
State administration. The value of the
Forests to the public depends directly
on the skill with which scientific knowl-
edge is applied to the task of develop-
ing their highest productiveness. Both
in ability to carry on the research work
required for practical ends and in ability
to command professional services of
the first order the Government possesses
a striking advantage.
8. As largely undeveloped property
the Forests need heavy investments of
capital for their improvement. Their
full productiveness can be secured in
no other way. The Government is now
investing yearly in the Forests a con-
siderable part of the appropriation
made for them. Even if the States did
not seek to make them sources of im-
mediate revenue, at whatever sacrifice
of their future possibilities, they would
be reluctant to expend much for their
development.
9. The States both lack the civil
service system and standards of the
National Government and are exposed
to greater danger of being swayed by
private interests. In the hands of
spoilsmen demoralization would quickly
succeed the present high standards of
the Forest Service, while the intimate
relation of the Forests to the welfare
of greater numbers of individuals
would tend to make their administrative
control a highly coveted political prize.
At the same time the value of their
resources would certainly arouse a
cupidity which would be exceedingly
difficult to control. Scandalous malad-
ministration might easily follow. The
Federal Government is better watched,
farther removed from local influence,
more stable, and better equipped with
a non-political system and machinery.
The underlying purpose of the pro-
posed transfer of the National Forests
to the States is really not to substitute
State for Federal control but rather to
substitute individual for public control.
Its most earnest advocates are the very
interests which wish to secure such
control. The object of the whole States
Rights movement as it affects the Na-
tional Forests is to transfer to private
LACK OF CHRISTMAS TREES
owners for speculative or monopolistic
purposes public resources of enormous
value. Retention of these resources
under public ownership is needed to
protect the people from abuses which
are every day being demonstrated on
lands over which the public has already
lost control. The proposition is one
which the people as a whole would re-
pudiate in an instant if they understood
what is proposed. The only danger lies
807
in the fact that some legislation adverse
to the National Forest system may be
passed when the public as a whole is
ignorant that it is planned or does not
understand the meaning. Vigilance in
the defense of its interests and intelli-
gence in the perception of the true
character of masked attacks upon those
interests are of fundamental necessity
if the public is to protect itself.
LACK OF CHRISTMAS TREES
RICES of Christmas trees in
New York, Philadelphia, Balti-
more, Washington and most of
the cities and towns of the eastern and
middle states will likely be higher this
year than ever before owing to the
great reduction in the regular supply
due to a quarantine order of the De-
partment of Agriculture. This went
into effect on November 25 and pre-
vents Christmas trees and greens from
nearly all of New England being
shipped out of the quarantine zone. This
is due to the prevalence of the gypsy
moth and the brown tail moth in New
England and the fear of the Forest
Service that they might be spread
throughout the east by the indiscrimi-
nate shipping of conifers such as spruce,
fir, hemlock, pine juniper and arbor
vitae used generally, as they are, for
Christmas trees and greens.
The gypsy moth is prevalent in
Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts
and Rhode Island, while the brown tail
moth is in Maine, Vermont, New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecti-
cut and Rhode Island.
The quarantine also applies to all
forest plant products in the specified
area. Of course, if officials of the De-
partment of Agriculture examine pro-
posed shipments of Christmas trees,
greens or other forest products and
pronounce them free from either of the
destructive moths the shipments out-
side the quarantined area may be made,
but there is little prospect that the thou-
sands of dealers in Christmas trees will
take the chances of buying these trees
for shipment out of New England,
when the danger of the trees being
condemned is so great.
For many years the shipment of
Christmas trees and greens from New
England has been a profitable industry
and most of the supply to the larger
cities of the middle states came from
that section. Consequently the quaran-
tine will greatly reduce the supply, and
prices will naturally advance consider-
ably.
The Forest Service upholds the
Christmas tree custom, but recognizes
at the same time, that the indiscrimi-
nate cutting of evergreens to supply the
holiday trade has produced a bad effect
upon many stands of merchantable
kinds of trees in different sections of
the country. Waste and destruction
usually result when woodlands are not
under a proper system of forest man-
agement. Foresters say that it is not
by denying ourselves the wholesome
pleasure of having a bit of nature in
the home at Christmas that the prob-
lem of conserving the forests will be
solved, but by learning how to use the
forests wisely and properly. The rav-
ages through forest fires must be
checked, the many avenues of waste of
timber in its travel from the woods to
the mill and thence to the market must
be closed, and almost numberless im-
portant problems demand attention be-
fore the Christmas tree.
Germany is conceded to have the
highest developed system of forest man-
agement of any country, yet its per
capita use of Christmas trees is great-
est. The cutting of small trees for
Christmas is not there considered in the
808
least as a menace to the forest, but, on
the contrary, as a means of improving
the forest by thinning and as a source
of revenue. It is therefore constantly
encouraged.
There is little doubt but that the
time will come when the Christmas tree
business will become a recognized in-
dustry in this country, and that as
much attention will be given to it as
will be given to the growing of crops
of timber for other uses. This time
may not be far off, for it is already un-
derstood that only through the practice
of forestry, which means both the con-
servation of the timber which remains
and carefully planned systems of re-
forestation, will it be possible to supply
the country with its forty billion feet
of lumber needed each year, as well as
the few million little trees used at
Christmas time.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Practically all conifers can be and
are used as Christmas trees in this
country, but the most popular ones are
the firs, spruces, pines and the cedars.
The pines are in great demand for
Christmas trees when fir and spruce are
not available, or are only to be had at
a high price. Throughout Maryland
and Virginia, and in Washington, the
Virginia pine and, to a lesser extent,
the cedar supply the demand. The fir
is abundant in Colorado, but it grows
in high, inaccessible places, and there-
fore the Douglas spruce and the lodge-
pole pine are more often used. The
lodgepole pine is also popular in Wyom-
ing and other Rocky Mountain states.
In California it is not uncommon to
find the incense cedar and young coast
redwoods used as Christmas trees.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Many of our readers frequently desire to
secure some expert advice regarding various
features of forestry work, and do not know
to whom to apply for the information.
The Editor has accordingly decided to
establish this column in which he will be
glad to publish such questions as may be
sent to him, and give the answers, when-
ever the questions relate to any detail of
the work which this Association is doing or
such information as it can give.
The Editor requests that communications
be written on one side of the paper only and
if possible, be typewritten.
Asheville, N. C.
Eprtor AMERICAN Forestry.—Will you
kindly recommend some book describing
the trees and shrubs of North Carolina?
ALLEN G. MILLER,
Dr. J. K. Small’s “Flora of the Southern
States” describes all of the trees and
shrubs which Mr. Miller is likely to meet
with in North Carolina, but this work is
not illustrated. The only work I know of
containing illustrations is one entitled Brit-
ton and Brown’s “Illustrated Flora of
Northern United States.” This, however,
is a rather expensive work. I do not know
of any sufficiently exhaustive publication
with illustrations and descriptions of
shrubs in the region referred to.
Dr. C. S. Sargent’s “Manual of Trees of
North America” and Dr. N. L. Britton’s
“Forest Trees of North America” are both
compact illustrated works which would
serve Mr. Miller. Dr. Sargent’s work
would probably meet his needs best for
trees, as it contains all of the information
he desires on these plants.
Very truly yours,
Gro. B. SupworrTH,
U. S. Forest Service.
COMING MEETINGS
Officials of forestry, lumber, timberland
and fire protection associations are invited
to send to AMERICAN Forestry notices of
their meetings to be published in this column.
December 2-3—Western Forestry & Con-
servation Association, Seattle, Wash.
December 3—Northwestern Hardwood
Lumbermen’s Association, Minneapolis,
Minn. Annual meeting.
December 4-6—National Rivers & Har-
bors Congress, New Willard Hotel, Wash-
ington, D. C. ; :
December 7—North Central Missouri Re-
tail Lumber Dealers’ Association, Moberly,
Mo.
December 18—Lumber Manufacturers’ As-
sociation of Southern New England, Willi-
mantic, Conn. Monthly meeting. :
January 6-7—Meeting of Eastern Foresters
Association, at Lakewood, N. J. :
January 8—Annual Meeting, American
Forestry Association, at Washington, De.
January 9-10—Conference of State For-
esters under auspices of the Forest Service,
at Washington, D. C. ;
January 14-16—Nebraska Lumber Dealers
Association, Rome Hotel, Omaha, Nebr.
Annual meeting.
January 14-16— Northwestern
men’s Association, Minneapolis,
Annual meeting.
Lumber-
Minn.
January 15—Third annual convention,
North Carolina Forestry Association, at Ra-
leigh, N. C.
January 21-23—Ninth annual convention
American Wood Preservers Association,
Hotel Sherman, Chicago.
January 21-23—Ohio Association of Retail
Lumber Dealers, Cleveland, Ohio.
January 21-23—Union Association of Lum-
ber and Sash and Door Salesmen, Cleveland,
Ohio. Annual meeting.
January 21-23—Colorado & Wyoming Lum-
ber Dealers’ Association, Denver, Colo,
Annual meeting.
January 22-24—Southwestern Lumbermen’s
Association, Kansas City, Mo. Annual meet-
ing.
January 29-30—Retail Lumber Dealers’
Association of the State of New York,
Hotel Utica, Utica, N. Y. Annual meeting.
January 29-30—Pennsylvania Lumbermen’s
Association, Hotel Walton, Philadelphia, Pa.
Annual meeting.
February 4—Canadian Lumbermen’s Asso-
ciation, Ottawa, Ont. Annual meeting, ;
February 5—Canadian Forestry Associa-
tion, Ottawa, Ont. Annual business meet-
ing.
February 13-15—Western
men’s Association, Masonic
kane, Wash. Annual meeting.
Retail Lumber-
Temple, Spo-
809
STATE NEWS
Rhode Island
Arrangements have been perfected to se-
cure the co-operation of the rural mail car-
riers in reporting forest fires to the wardens
in Rhode Island. Several towns have just
appointed committees and appropriated
money for the establishment of fire lookout
stations. Over 160,000 trees, representing
about 75 species, have been planted this
year in Warwick, Cranston, East Green-
wich and Pawtucket. A survey of the
natural resources of the State is in prog-
ress by Professor C. W. Brown, under the
general direction of the State Conservation
Commission, of which the Commissioner of
Forestry is a member.
In the town of Glocester a gigantic seed-
ling chestnut of great age was felled, when
out jumped a menagerie including a rac-
coon, gray squirrel, flying squirrel, screech
owl and insects.
Maine
There is a movement on foot to reorgan-
ize and revive the Maine Forestry Associa-
tion, which has been practically defunct for
the past four or five years. It is the inten-
tion to have this organization take an
active part in having the present appropri-
ation for forestry in Maine increased by
the next Legislature, so as to put the work
On a more substantial basis.
Pennsylvania
Aside from the general reserve and de-
partment work, there is nothing of special
importance taking place in the forestry
work in Pennsylvania at the present time.
The department has under contract and
will have turned over to the State in a
month or so enough land to bring the re-
serve area to the million-acre mark.
Recently a number of small forest fires
have occurred within the State, and it is
very likely, now that hunting season has
opened, that we may expect quite a few
fires. With our protection of reserves we
have reason to expect that these fires will
not reach large size, and with the interest
which sportsmen themselves are taking, and
with the assistance of the fire wardens all
over the State, as well as the boy scouts,
there is no reason why fires outside of the
reserves should reach large size. Thus far
the State has been comparatively free of
any serious fires this year.
Kentucky
Kentucky joins the front ranks of the
States interested in the Forestry move-
810
ments. A movement which has been under
way for the last ten years in Kentucky for
the establishment of a forest policy within
the State was crystallized into Law at a
meeting of the Legislature during the win-
ter 1910 and 1911, when a State Board of
Forestry and the office of a State Forester
were created. The Law which was enacted
is a very far-reaching and intelligent law,
and credit for this must be given to the
Kentucky Federation of Women’s Clubs.
Governor James B. McCreary has inter-
ested himself very extensively in this
movement for the creation of the State
Board of Forestry, and also for other
progressive conservation measures which
were enacted in the Law last winter. In ac-
cordance with this law, a State Board of
Forestry was appointed by the Governor, and
at a meeting in the latter part of August, a
State Forester was appointed. This appointee
was Mr. J. E. Barton, who has been con-
nected with the U. S. Forest Service for the
last seven years and who for the last four
years has been Supervisor of the Pend
Oreille National Forest in Northern Idaho.
Mr. Barton took charge of the work on the
first of September, and the work of organ-
ization under the law is going steadily for-
ward. The people of Kentucky are mani-
festing a deep interest in the forest move-
ment within their State, and it is expected
within a comparativly short time that forest
reserves will be created as demonstrations
of forestry as a business and a science, and
that nurseries will be furnished to provide
stock for planting on the forest reserves and
for the people of the State. One nursery
will be started on the State Fair grounds at
Louisville.
As an evidence of the interest of the
people of the Commonwealth in forestry was
the enthusiasm shown in connection with the
planting of the Arboretum on November 13,
on the grounds back of the State Capitol at
Frankfort, Ky., which is the first arboretum
on public grounds to be established in the
United States. Eventually each county will
be represented by a tree. Arbor Day was
celebrated at the same time as the planting
of the arboretum, and a large number of the
State officials took an active part in the work.
Massachusetts
As was stated in the November number of
AMERICAN Forestry, the Massachusetts Leg-
islatures of 1911 and 1912 passed a resolve
submitting to the people a proposed amend-
ment to the Constitution giving to the Gen-
eral Court authority to prescribe the methods
of taxing wild or forest lands. Through the
efforts of a committee appointed by the Bos-
STATE
ton Chamber of Commerce and Massachu-
setts Forestry Association, working jointly
in urging upon the voters of the State the
importance of the proposed amendment as a
means of encouraging forestry in Massachu-
setts, it was adopted at the recent election by
an overwhelming majority. The personnel of
the committee referred to is: Chairman, Har-
old Parker, ex-chairman of the Massachu-
setts Highway Commission; F. W. Rane,
Massachusetts State Forester; Prof. Spen-
cer Baldwin, professor of economics, Bos-
ton University; F. E. Olmstead, of the for-
estry firm of Fisher, Bryant & Olmstead;
Allen Chamberlain, president of the Appa-
lachian Mountain Club, and Mr. Harris A.
Reynolds, secretary of the Massachusetts
Forestry Association. ‘This committee meets
semi-monthly, and is now engaged in the
rather difficult task of preparing a bill to
present to the next session of the Legislature,
which if enacted into law, it is hoped will
eliminate many of the objectionable features
of the present methods of taxing wild and
forest lands, and become an important factor
in stimulating the reforestation work in
Massachusetts, as well as conserving the
present wooded areas.
In order to obtain definite information
with regard to the general practice of Mas-
sachusetts assessors in appraising values on
such lands, as well as to determine, if pos-
sible, what effect any change in the present
methods of taxation would have upon the
revenues of cities and towns of the State,
Mr. Harold O. Cook and Mr. Harry 1
Gould, of the State Forester’s office, have, at
the request of the committee, selected five
towns located in widely separated parts of
the State in which they will make very care-
ful estimates of the true values of the
wooded areas, as compared with the val-
uation placed upon them by the assessors,
and get such other information as may aid
the committee in their work.
The United States Bureau of Plant Indus-
try is co-operating with the State of Mas-
sachusetts in its efforts to check the chest-
nut bark disease. At present a bulletin is
being prepared, which, it is hoped, will lead
to increased demands for assistance on the
part of the Massachusetts public. A number
of examinations have been made during the
past year for owners of chestnut woodlan
who suspect the presence of the disease. Up
to date, while the State Forester has paid
the salary of the examiner, his traveling ex-
penses have been charged to the applicant.
Through the co-operative agreement now
entered into, these expenses will also be paid,
and the owner will thus obtain his advice
absolutely free. It is intended to undertake
certain experiments with respect to the dis-
ease, some scouting will be done independent
of applications for inspection,, and steps may
be taken toward the eradicating of the dis-
ease in some localities. The general outlook
with regard to the disease is more hopeful
than at this time last year. It is true that
it has spread during the past summer, but
NEWS 8114
by no means to the extent that was expected.
It seems reasonable to suppose that vigorous
efforts on the part of woodland owners may
be able to preserve their chestnut almost in-
definitely, at least in the eastern portion of
the State, where the attack is least severe.
Alabama
At the next session of the Alabama Legis-
lature Game and Fish Commissioner John H.
Wallace, Jr., will present a bill looking to
converting all State lands, whether held in
fee or in trust, by the State of Alabama,
into game refuges and forest preserves. In-
cluded in these lands are the Sixteenth Sec-
tion School Lands, the Tax Redemption
Lands and the Swamp and Overflowed
Lands, amounting to hundreds of thousands
of acres. Since these lands belong to the
State they have been regarded generally as
being public property, the depredation on
them in the way of the stealing of timber,
firing of forests and slaughtering of game
has been horrible in the past.
Mr. Wallace contemplated having a paid
game and forest warden service to guard
these lands. The movement has met with
universal approval in Alabama, and the plan
will undoubtedly be enacted into a law as
soon as the Legislature shall meet.
North Carolina.
The third annual convention of the North
Carolina Forestry Association will meet in
Raleigh on January 15, 1913. Its discussions
will be largely devoted to showing the imme-
diate need for the passage of legislation for
the protection of the forests of the State.
There is a strong and growing feeling
throughout the State that the time has ar-
rived for action, and this Legislature is ex-
pected to make at least a small appropriation
for inaugurating such protective work.
At the last meeting of the North Carolina
Forestry Association a legislation committee
was appointed to draw up a forest law for
the State, to be presented to, and if possible
passed by, the next Legislature, which con-
venes early in January. This committee 1s
called to meet some time # December to put
the bill which they have been working upon
in final shape so that it may be introduced
during the early days of the session. This
law will probably provide for some kind of
firewarden system, and will also attempt to
assist the railroads in the prevention of rail-
road fires.
At a recent meeting of the Southern Fur-
niture Manufacturers’ Association, held in
High Point, N. C., an appeal was made by
the Secretary of the North Carolina For-
estry Association, who was present by invita-
tion, for the co-operation and assistance of
the furniture manufacturers in the campaign
to procure adequate forest protective laws for
the State. A resolution was passed com-
mending the work of the Forestry Associa-
812
tion and calling upon the Legislature to enact
laws which will better control the individ-
ual who starts forest fires; which will
enforce stricter regulations controlling rail-
roads and other companies or individuals
using spark-producing engines; which will
empower some already existing state organ-
ization, or create some new state system, to
enforce such laws; and which will provide
an adequate appropriation to carry them into
effect. Similar resolutions have been already
passed by several of the chambers of com-
merce and other commercial bodies of the
State.
Oregon
Oregon has just passed through the most
successful fire season of which there is
record. Aside from three crown fires which
occurred in May before the fire season had
really opened, and before the field force
employed by the State and private timber
owners was in the field, practically no timber
was destroyed. These early fires were caused
by carelessness in burning slashings located
adjacent to standing timber, and could easily
have been avoided if proper precautions had
been taken by the people during the burning.
The damage to timber in 1912 was less than
the loss of 87,622 feet B.M. in 1911, and
1,978,841 feet B.M. in 1910. This result is
due chiefly to the effectiveness of the work
of the Forest Service, the Wardens employed
by the State and the Patrolmen in the em-
ploy of the private timber owners. Con-
siderable credit must also be given to a
marked change in the attitude of campers,
hunters and others relative to care with fire
when in woods. One of the decidedly en-
couraging features in our work during the
past season was the organization of addi-
tional county fire patrol associations. Five
associations were formed during the year,
bringing the total number of such organiza-
tions up to ten. The area covered by them
totalled approximately 6,300,000 acres. In
seven of the counties covered by fire patrol
associations, the County Supervising Warden
employed by the State Forester also acted
as manager and directed the work of the
association. This arrangement gave the
State Forester immediate supervision of the
fire protection work over a relatively large
portion of the timber section of the State.
The need of a map of Oregon showing
the cover of lands in the State which should
be protected from fire, has long been felt
by the State Forester. The work of obtain-
ing data for such a map was started during
the fall by placing eleven men in the field
in the Northwestern section of the State.
These men were instructed to prepare a map
of the district assigned to them, showing
the following information:
1. Location of land bearing merchantable
timber, whether old or second growth.
2. Location of land covered with brush.
3. Location of cut-over land bearing un-
merchantable second growth.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
4. Location of all other cut-over land.
5. Location of old burns bearing unmer-
chantable second growth.
6. Location of burned areas not included
under class 5.
7. Location of land used primarily for
agricultural and grazing purposes.
It is expected that this data covering ap-
proximately the Northwest quarter of the
State will be available about January 1, and
just as soon as possible thereafter a lithograph
forest cover map, on a scale of 1%” to the
township, will be published. The remainder
of the State will be worked over during the
coming year and a complete cover map will
be issued just as soon as possible. The in-
formation that will be shown on a map of
this kind will be of immense value to the
State Forester in connection with the fire
protection work and especially in locating
fire patrol districts.
Maryland
An effort is being made in Maryland to
promote the planting and care of road-side
trees. The State has expended several mil-
lions of dollars in the last few years for
improved roads and the work is being con-
tinued, with the prospect that the whole
State will, in a few years, be traversed by
a system of improved highways. The great-
est interest in tree planting has been shown
by small towns, and their good influence is
extending out into the rural sections. Illus-
trated talks are being given, showing the
greater attractiveness of highways outlined
by rows of trees, as contrasted with roads
along which there are no trees. The State
also proposes to establish a forest nursery,
a portion of which can be devoted to the
growing of trees suitable for planting along
road sides. An effort is being made to
secure a suitable law which will be admin-
istered by some central head, and not left
entirely to local authorities, in order that
there may be uniformity in the methods to
be pursued, proper trees selected for planting
and their arrangement made harmonious.
The plan is meeting with general approval
wherever presented and the prospect is ex-
ceedingly good for securing a model road
side tree law from the next Legislature, in
January, 1914.
Michigan
Negotiations between the Forest Service
and the Public Domain Commission of the
State of Michigan are under way for the
exchange of certain National and State for-
est lands. Such exchange is made possible
by a law recently enacted by Congress, the
object of which is to enable the Government
to more completely solidify its holdings
within the boundaries of the National Forests
in Michigan. A State law, of similar pur-
port, giving the State of Michigan authority
to exchange lands with the Federal Govern-
STATE NEWS
ment, as well as with individuals, has been
in force for more than a year. The lands
involved comprise some 25,000 or 30,000
acres, located principally in the counties of
Luce, Crawford, Roscommon, Gosco and
Oscoda.
Wisconsin
The Wisconsin State Board of Forestry
now has about 2,500,000 seedlings and trans-
plants in the main forest nursery at Trout
Lake, which is in the heart of the State
Forest Reserves. As will be noted from the
following table, the cost of raising the plant-
ing material has been kept down to a very
reasonable figure.
1 YEAR SEEDLING,
Cost to
; ‘ Number raise per M.
Wunte pine 632,000 $ .46
meotce pie 22 190,000 45
Western yellow pine___ 60,000 55
Norway spruce --.--___ 11,000 1.06
Colorado blue spruce__ 40,000 40
European larch ~__-___ 400 88
2 YEAR SEEDLINGS.
Cost to
Number raise per M.
Witte pine 22....2.:.. 436,000 $ .47
Norway pine ___--_____ 576,000 AT
Scotch pine -___-_____- 145,000 46
Western yellow pine_-_ 13,000 56
Norway spruce _____-- 20,000 1.07
2 YEAR TRANSPLANTS.
Cost to
Number raise per M.
Wemite Hive) 21,000 $1.25
Seotch pine_.---.-__-_ 20,000 1.24
Western yellow pine --_ 68,000 1.33
Ohio
The city of Cincinnati during the past few
years has come into possession of about
fifteen hundred acres of land either within
the city limits or contiguous thereto.
State Forester Secrest was consulted re-
cently regarding its use, and made the sug-
gestion that a portion or all be devoted to
a forest park, modelled somewhat after the
city forest parks of Germany. This plan
met with the unanimous approval of the
Board of Park Commissioners. A co-opera-
tive agreement was entered into, whereby
the State Forestry Department is to draw
up plans, and supervise the planting and
improvement work. Arrangements have been
made for establishing a nursery on one of
the tracts, where about 200,000 trees will be
placed the coming spring. : :
The proposed work at Cincinnati offers a
most excellent apportunity for the establish-
ment of demonstration forests, and especially
for initiating the scheme of city forest parks.
The areas contain some native woodlots in
813
culled conditions, but there are some fine
specimens of original forest trees including
oaks, beech, maples, tulip, poplars, gums,
basswood, walnut, etc.
The work will be along the line of practi-
cal forestry. In the planting operations as
many different kinds of tree species will be
used as seem adaptable to conditions.
_The ornamental features will not be con-
sidered, but the plantings will be so placed
as to enhance the aesthetic value. It is in-
tended to reserve open park areas, especially
where groups of the original oaks and beech
stand. The topography and general aspect
of the land offers splendid opportunity for
visitors, and this feature will not be over-
looked. The woodlots will be reconstructed
whenever possible, but it is proposed to
reserve aS many of the old trees as may
seem practical.
_ This undertaking is probably the first of
its kind in this country, and it is hoped that
cee cities will soon follow the Cincinnati
plan.
Vermont
The University of Vermont has decided
definitely that it can best subserve the inter-
ests of the State by teaching forestry as a
branch of modern farming, rather than in
training up a small group of highly special-
ized foresters, most of whom would have
to seek positions outside the State. Fores-
try conditions in this country are such that
it will be impossible for a forester to earn
a salary that will repay him for a four
years’ college course, on a forest tract of
less than 10,000 acres. There are at present
very few private tracts of this kind upon
which foresters are employed; and the num-
ber does not bid fair to increase in propor-
tion to the number of technically trained
foresters. In fact, with the present tendency
on the part of Congress to scrimp in its ap-
propriation for the National forests, and
other constructive work, in favor of in-
creased pensions and other vote-getting
measures, there seems to be an imminent
danger of lack of employment for newly
trained foresters.
On the other hand, there is an ever-
increasing demand on the part of large land-
owners for trained farm managers. More
and more these men will be required to have
a working knowledge of timber estimating
and such silvicultural measures as thinning
and planting. In connection with intensive
agriculture a graduate of an agricultural
colleze can find remunerative employment
on a few hundred acres, and the student
with some forestry knowledge will find that
he has a decided advantage in obtaining such
positions over one who has no knowledge of
forestry. ;
Many of the graduates of an agricultural
college go back to their own farms, and in
the long run the knowledge w hich they have
acquired along forestry lines will help them
to prosperity. When lumber has greatly in-
creased in value over its present value, the
814 AMERICAN FORESTRY
farmer who has conserved his woodlot will
look back gratefully to his college course in
forestry. Many of these men later become
members of the State Legislatures, and their
influence for sound forestry principles, in-
culcated while at college, will go far toward
counteracting the hasty, ill-considered for-
estry legislation, which is a most threatening
feature of the present forestry situation. _
The State University cannot confine its
work to teaching within its walls, and ex-
tension work among the people of the State
is most important. There is at present a
bill before the Legislature of Vermont to
provide for agricultural extension on the
part of the State University. It is very
much to be desired that this bill shall pass
and that forestry extension may be carried
on as a part of the new work.
For the sake of students desiring to spe-
cialize in forestry, and in other scientific
professions, a science course has been
adopted in the University of Vermont which
will enable a student to take all the work
required for admission in any professional
forest school. Any student who can com-
plete this work in three years with one-half
of his marks of (B) grade, and none below
(C) grade, may obtain his degree of bache-
lor of science after the satisfactory comple-
tion of his first year in a forest school of
recognized standing.
California
The State of California depends upon a
voluntary firewarden system for the protec-
tion of its vast timber resources. The fire-
wardens are public-spirited citizens who
have the conservation of our forests at
heart. They have the powers of a peace
officer to arrest without warrant for viola-
tions of the forest laws. They rendered
very efficient assistance during the calendar
year of 1912, and up to November 1 made
39 arrests. The cases were prosecuted by
Justices of the Peace and the District At-
torneys. Convictions were secured in 29
cases; in 1 case the offender was acquitted;
3 were released; 2 dismissed; in 2 cases the
fines were suspended, and in another case,
because of extenuating circumstances, the
offender was placed on probation for six
months in lieu of a fine.
A favorable public sentiment against for-
est fires has grown steadily. It has been
shown, however, that the maximum effi-
ciency has been obtained through the efforts
of the voluntary firewardens. It is apparent
that the fire situation can be successfully
handled only through the maintenance of a
paid State patrol, and toward that end an
effort will be made to secure the necessary
appropriation at the coming Legislature.
A Forestry Club has been organized at the
University of California for the purpose of
securing an appropriation from the Legis-
lature for the creation of a forestry depart-
ment. There is a membership of about
forty earnest students from the botany and
agricultural departments. They hold regu-
lar bi-weekly meetings and secure such
speakers as they can to address them upon
forestry and allied subjects. ‘They have
succeeded in interesting members of the
Faculty in their undertaking. All of these
students wish to follow forestry as a pro-
fession, but many of them feel that they
prefer to receive their training in the West
rather than in Eastern universities.
The field for practical work and observa-
tion in California is unsurpassed by other
States. Conservative forestry is being con-
ducted on 20 national forests where the stu-
dents can work during the summer months.
Their milling, logging and other practical
work can be obtained upon the large hold-
ings of the timber companies within a com-
paratively short distance of the University
campus.
The conservation of our natural resources
can here be assured by the practice of for-
estry principles on private holdings which
comprise three-fourths of the entire tim-
bered area. By training California men
here on the ground it is probable that,
through their connection with timber inter-
ests, they will eventually apply their knowl-
edge of forestry principles in the manage-
ment of the forests of our State. Every
assistance should be given the members of
the Forestry Club in their endeavor to se-
cure an appropriation to establish a Depart-
ment of Forestry at the University of Cali-
fornia.
TO HEAD A RANGER SCHOOL
F. B. Moody, assistant State Forester of Wisconsin, visited the New York State College
of Forestry, Syracuse University, recently. Mr. Moody ts a graduate of the Forestry School
of the University of Michigan and has been connected with the State work in Wisconsin
for the last six years.
On January 1, Mr. Moody will take up his duties as head of the
Ranger School to be established by the State Forest Service and the University of Wisconsin.
The Ranger School is similar in scope to that conducted by the New York State College of
Forestry at Wanakena.
NEWS NOTES
At Cornell University
The faculty of the Department of For-
estry at Cornell has just been increased by
the appointment of Mr. Arthur B. Reck-
nagel as professor. Mr. Recknagel grad-
uated from Yale College in 1904, and from
the Yale Forest School in 1906. He has
been engaged in many kinds of work in
the U. S. Forest Service, and is at present
an Assistant District Forester in District
3. The plan of the forestry course at Cor-
nell is that each student is to devote the
fifth year of his college work to advanced
study or research along the lines in which
he wishes to specialize. Accordingly, each
member of the faculty is expected to offer
advanced work in one line. Mr. Recknagel
will develop forest management as his spe-
cialty. As a part of the work in forest
management, he will have charge of the
eight weeks of work in camp which will be
given the graduate students in the spring
term. For the present, Mr. Recknagel will
also teach lumbering and wood technology.
It is expected that ground will be broken
very soon for the forestry building at Cor-
nell, as the contract has just been let. The
building will include three laboratories for
wood technology and timber testing; lab-
oratories for silviculture, mensuration,
dendrology and utilization; a lecture room
with an automatic window-darkening ap-
paratus to facilitate the use of lantern
slides; class-rooms, a reading room, semi-
nar, forestry club room, museum, drafting
room and a series of offices. There will
also be a locker room, freight room, 1n-
strument room and tool room. The build-
ing is to be ready for occupancy sometime
during the college year 1913-14. At present
the Department of Forestry is occupying a
laboratory, class room and offices in one 0
the recently finished buildings of the Col-
lege of Agriculture. ¢
The Department has just issued an an-
nouncement of its work, containing full de-
tails as to the plan of the course.
Dr. Hamilton’s New Position
Dr. Frederick W. Hamilton, recently
President of Tufts and Jackson Colleges,
has re-entered the business field, from which
he withdrew several years ago for profes-
sional work as an educator, and has taken
the position of General Manager of the
American Forestry Company. ,
As a young man, Dr. Hamilton's success-
ful business career, combined with his broad
education, early brought him to the front.
For many years he was a trustee of Tufts
College and later became its President, keep-
ing at the same time other high positions in
the educational world, including membership
of the Massachusetts State Board of Educa-
tion.
The success and rapid growth of the
American Forestry Company, with its “Lit-
tle Tree Farms,” open a field of unusual op-
portunity to a man of Dr. Hamilton’s caliber,
in the combination which forestry offers of
the commercial and the aesthetic, and it is,
therefore, with much enthusiasm that Dr.
Hamilton has associated himself with the
Company, and taken up his new duties.
This affiliation will allow Mr. Theodore
F. Borst, Forest Engineer of the Company,
to devote his energies more exclusively to
the professional side of the prosperous in-
dustry of which he was the founder.
Dr. Hamilton will from now on make his
headquarters at the offices of the American
Forestry Company at 15 Beacon Street, Bos-
ton, Mass.
The American Forestry Company is to be
congratulated upon obtaining the services of
a man who has made a marked success in
the fields both of business and education.
New Forest Reserves.
Following investigations which have been
made by officers of the Canadian Forestry
Department, it is proposed to set aside a
number of new forest reserves. The largest
is on the shores of Lesser Slave Lake, and
comprises 4,788 square miles. About 350,-
000,000 feet of lumber is available there, and
the reservation is recommended because of
the unsuitability of the land for agricultural
purposes and the necessity of conserving a
timber supply for the future.
North of Lake la Biche, Atberta, another
reserve is suggested. In Saskatchewan a
reserve has been recommended at Fort a la
Corne, while one in Manitoba is likely to be
established. It is intended to extend con-
siderably this year the pine forest reserve
north of Prince Albert, and also those in
British Columbia.
815
CURRENT LITERATURE
MONTHLY LIST FOR NOVEMBER,
1912
and periodicals indexed
Library of the United States
Forest Service)
(Books in the
Forestry as a Whole
Weber, Heinrich, editor. Jahresbericht
uber die fortschritte, verOflentlichungen
und wichtigeren ereignisse im gebiete
des forst—jagd—vund fischereiwesens
fiir das jahr 1911; supplement zur
Allgemeinen forst—und jagd-zeitung,
186 p. Frankfurt am Main, J. D. Sauer-
linder’s verlag, 1912.
Bibliographies
Cockrill, Elizabeth. Bibliography of Ten-
nessee geology, soils, drainage, forestry,
etc. 119 p. Nashville, 1911. (Tennes-
see Geological Survey. Bulletin 1 B.)
Proceedings and reports of associations,
forest officers, etc.
Great Britain—Commissioners
forests and land revenues.
119 p. London, 1912.
St. Petersburgh—Lyesnoi institut (Forest in-
of woods,
90th report.
stitute). Izvyestiya (Contributions),
vol. 23. 163 p. pl. St. Petersburgh,
1912.
Société dendrologique de France. Bulletins.
no. 21-24. Paris, 1911-12.
Société forestiére de Franche-Comté et Bel-
fort. Bulletin trimestriel, v. 11, no. 7.
132 p. Besancon, 1912.
Straits Settlements—Conservator of forests.
Annual report on forest administration
for the year 1911. 23 p. Singapore, 1912.
|
Forest Aesthetics
Street and park trees
Gaylord, F. A. Shade trees. 69 p. il. pl.
Albany, N. Y., 1912. (N. Y.—Conserva-
tion commission—Division of lands and
forests. Bulletin 7.)
New Jersey—Forest park reservation com-
mission. The planting and care of shade
trees, by Alfred Gaskill, including papers
on Insects injurious to shade trees, by
John B. Smith, and Diseases of shade
and forest trees, by Mel. T. Cook. 128
p. il, pl. Trenton, N. J., 1912.
Newark—Shade tree commission. Eighth
annual report, 1911. 68 p. il. Newark,
N. J., 1912.
North Carolina—Geological and economic
survey. Planting street trees. 4 p.
Chapel Hill, 1912. (Press bulletin no.
57.)
816
Forest Description
Foster, J. H. Forest conditions in Louisiana.
39 p. il, pl. Washington, D. C., 1912.
(U. S—Dept. of agriculture, Forest
service. Bulletin 114.)
Holmes, J. S. A forester’s notes from Eu-
rope; Switzerland. 3 p. Chapel Hill,
N. C., 1912. (N. C—Geological and
economic survey. Press bulletin no. 85.)
Moon, F. Frank. Forest conditions of War-
ren county. 31 p. pl, map. Albany,
N. Y., 1911. (N. Y.—Conservation com-
mission—Division of lands and forests.
Bulletin 6.)
Stephen, John Wallace. Forest conditions of
Oneida county. 20 p. pl., map. Albany,
N. Y., 1911. (N. Y.—Conservation com-
mission—Division of lands and forests.
Bulletin 4.)
Forest Botany
Trees; classification and description
Arnold arboretum. Bulletins of popular in-
formation, nos. 29-31. Jamaica Plain,
Mass., 1912.
Clements, Frederic E. and others. Minne-
sota trees and shrubs; an_ illustrated
manual of the native and cultivated
woody plants of the state. 314 p. il. pl.
Minneapolis, University of Minnesota,
1912.
Japan-Dept. of agriculture and commerce—
Bureau of forestry. Icones of the bam-
boos of Japan, with 15 plates. 73 p. and
portfolio of plates. Tokyo, 1912.
West Laurel Hill cemetery. List of trees
and shrubs in West Laurel Hill ceme-
tery. 48 p. il. Philadelphia, Pa., 1911.
Silvics
Studies of species
Woodbury, T. D. Yield and returns of blue
gum (Eucalyptus) in California. 8 p.
Wash., D. C., 1912. (U. $—Dept. of
agriculture — Forest .service. Circular
210.)
Silviculture
Planting
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. Extracting and cleaning forest
tree seed. 23 p. Wash., 1912. (Circular
208.)
CURRENT LITERATURE
Forest Protection
Insects
Mason, E. B. The southern pine beetle and
its control. 4 p. Chapel Hill, 1912.
(N. C.—Geological and economic survey,
Press bulletin 60.)
Diseases
Giddings, N. J. The chestnut bark disease.
19 p. il. Morgantown, 1912. (W. Va—
Agricultural experiment station. Bulle-
tin 137.)
Pennsylvania chestnut tree blight commis-
sion, The chestnut blight disease;
means of identification, remedies sug-
gested, and need of co-operation to con-
trol and eradicate the blight. 9 p. pl.
Harrisburg, 1912. (Bulletin 1.)
Pennsylvania chestnut tree blight commis-
sion. Treatment of ornamental chestnut
trees affected with the blight disease.
7p. pl. Harrisburg, 1912. (Bulletin 2.)
Animals
MacRae, Hugh. The stock law and forest
protection. 5p. Chapel Hill, 1912. (N.
C.—Geological and economic survey.
Press bulletin 61.)
Fire
Adams, Daniel W. Methods and apparatus
for the prevention and control of forest
fires, as exemplified on the Arkansas
national forest. 27 p. il. pl. Wash.
D. C., 1912. (U. S—Dept. of agriculture
—Forest service. Bulletin 113.)
California—State board of forestry. Forest
fire report and voluntary firewardens.
43 p. Sacramento, 1912.
Plummer, Fred G. Forest fires; their causes,
extent and effects, with a summary of
recorded destruction and loss. 39 p. il.
pl Wash., D. C., 1912. (U. S.—Dept.
of agriculture—Forest service. Bulle-
tin 117.)
Forest Management
Forest mensuration
Baughman, H. R. A. Baughman’s buyer and
seller. 12th edition. 300 p. Indianap-
olis, 1912.
Forest Economics
Taxation and tariff
Pettis, Clifford R. Forest taxation. 19 Pp.
Albany, N. Y., 1912. (New York—Con-
servation commission—Division of lands
and forests. Bulletin 8.)
Statistics
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Bureau
of statistics. Exports of farm and for-
est products, 1909-1911, by countries to
which consigned. 100 p. Wash., D. ce;
1912. (Bulletin 96.)
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Bureau
of statistics. Imports of farm and
forest products, 1909-1911, by countries
817
from which consigned. 83 p.
Wash.,
D. C., 1912. (Bulletin 95.)
Forest Administration
United States—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. October field program, 1912. 31
ps) Wash. DiCa19i2}
Forest Utilization
Lumber industry
Northern hemlock and hardwood manufac-
turers association. Birch, America’s
pat wood. 16 p. il. Wausau, Wis.,
Pacific logging congress. Fourth annual ses-
sion, Tacoma, Wash. 44 p. Chicago,
American lumberman, 1912.
Southern logging association. Proceedings,
2d annual meeting. 54 p. il. New Or-
learns, Lumber trade journal, 1912.
Stailey, S. C., comp. Lumber inspection
rules; containing rules governing the
manufacture and inspection of different
kinds of lumber, government tests of
the comparative strength of building
timbers, and other useful information for
everyday use. 356 p. il. N. Y., A. D.
Beeken, 1912.
Forest by-products
Betts, Harold Scofield. Possibilities of west-
ern pines as a source of naval stores.
23 p. pl. Wash., D. C., 1912. (U. S—
Dept. of agriculture—Forest service.
Bulletin 116.)
Wood technology
Heim, A. L. Mechanical properties of red-
wood. 32 p. il. Wash, D. C., 1912.
(U. S—Dept. of agricutlure—Forest
service. Circular 193.)
Wood preservation
Weiss, Howard F. Prolonging the life of
crossties. 51 p. pl. Wash., D. C., 1912.
(U. S.—Dept. of agriculture—Forest
service. Bulletin 118.)
Auxiliary Subjects
Botany
Correa, M. Pio. Flora do Brazil; algumas
plantas uteis, suas applicagoes e distrib-
uicao geographica. 154 p. Rio de Ja-
neiro Typographia da Estatistica, 1909.
Japan—Dept. of agriculture and commerce—
Bureau of forestry. Illustrations of
Japanese fungi. 12 p. pl. Tokyo, 1912.
Periodical Articles
Miscellaneous periodicals
Agricultural gazette of Tasmania, Aug., 1912.
—Western afforestation, by L. A.
Evans, p, 313-16. .
Agricultural journal of the Union of South
Africa, Sept. 1912—White© ants in
Natal; their nature and treatment, by
Claude Fuller, p. 345-69; The willow
tree caterpillar, Angelica tyrrhea, by C.
B. Hardenberg, p. 397-418.
818
American city, Aug., 1912.—Renourishing
trees, by J. H. Prost, p. 127-8.
Arizona, Oct., 1912—Sheep industry in
Arizona; its profits, losses and annual
migration of the flocks, by Bert Haskett,
p. 9-10.
Botanical gazette, Oct., 1912—Comparative
anatomy of dune plants, by Anna M.
Starr, p. 265-305.
Breeder’s gazette, Oct. 16, 1912.—Shade
trees for farm homes, by D. C. W., p.
781-2.
Breeder’s gazette, Nov. 6, 1912.—The cypress
trees in Washington, by Joseph E. Wing,
p. 967.
Country gentleman, Aug. 31, 1912—Forestry,
a farm problem, p. 1; Making the most
from pine orchards, by Charles Davis,
p. 4; The emergency silo; stave types
that can be built quickly, by Charles
Dillon, p. 21.
Country gentleman, Sept. 28, 1912.—Asphalt
as a wood preserver, by N. E. Thatcher,
pines
Country gentleman, Oct. 12, 1912—The in-
fluence of the forest on the land, by
Enos T. Mills, p. 3-4, 24.
Country life in America, Sept. 1, 1912.—
Sound, sick and crippled trees, p. 36.
Country life in America, Oct. 15, 1912—In-
terior wood treatments, the best woods
for interior trim, how to finish them,
and what it costs, by Phil M. Riley, p.
55-7.
Craftsman, Oct., 1912.—Cypress; its pic-
turesque qualities and how to finish it,
p. 114-5.
Gardeners’ chronicle, Sept. 14, 1912.—Forests
and rainfall, p. 214.
Gardeners’ chronicle, Sept. 28, 1912—Re-
clamiing sand dunes in Belgium, by A. D.
Webster, p. 243.
Gardener’s chronicle, Oct. 5, 1912—Forest
surveys, by G. W., p. 261; Afforestation
in the Black country, p. 290-2.
Independent, Oct. 10, 1912.—Celebrated and
historic trees, by J. G. Wilson, p. 828-36.
Journal of the association of engineering so-
cieties, Sept., 1912—Forestation and its
relation to flood waters of the lower
Mississippi river, by W. B. Gregory.
Nature, Aug. 29, 1912—Forests and rainfall,
p. 662-4.
Pine cone, Oct. 1912—Products of the
northern pine forests, p. 3-7.
Plant world, Nov., 1912—The phylogeny of
grasses, by William H. Lamb, p. 264-9.
Quarterly journal of economics, Aug., 1912.
Group of trusts and combinations, in-
cluding the lumber trust, by W. S.
Stevens, p. 630-41.
Scientific American, Oct. 19, 1912.—Source of
commercial divi divi, p. 325.
Scientific American supplement, Sept. 14,
1912.—Some experiments on the hydrol-
ysis of sawdust; sugar and alcohol from
wood, by Wallace P. Cohoe, p. 166-7.
Technical world magazine, Nov., 1912.—Log
driving in the desert, by Nelson L. Le
Grand, p. 311-22.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Torreya, Oct., 1912.—On the origin and
present distribution of the pine-barrens
of New Jersey, by Norman Taylor, p.
229-42.
Trade journals and consular reports
American lumberman, Oct. 19, 1912.—Uses
of tupelo gum or bay poplar, p. 25; Black
walnut defended, p. 43; Poplar conserva-
tion; the people’s co-operation with lum-
bermen an essential, p. 45: The electric
log haul, by C. D. Cole, p. 50-1; Diseases
of wood, p. 64.
American lumberman, Nov. 2, 1912.—Dis-
posing of slash, by E. T. Allen, p. 44.
American lumberman, Nov. 9, 1912.—Cigar
box wood, p. 40.
Barrel and box, Oct., 1912.—Identification of
trees, p. 45; Packing house cooperage
woods, p. 46; White oak in tight cooper-
age, p. 47.
Canada lumberman, Oct. 15, 1912.—Forest
conditions in Quebec province, by G. C.
Piche, p. 34-35; A forestry students’
camp, by R. B. Miller, p. 38-9; Prevent-
ing waste in forest products, by E. We
Palmer, p. 39-40; Cost of manufacturing
wooden boxes, p. 42-4.
Canada lumberman, Nov. 1, 1912.—The
economy of artificial drying of lumber, p.
28-9; New Brunswick timberland sit-
uation, p. 30-2.
Engineering news, Oct. 31, 1912.—Correction
tables for strengths of commercial size
timbers, by R. C. Hardman, p. 826; Con-
trolling the Mississippi river, by C. McD.
Townsend, p. 832-5.
Engineering Record, Sept. 7, 1912—Bending
tests with wood executed at the Danish
state testing laboratory, Copenhagen, p.
269.
Hardwood record, Oct. 25, 1912.—Silver or
soft maple, p. 23-4; Uses and supply of
kauri pine, by L. L. D., p. 24; A remark-
able logging railroad, by H. H. G, p.
25-8; Satinwoods of commerce, p. 32-3;
Crosstie evolution, by G. D. C., p. 38-9;
Fancy woods for floors, p. 39.
Hardwood record, Nov. 10, 1912.—Lodge-
pole pine, p. 23-4; New system of quar-
ter-sawing, p. 24-5; River birch for
cooperage, by S. J. Record, p. 25; Bird
peck in hickory, by S. J. Record, p. 27;
The wood of the ashes, by S. J. Record,
p. 28-9; Hardwoods used for matches,
p. 29; Uses for blight killed chestnut, by
S. J. Record, p. 32-3; Willow, a new sub-
stitute wood, p. 35-6.
Lumber world review, Oct. 10, 1912.—Paper
on creosote oil, by Hermann von
Schrenk, p. 24-5.
Lumber world review, October 25, 1912.—
Overhead system of rough ground
logging, by Fred R. Olin, p. 18-19; The
Port Reading creosoting plant, p. 28-30.
Lumber world review, Nov. 10, 1912.—Hard-
woods that are largely used in treated
railroad ties, by Bruce Odell, p. 19;
Electric hauling in logging operations,
by C. O. Cole, p. 20-1; Treatise on the
CURRENT LITERATURE
structure of wood, by R. S. Kellogg, p.
22-3; Historical developments of wood
preserving in the United States, by E. A.
_ Sterling, p. 24-6.
Mississippi Valley lumberman, Nov. 1, 1912.
Baer ueane timber conservation tax, p.
Paper, Oct. 16, 1912.—What the government
is doing in forestry, by Henry Solon
Graves, p. 15-16, 38; From tree to pulp
and paper; story of the wood-pulp in-
dustry; forms of pulp and modes of
preparing it for news print, p. 17-19, 38.
Paper, Oct. 23, 1912.—Lectures on cellulose,
by C. F. Cross, p. 23-4.
Paper, Oct. 30, 1912—DLaces, yarns and
textiles from wood-pulp, p. 15; The pop-
lar in the Ticino valley, by Enrico Pirola,
p. 19-22.
Paper, Nov. 13, 1912—Modern pulp and
paper mills in Norway, p. 17-20, 41;
Aspects of the resin and wood-pulp in-
dustries, by J. F. Briggs, p. 21-2.
Pioneer western lumberman, Noy. 1, 1912.—
The California redwood lumber indus-
try, by J. R. Newsom, p. 11-13.
Pulp and paper magazine, Oct., 1912—De-
velopment of chemical wood-pulp indus-
try in Sweden and reclaiming of by-
products, by C. E. Bandelin, tr., p. 314-20.
St. Louis lumberman, Oct. 15, 1912—The
lumberman’s viewpoint, by E. G. Griggs,
p. 55-6; Michigan agricultural college
forestry summer term, p. 62-3.
St. Louis lumberman, Nov. 1, 1912—The silo,
the high cost of living, and the lumber-
man, by J. F. Goodman, p. 54 B-C; The
stone trees of Arizona; a forest gone
to sleep, by Charles F. Lummis, p. 54
G; Dwarf larch and spruce, p. 54 G;
Some Philippine woods, by H. N. Whit-
ford, p. 63.
Southern Lumber journal, Oct. 15, 1912.—
Forest taxation and the preservation and
perpetuation of our wood lands, by
Leonard Bronson, p. 42.
Southern lumber journal, Nov. 1, 1912.—The
taxation of timber holdings, p. 25-6.
Southern lumberman, Oct. 19, 1912.—The
present status of forestry in Tennessee,
by Henry W. Lewis, p. 29-30.
Southern lumberman, Nov. 2, 1912.—For
clearing land; novel stump burner manu-
factured in Washington state, p. 42.
Timber trade journal, Oct. 5, 1912.—Circula-
tion of sap and growth of trees, by Ss, M,,
p. 471-2.
Timberman, Oct., 1912.—Oregon agricultural
college to add logging engineering to
curriculum, p. 25-6; Cableway system. 15
successfully utilized in interior British
Columbia, p. 27; The University of
Montana offers full and short courses
in forestry, p. 40; Successful 20th annual
session of National irrigation congress,
pl 48-P 3 The nation and the states in
forestry, by Henry Solon Graves, DP.
48
819
United States daily consular report, Nov. 6,
1912.—Greenheart piling and Guiana
_timber, by Rea Hanna, p. 672-3.
United States daily consular report, Novy. 7,
1912.—Scandinavian pulp-mill stones, by
Henry Bordewich and others, p. 689-92;
Sawmill refuse to heat and light city, by
G. C. Woodward, p. 695.
Wood craft, Nov., 1912.—Preparation and
hauling of lumber for woodworkers, p.
49-50; Circulation of sap and growth of
trees, p. 61-2.
Forest journals
Boletin de bosques, pesca i caza, Sept., 1912.
El progresso forestal de Bosnia i Herz-
egovina, by Federico Albert, p. 145-53;
El primer ensayo de una estadistica
forestal de Chile, by Federico Albert,
p. 154-9; Los eucaliptos que deben
plantarse, by Federico Albert, p. 164-82.
Bulletin de la Société centrale forestiere de
Belgique, Oct., 1912.—Le blanc du chene,
by G. Quéritet, p. 577-88; La feuillaison
et le développement des plants élevés a
l’ombre ou a la lumiére chez le hétre et
quelques autres essences feuillues, by A.
Poskin, p. 597-604; La République Ar-
gentine au point de vue phvsique, by
Francisco [,atzina, p. 604-12.
Canadian forestry journal, July-Aug., 1912.—
The British Columbia forest act, p. 88-91;
Experiment needed in pulp-making, by
H. R. MacMillan, p. 92-7; Government
forests in Saxony, by W. G. Wright, p.
105-8; The aspen tree in the northwest,
by A. Knechtel, p. 109; Export of Christ-
mas trees, p. 110.
Forest leaves, Oct., 1912.—Some benefits of
the chestnut blight, by S. B. Detwiler, p.
162-5; How private forestry can be
brought about, by S. B. Elliott, p. 165-8;
Planting operations in the Bear Meadows
division of the Center co. reserve, Pa.,
by Walter D. Ludwig, p. 168-70; Plant-
ing timber trees, by J. Linn Harris, p.
170-1; Public or private forestry, by oe
A. Zeigler, p. 173-5.
Forstwissenschaftliches centralblatt, Sept.-
Oct., 1912.—Forstliche wirtschaftbezw.
bestandesiibersichtskarten, by Knauth, p.
480-90; Forstliches aus Baden, by
Fieser, p. 490-505.
Hawaiian forester and agriculturist, Sept.,
1912.—Forest reserves; reports of the
Supt. of forestry making recommenda-
tions with regard to three forest reserves,
by Ralph S. Hosmer, 2. 263-81.
Indian forester, Oct. 1932.—List of the
trees, shrubs and economic herbs of the
southern forest circle of the C. P., by
H. H. Haines, p. 495-599.
Ohio forester, July, 1912.—Propagating shade
and forest trees in the nursery, by E. W.
Mendenhall, p. 7-8; The hickory, by J. J.
Crumley, p. 8-10.
uarterly journal of forestry, Oct., 1912.—
: The roceats of Formosa, by H. J. Elwes,
p. 267-79; Forty years’ management of
woods, by D. Tait, p. 279-98; The for-
820
estry exhibition at the Doncaster show
of the Royal agricultural society of Eng-
land, by J. C. Blofield, p. 329-33.
Revue des eaux et foréts, Sept. 15, 1912.—
Notes forestiéres d’Amérique; Répub-
lique Argentine, by G. Lapie, p. 545-50;
Coniféres; essais de tableaux dichot-
omiques pour la détermination des
espéeces, by L. Pardé, p. 550-2.
Revue des eaux et foréts, Oct. 1, 1912.—
Traitement du pin sylvestre dans la
région de Paris, p. 577-86; Notes
forestiéres d’Amériques; Chile, Para-
guay, Venezuela, Amérique centrale, by
G. Lapie, p. 586-93.
Revue des eaux et foréts, Oct. 15, 1912.—
Notes forestiéres d’Amérique; Mexique,
p. 619-24.
AMERICAN FORESTRY
Tharandter forstliches jahrbuch, 1912.—
Ueber die anstellung waldbaulicher
versuche und tiber dei klassen der forst-
lichen ertragstafeln, by Vater, . 252-63;
Die ausbildung der forstreferendare, by
Martin, p. 293-308; Zwingen bedenken
gegen die fichtenkahlschlagwirtschaft in
Sachsen zu einem fruchtwechsel, by
Deicke, p. 309-35; Ueber die anwendung
graphischer rechnungsmethoden in der
forstwissenschaft, by Hugershoff, p.
340-72.
Zeitschrift fiir forst-und jagdwesen, Sept.,
1912.—Ein neues vegetationshaus und
seine praktische erprobung, by A. Moller,
p. 527-38; Uber den einfluss. der
streuentnahme, by A. Schwappach, p.
538-58; Die wiilder Australiens, p. 637-41,
THE ANNUAL MEETING
‘Or annual meeting of the Ameri-
can Forestry Association will be
held in Washington, D. C., on
Wednesday, January 8th, and notifica-
tion will be sent to members in the
course of a few days. As many im-
portant plans for work of vital interest
for the new year are to be arranged, it
is desired that there shall be a much
larger attendance than usual, and it is
hoped there will be.
The date having been selected just as
this edition goes to press it is impos-
sible, at this time, to announce the de-
tails of the gathering, these having not
yet been decided.
A meeting of the Eastern Foresters
will be held at Lakewood, N. J., on
Tuesday and Wednesday, January 6
and 7%, and most of them are expected
to attend the American Forestry Asso-
ciation meeting. This is to be followed
on January 9 and 10 by a conference
of state foresters and others under the
auspices of the Forest Service, so that
the week, all told, will be a most im-
portant one for forestry.
TIMBER CONSERVATION
In a bulletin recently issued, Secretary Wilson, of the Department of Agriculture, calls
attention to the fact that the State of Louisiana, ranking second in its wealth of timber
only to the Pacific Coast States, will have cut all of its 199 billion feet of lumber in thirty’
years at the present rate of consumption unless it begins a plan of conservation and re-
forestation. He says: “With efficient protection of this young growth, and better utilization
of the present commercial stands, the forests of Louisiana, even in the face of a much
greater agricultural development than now, should remain an important source of wealth.”
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