NEWS AND NOTES 



141 



with such examinations studies are usually 

 made of market or other conditions which 

 apply to the community as a whole, and of 

 the possibility of cooperative shipments of 

 forest products. Public meetings with dis- 

 cussions of local forestry problems, the dis- 

 tribution of publications, the formation of 

 local forestry clubs if advisable, and the 

 collection of additional data needed for serv- 

 ice publications are valuable features of 

 this work." 



The Government has vigorously under- 

 taken the reforestation of Oregon and Wash- 

 ington and during December cones of the 

 Douglas fir have been collected on an enor- 

 mous scale. For the first time in the history 

 of the Pacific Northwest steps have been 

 taken to replace the forests now being cut 

 away. According to the present plans of 

 the National Forest Service this work will 

 be continued year after year. 



Gathering fir cones has become a new in- 

 dustry throughout this state. During Sep- 

 tember men, women and children picked the 

 cones, being paid 50 cents per bushel for 

 them. They were then taken to the govern- 

 ment extracting plant at Wyeth, Ore., where 

 the seeds were extracted, and large areas of 

 the national forests will be reseeded during 

 the coming winter. 



A total of almost 10.000 bushels of the 

 fir cones were secured by the forest serv- 

 ice or about 7,000 sacks, which will be 

 sufficient to plant about 7,000 acres. This 

 is but the beginning of this work, and each 

 succeeding season will see large additions to 

 the replanted areas as the seed is available. 



Homesteaders in western Oregon and 

 Washington, where the fir trees are numer- 

 ous, made money gathering the cones, re- 

 ceiving three to five dollars per day in 

 many cases where the coniferous trees bore 

 heavy crops. 



Formerly the Government secured its fir 

 seed from Germany for the comparatively 

 smal' eforestation work that has been done 

 in the vVest, but the foreign supply became 

 inadequate to the demand and, in fact, Ger- 

 many herself is now seeking to buy Douglas 

 fir seed in America. 



Official RecogTiition 



Official recognition of the British Columbia 

 Government has been extended to the West- 

 ern Forestry and Conservation Association 

 by \\'iliiam P. Ross, of Victoria, Minister 

 of public lands. 



In a letter received by Judge A. L. Fle- 

 welling, president of the Forestry Associa- 

 tion, Minister Ross specifically indorses the 

 work of the association and incloses a $100 

 check as a government contribution to ex- 

 penses. 



In reply Judge Flewelling wrote Minister 

 Ross as follows : 



"Your letter is one of the most sincerely 

 appreciated testimonials we have ever re- 

 ceived. Our two-fold work of bringing about 



better public sentiment toward protection of 

 forest resources and of guiding and encour- 

 aging liberal expenditures and improved 

 methods by forest owners is, we think, haying 

 excellent results, but it is especially gratify- 

 ing to learn that you, on the other side of 

 the line, have found it worth noticing and 

 approving in such a substantial manner." 



A County's Ambition 



An effort to have 50,000 trees planted in 

 Onondaga County, New York, during the 

 coming year will be made by the Board of 

 Supervisors. Untillable lands will be used 

 for this purpose. 



Not so very long ago the Board of Super- 

 visors appointed a committee on reforesting 

 and Charles S. Keller was placed at the head. 

 He has made a thorough study of the lands 

 of the county and reforesting, and has plan- 

 ned to make this one of the county features 

 next year. He has been in communication 

 with the Forest, Fish and Game Department 

 of the State, and is now in a position to 

 carry on the work of reforesting the county 

 on an extensive scale. 



Minnesota's Good Work 



Note should be taken of the practical work 

 being done for forest conservation in Min- 

 nesota, where 30,000 acres of bare prairie 

 have been planted with trees under the State 

 law which allows a maximum bounty of $15 

 an acre for successful planting. The limit 

 for which this bounty is paid to one person 

 is $150 for 10 acres in the course of six 

 years, and it is estimated that only one acre 

 in 20 now being grown to timber receives a 

 bounty, but the law is said to give an effec- 

 tive stimulus to private enterprise. 



A Government Timber Sale 



The Government is advertising for bids 

 on a large body of timber on the Tahoe 

 National Forest, in California, with an offer 

 of terms which inaugurates an important de- 

 parture from the policy of the past. 



About 73 million board feet of saw timber 

 is offered for sale, with a 10-year period for 

 the removal of the timber. The National 

 Forests contain a vast supply of merchant- 

 able timber, estimated at the equivalent of 

 over 500 billion feet board measure, a great 

 part of which is ripe for the ax or already 

 overmature. In many cases, however, the 

 purchaser has to make a very heavy initial 

 investment in transportation facilities. To 

 have this pay, he must be alilc to figure on a 

 large operation, requiring a number of years 

 to carry through. 



The Tahoe sale will call for the construc- 

 tion of 20 miles of railroad, which will be 

 a common carrier and tiicrefore decidedly 

 beneficial to the community — another reason 

 for making the sale which is taken into ac- 

 count. A minimum price of $2.50 per thou- 

 sand feet for yellow pine, the amount of 

 which is estimated at 52 million feet, and 



