484 



CONSERVATION 



burg-, July i and 2. 1908, for entrance 

 September i, 1908. It is the intention 

 of the Department to limit the number 

 of students enrolled to thirty, and since 

 students to the number of seven out of 

 a total of twenty-nine, which is the 

 present enrollment, will complete their 

 course of three years, and will be as- 

 signed to work on various reserves 

 September i, there is room for the ad- 

 mission of only eight students this fall. 

 For this number of appointments, fifty- 

 five applicants took the examination, 

 the appointments being given to those 

 who attain the highest average in phys- 

 ical and mental examinations. 



The new dormitory is now completed 

 ready for occupancy, or rather half of 

 the proposed plans have been complet- 

 ed. An appropriation of $15,000 had 

 been received from the legislature of 

 1907, and this proved insufficient for 

 the erection of a complete dormitory. 

 The Department is awaiting the pleas- 

 ure of the legislature of 1909 for an 

 appropriation for the completion of the 

 dormitory. 



Two classes have been graduated 

 from the Academy so far. They have 

 been assigned to work on different re- 

 serves where the work being done is 

 really commendable. 



The state has three well-established 

 nurseries at the present time, each in 

 charge of a graduate of the Forest 

 Academy. The Mont Alto nursery is 

 the largest seed-bed nursery in the 

 United States. It is now growing 

 469,895 two-year-old and 2,250,200 

 hardy two-year-old white pine seed- 

 lings, besides Scotch pine, black wal- 

 nut, European larch, and hard maple, 

 which makes a total aggregate of over 

 3,335,000 seedlings. The nursery at 

 Asaph, Tioga County, is making an 

 equally commendable showing. There 

 are at the present time 279.580 two- 

 year-old and 600,000 one-year-old, 

 making a total of 879,579 white pine 

 seedlings in beds in the nursery at the 

 present time, besides a small numl^er 

 of other species. 



The nursery at Huntingdon is the 

 smallest of the three, owing principally 

 to labor conditions. But its showing. 



comparatively, is on a par with the 

 others. At the present time it is growing 

 500,200 two-year-old and 500,000 one- 

 year-old white pine seedlings. 



For the three nurseries, this makes a 

 total of 1,239,475 two-year-old and 

 3.350,400 one-year-old white pine seed- 

 lings, or an aggregate total of 4,589,875 

 white pine seedlings. The Mont Alto 

 nursery is the only one in which other 

 species are planted to any appreciable 

 extent. Seed beds of Scotch pine con- 

 tain about 150,000 seedlings, but sta- 

 tistics of the other species could not be 

 procured separately. 



Mention must be made of nurseries 

 in charge of rangers on reserves some- 

 what remote from the large nurseries.. 

 The ranger was formerly busy only 

 part of the year during the fire season, 

 and the remainder of the year he 

 would spend part of his time doing odd 

 jobs which would come under a ran- 

 ger's duty ; the remainder of that time 

 he could not utilize in the interests of 

 his position. The Department, there- 

 fore, has seen fit to have rangers who 

 are located advantageously to prepare 

 beds and plant white pine seeds, the 

 first year generally to the amount of 

 five pounds. Of course, they get the 

 proper instructions as to the making of 

 the beds, time of planting, method of 

 planting, etc.. and it is proving very 

 profitable, especially in so far as it is a 

 labor-saving proposition for the state 

 and at the same time trains rangers in 

 operations subsidiary to their positions, 

 thus making them more efficient and 

 probably more interested in their work. 



These nurseries form the nucleus in 

 which the foremost policy of the De- 

 partment with regard to direct reforest- 

 ation centers. Natural regeneration is 

 secured wherever possible, but notwith- 

 standing these operations, it is the in- 

 tention of the Department to refore.s-t 

 the denuded hillsides and open spaces 

 in the state as speedily as possible. So 

 far, planting has been confined princi- 

 pally to the eastern part of the state. 

 Open spaces and abandoned farm land 

 constitute the greatest area of accessi- 

 ble land for planting in eastern Penn- 

 sylvania, since lumbering did not re- 



