NEWS AND NOTES 



455 



number are secured from the Deerlodge 

 National Forest west of the city. The 

 Allen Company has purchased from the 

 Government the timber which the For- 

 est officers think can be removed with 

 safety to the forest on an area of about 

 8,000 acres, and it is estimate! that they 

 will secure about 50.000,000 feet, board 

 measure, under this one contract. The 

 company also supplies the smelter at 

 Anaconda with converter poles and 

 small cordwood to whomever has need 

 for it. By the time the sale is com- 

 pleted, the Government will have re- 

 ceived more than $250,000 for the tim- 

 ber on this 8,000 acres, and the forest 

 will still be left in a condition to pro- 

 duce more timber for the future needs 

 of the Butte mines and other Montana 

 industries. 



The timber is almost wholly lodge- 

 pole — a tree of small size, at best, but 

 large enough to supply stulls, lagging, 

 and converter poles. The trees form a 

 dense forest of nearly even sized trees. 

 This renders it impossible to take out 

 only the larger trees, and the Govern- 

 ment foresters are allowing the cutting 

 of narrow strips clean, while from the 

 intervening strips of timber left stand- 

 ing only the dead and diseased trees are 

 taken. After a strip is cleared, it will 

 be seeded up with young trees from the 

 strips of timber left standing on either 

 side, and only when this has been com- 

 pleted, probably between ten or twenty 

 years from now, will the remaining tim- 

 ber be cut. When it is cut, the trees 

 then growing on the strips which are 

 now cut clean, will seed up the newly 

 cut areas, and the whole forest wdl be 

 started afresh. 



In this forest as in every other, the 

 greatest danger to the program planned 

 bv the foresters is fire, but in the pres- 

 ent cutting everv precaution is taken to 

 lessen this risk.' The brush from the 

 tops of the trees is being piled, and 

 later, when the ground is wet or cov- 

 ered with snow, the piles are burned un- 

 der the direction of a forest officer. 

 With lodgepole pine this brush burning 

 is also an aid in securing seedlings, for 

 little trees are best started on an area 

 where the mineral soil is exposed. Com- 



plete disposal of the brush leaves noth- 

 ing on which a forest fire may gain 

 headway, and, safe from this greatest 

 danger, the forest is left to supply wood 

 for the future and to regulate the flow 

 of the streams which drain it, and mean- 

 while, the great mining industry of 

 Butte is securing the timber it must 

 have if it is to continue. 



«i 



«i 



Production of Precious Stones in the 

 United States 



THE total value of the precious 

 stones produced in the United 

 States during 1907 is placed by the 

 Geological Survey at $471,300, as com- 

 pared with $208,000 in 1906. This great 

 increase is due chiefly to a very large 

 output of sapphire in Montana, of both 

 the blue and the variegated variety. 

 The total production of sapphire in the 

 United States for 1907 is estimated at 

 $229,800. Tourmaline is second in im- 

 portance, and is placed at $84,120. 

 Among other important gems produced 

 were chrysoprase, to the value of $45,- 

 500: californite, $25,000; turquoise, 

 $23,840: spodumene gems (kunzite and 

 hiddenite), $14,500; varicite, utahlite, 

 and amatrice, $7,500 ; rose quartz, beryl, 

 and aquamarine, and garnet, each over 

 $6,000. 



A new gem mineral — benitoite — ^has 

 been added to the list of known prec- 

 ious stones. This is a titanosilicate of 

 barium, having a blue color and a high 

 refractive inrlex. It is found in San 

 Benito County, California. The re- 

 opening of the emerald-hiddenite mine 

 in Alexander County. North Carolina, 

 during 1907. is of interest since the 

 supply of hiddenite for jewelry has be- 

 come very low. 



«i &' &' 



Body of Slain Forester Recovered 



A CABLE from Manila to the Bu- 

 reau of Insular Afifairs states that 

 the lx)dies of H. D. Everett and T. R. 

 Wakelev have been found and are be- 

 ing brought to Manila for burial. This 



