498 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



likely to be frequented by the pests. 

 Wherever there is a general reforestration, 

 however, poison should be dropped every 

 three or four feet along parallel lines five 

 yards apart. For mice and chipmunks 20 

 kernels in a place are sufficient, but ground 

 squirrels should have a teaspoonful. Poison 

 put on grazing land should be lightly scat- 

 tered to prevent its being taken by domes- 

 tic animals. 



In deciding on the proper time to lay 

 poison for the protection of seed there 

 are several points to be considered. One of 

 these is the date at which planting is to 

 begin. Another is the habits of the ani- 

 mals aimed at. Mice are active at all sea- 

 sons, but chipmunks and ground squirrels 

 in the Tahoe forest hibernate during the 

 winter. Again, in winter, quail and grouse 

 feed on buds and seeds, and are in danger 

 of taking bait intended for troublesome 

 mammals. In the warm season this danger 

 disappears. The writer, at different times, 

 has had under observation several hun- 

 dred acres of land thoroughly treated with 

 poisoned grain in May and June; yet he 

 never knew of one grouse or quail living 

 there to be killed by it. 



Fall Work for the Ranger 



ORDERS FOR COLLECTION" OF SEED, 



FALL OF 1911. 



(Contingent on conditions.) 



District 1 lbs. lbs. 



Yellow pine 2,000 



Douglas fir 5,000 



Western white pine 1-5,000 



Lodgepole pine 5,000 27,000 



District 2 



Yellow pine 8.000 



Douglas fir 5.000 



Lodgepole pine 10,000 



Engelmann spruce '.. 3,000 26,000 



District 3 



Yellow pine 1.000 



Douglas fir 1.000 



Walnut 40,000 



Hickory 40,000 



Oak 20,000 102,000 



District 4 



Yellow pine 2.000 



Douglas fir 4,000 



Engelmann spruce 2,000 



Lodgepole pine (from 2) 8,00C 



District 5 



Sugar pine 2,000 



Yellow pine 2,000 



Bigtree 150 4.150 



District 6 



Yellow pine 2,000 



Douglas fir 20,000 



Sitka spruce 2,000 



Western red cedar 300 



Western white pine 500 24,800 



192,300 



Area artificially sown or planted in 1910, 

 less than 10,000 acres. 



Area artificially sown or planted in 1911, 

 over 20,000 acres. 



Area which it is expected to sow or plant 

 in fiscal year 1912, 30,000 acres. 



Telephones on the Pecos National Forest 



Experiments in the use of the emergency 

 telephone equipment are now well under 

 way on the Pecos Forest. The opportunity 

 to inspect the use of the emergency surface 

 wires resulted in the report that very sat- 

 isfactor}- service was given. Two miles of 

 various samples of wire were laid from the 

 Glorieta Ranger Station to the Airline look- 

 out point. These wires were reeled out on 

 horseback from a spool placed on the horn 

 of the saddle. At each half mile the port- 

 able test set was cut in and communica- 

 tion established with the Supervisor and 

 District Office at Albuquerque. At the 

 mountain top, which was reached one hour 

 after leaving the station, the mine tele- 

 phone set was permanently rigged and 

 wired. Communication was at once estab- 

 lished with the Supervisor's office 30 miles 

 away and with the District office about 

 100 miles distant. The portable set was 

 also cut in and worked splendidly even 

 when the distance was increased to an arti- 

 ficial resistance of 30 miles. The tests so 

 far have shown that N'o. 22 stranded cop- 

 per wire at about $7.45 a mile will i)erhaps 

 be the most useful and certainly the most 

 economical. The next size. No. 20 gauge, 

 costs about $20 per mile. This is the wire 

 for which quotations were asked from the 

 Western Electric Co. But no large orders 

 for wire have been placed until the results 

 of the experiments under way in this dis- 

 trict shall have become known. The port- 

 able test set now weighs 11% pounds, but 

 this can be readily reduced to 10 pounds by 

 the use of shorter lived batteries (two 

 months) and the more compact assemblage 

 of the equipment. A further reduction can 

 be made to nine pounds by weakening the 

 power of the generator, but this is extremely 

 inadvisable. 



