180 



AMERICAN FORESTllY 



probably be proclaimed unconstitutional if 

 passed, but it is regrettable that there is 

 a tendency in such legislation to disregard 

 entirely the experience of other nations 

 which have had centuries of experience in 

 dealing with this problem. No hard and 

 fast rules can be laid down for forestry 

 any more than for farming and any such 

 rules are diccated only by ignorance of 

 the subject. 



One of the most interesting situations 

 of the session arose over two bills in- 

 troduced by the International Paper 

 Company to allow the driving of pulp logs 

 on two streams draining large forest areas 

 owned by them in the mountains. There 

 is, of course, no question but what this 

 lumbering is to be done. The only ques- 

 tion from a forestry standpoint is whether 

 the company can be induced to practice 

 forestry. The privilege of driving the 

 logs to the mill would reduce the cost of 

 transportation between $1.50 and $2.00 per 

 cord. On a cut of ten cords per acre this 

 would mean a big saving and, of course, a 

 large inducement to the company to invest 

 money in forestry, either planting or leav- 

 ing seed trees. This company has shown 

 a better disposition to practice forestry 

 than any other concern in the state and 

 offered in this bill to bond itself heavily 

 to cut only under the direction of the state 

 forester. Here was an opportunity of get- 

 ting forestry practiced on 30,000 acres, but 

 the opposition on the part of various busi- 

 ness interests, probably including a railroad 

 interested in the freight of the logs, and of 

 summer residents who feared a disfigure- 

 ment of the rivers, prevailed. It is to be 

 hoped that the company will not retaliate 

 by slashing their forests, which would 

 probably have a worse effect on the stream; 

 but may practice some forestry measures 

 even without being required to do so. 



Governor Proctor appointed four years 

 ago a Conservation Commission of which 

 Hon. Joseph A. DeBoer was the chairman. 

 This Commission took an active part to- 

 ward the creation of the state forester's 

 ofiBce. 



A second Conservation Commission was 

 established by the past legislature, the 

 members of which, appointed by Governor 

 Mead, are President John M. Thomas of 

 Middlebury College; Hon. C. P. Smith, 

 Treasurer of the University of Vermont 

 and State Agricultural College; and Colo- 

 nel F. S. Billings of Woodstock. No ap- 

 propriation was made for investigative pur- 

 poses aside from the general funds avail- 

 able for the state geologist; the state for- 

 ester; and the appropriation tor an investi- 

 gation by the United States Geological Sur- 

 vey of the water powers of the state. 



The State Board of Agriculture and For- 

 estry is made up as follows: Gov. John A. 

 Mead, Chairman; Professor Joseph L. Mills, 

 Director of the Experiment Station and 

 Dean of the State Agricultural College, 

 Secretary; and Hon. Clement F. Smith, 



Master of the State Grange. Governor 

 Mead has traveled extensively in Palestine 

 and other countries, where he has been 

 impressed with the damage done by de- 

 forestation, and is a strong supporter of 

 the state forestry policy. 



The annual meeting of the Vermont For- 

 estry Association was held in Burlington 

 February 23. In the afternoon there was 

 a business meeting, a talk on the forestry 

 course in the Agricultural College by Pro- 

 fessor J. L. Hills, and a discussion, opened 

 by Austin F. Hawes, state forester, on 

 state control of privately owned timber 

 lands. In the evening there were ad- 

 dresses by Professor J. W. Toumey of the 

 Yale Forest School, and others. 



Nebraska 



The Nebraska Conservation and State 

 Development Congress held its second an- 

 nual meeting in Lincoln, February 23rd 

 and 24th. The program embraced a very 

 broad and complete discussion of the state's 

 resources and their development and the 

 work of different agencies looking to that 

 end. 



The death of Prof. F. J. Phillips of the 

 University of Nebraska, who committed 

 suicide last month on account of despon- 

 dency due to illness, is a loss to his pro- 

 fession and his associates. Professor Phil- 

 lips was a young man who was doing a 

 good work and doing it well. 



North Carolina Forestry Association 



The North Carolina Forestry Associa- 

 tion was organized at Raieigh on the first 

 of February with Dr. D. H. Hill of the 

 North Carolina College of Agriculture and 

 Mechanic Arts, president, and J. S. Holmes, 

 state forester, secretary and treasurer. The 

 association will open a general state cam- 

 paign for better forest laws and their en- 

 forcement. An effort will be made to have 

 instruction in forestry given in the public 

 schools. An interesting program of prac- 

 tical papers on forestry subjects was pre- 

 sented at the meeting. 



Northern Forest Protective Association 



Thomas B. Wyman, forester of the Cleve- 

 land-Cliffs Iron Company, Munising, Michi- 

 gan, has become chief forester of the new 

 Northern Forest Protective Association, 

 the organization of which has been pre- 

 viously noted in these pages. 



To obtain the funds with which to carry 

 out the forest patrol plan, which is a pri- 

 mary feature of the protective work, the 

 directors have voted to levy an assessment 

 of one-halt cent an acre on the lands in 

 the association, in addition to which each 

 member pays a membership fee of $5. As 

 there are now, approximately, 2,000,000 



