694 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



yited destruction, commending itself, as 

 it does, to man's use througli the many 

 distinctively admirable qualities of its 

 wood. And not alone the standing timber, 

 but the succeeding generations were en- 

 dangered through the popularity of its 

 edible fruit. So complete has been the 

 consumption of chestnuts that the species, 

 deprived of opportunity for natural re- 

 generation, must have been doomed long 

 since, were it not for the remarkable fac- 

 ulty of producing sprout growth from the 

 stump. Fortunately the chestnut possesses 

 the power of coppicing to a degree far be- 

 yond most other trees. 



The inevitable result— as is evident to 

 every careful observer — is that the pres- 

 ent-day stand of chestnut consists of about 

 ninety per cent coppice (not merely sec- 

 ond, but third and fourth growth), a small 

 number of aged giants — ancient survivors 

 of the primeval forest — and only a negli- 

 gible quantity of seedling trees. 



But the power of coppicing, unfortun- 

 ately, is a diminishing one, e-xhaustive 

 of the tree's vitality and at length fatal. 

 A forest composed of members, either aged 

 and failing or else with vitality depleted 

 and vigor impaired by ill-treatment, can 

 offer little resistance to a malignant foe. 

 Admitting, on the one hand, such a forest 

 condition, and presupposing, on the other 

 hand, the existence of an infectious dis- 

 ease, and one comprehends the awful rav- 

 ages to be witnessed wherever the blight 

 has spread. 



Whatever success we may have in curb- 

 ing the present epidemic, one lesson stands 

 forth clearly: the viciousness of the old 

 method of successive and excessive cop- 

 picing, practiced and handed down by our 

 forefathers. There remains to devise a 

 correct silvicultural system for the chest- 

 nut, if we hope to save and maintain the 

 species in the future. For verily, the in- 

 iquities of our fathers have been visited 

 upon the chestnut and upon us unto the 

 third and fourth generation." 



Nassachusetts 



Under legislation passed during the last 

 session the fire protection work of the 

 Massachusetts forest service has been 

 greatly strengthened. An expert state fire 

 warden has been added to the state for- 

 ester's staff and will give constant atten- 

 tion to the equipment, organization, and 

 training of the forest wardens of the 

 towns. A patrol system has been inaugu- 



rated under the co-operative clause of the 

 Weeks law. A system of fifteen observa- 

 tion towers has been planned to cover the 

 whole state and nine or ten of these have 

 already been put in use. They have tele- 

 phone connections, and one of them, on 

 Mount Wachuset, in the central part of the 

 state, has demonstrated its usefulness al- 

 ready by the prompt reporting, resulting 

 in the prompt extinguishing of thirty fires 

 within a few weeks after its establishment. 

 M. C. Hutchins, who acquired his experi- 

 ence in New York state in active service, 

 is in charge of this part of the Massa- 

 chusetts forestry work. 



New Hampshire 



Under a co-operative agreement between 

 the state and the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture an exhaustive study 

 of the wood-using industries of New Hamp- 

 shire will be made. The work will be in 

 charge of agents of the Forest Service, 

 and more than 700 i>ew Hampshire manu- 

 facturers who use wood have been asked 

 to furnish information. The major part 

 of the timber cut in New Hampshire is 

 used for general construction and for laths, 

 railroad ties, poles, mine props, bridge 

 timbers, and fence posts, but in addition 

 a large quantity goes to meet the demands 

 of the wood-using factories which convert 

 material into commodities of many uses 

 and many kinds. It is these factories which 

 are to be studied in the New Hampshire 

 investigation. Similar studies have been 

 completed for other states — Massachusetts 

 Kentucky, Illinois, Mar>-land. North Caro- 

 lina, and Wisconsin. One point which will 

 be brought out by this study is the extent 

 to which the forests of New Hampshire or 

 outside sources produce the woods used 

 by the manufacturers. In 1909 New Hamp- 

 shire stood twenty-fourth among the lum- 

 ber-producing states, but among the New 

 England states it stood next to Maine. It 

 is probable that New Hampshire holds a 

 more important rank as a user of wood 

 than it does in production. 



The supreme court of the state has de- 

 cided that the law for the purchase of the 

 Crawford Notch by the state was invali- 

 dated by the technical error through which 

 Governor Bass signed the bill without the 

 amendment as it passed the legislature. 

 This prevents action by the state until 

 another legislature can convene and repass 

 the measure. 



