STATE NEWS 



539 



The proper care and maintenance of grow- 

 ing forests and the restoration ot lands 

 which have been denuded but are not avail- 

 able for cultivation are important to the 

 people of the itate as a whole because of 

 the effect of the forests upon rainfall and 

 control of streams, but the reforestation of 

 waste tracts under conditions which have 

 been created by the conservation commission 

 affords an opportunity for individual profit 

 to the farmers while working for the gen- 

 eral welfare of the State. 



California 



An increase of $48,000 in the receipts from 

 the national forests in California for the 

 fiscal year ending June 31, 1912, over those 

 for the previous 12 months is shown in the 

 annual statement of receipts just issued from 

 the main office in San Francisco of district 

 5 of the United States forest service. 



The total receipts for 1911-1912 were 

 $272,433, against $224,531 for 1910-1911. An 

 increase in nearly all the departments from 

 which revenue is obtained is shown in the 

 report, timber sales being a particular feature 

 with an increase of $35,000 in tne past year. 

 In this time $119,128 worth oi timber was 

 sold, against $84,471 during the previous 

 fiscal vear. 



For settlements on timber destroyed in the 

 building of railroads and reservoirs or other- 

 wise, $6,347 was received in 1911-1912, and 

 $4,441 in 1910-1911. For timber trespass 

 there is a decrease, $7,451 being collected 

 against $12,205 for the previous year; $95,- 

 504 was paid for grazing p'ivileges, an in- 

 crease of $4,000 for the last year. For water 

 power approximately $42,000 was received 

 compared with $31,000 the year before. 



Kentucky- 

 Prof. Arthur M. Miller, dean of tne Col- 

 lege of Arts and Sciences, and professor of 

 geology at Kentucky State University, has 

 written an interesting paper on the proposed 

 arboretum for the Capitol grounds at Frank- 

 fort in which he points out the difficulties 

 in the way of having each county in the 

 State represented by a separate species of 

 tree, and mentions the objection which any 

 county would have to being typified by the 

 sassafras or persimmon, everywhere stand- 

 ing for poor land, and the unpoetic associa- 

 tions of the pignut. Prof. Miller suggests 

 that before it is too late a section of a mam- 

 moth Kentucky oak should be secured, on 

 which, when polished as a scroll, the prin- 

 cipal events of Kentucky s history should be 

 recorded, making it similar to the famous 

 tablet in the Kensington Museum in En^-- 

 land. Prof. Miller's paper contains a strik- 

 ing and instructive history of the native trees 

 of Kentucky. 



Pennsylvania 



Thirty-five sophomore forestry students of 

 the Pennsylvania State College are en- 

 camped for the summer in N. P. Wheeler's 

 "forest primeval," Forest county, under the 

 supervision of Professor Clark, head of the 

 Forestry Department of State College, and 

 his assistants. Mr. Wheeler is showing them 

 a few of the original "big sticks" and a 

 good field is offered both for a scientific and 

 practical study of forestry. 



New York 



"We have eleven million baby trees ready 

 for distribution among the people of the 

 State of New York," is the statement made 

 at the New York State, Forest, Fish and 

 Game Bureau. 



These small trees are to be sold within the 

 State at the extremely low price of $4 a 

 thousand. 



This, it is asserted by the bureau officials, 

 shows that New York has taken the lead in 

 the great forestry movement that now is 

 sweeping the whole country. It is declared 

 these eleven million trees mean the salvation 

 of this State in the years to come. 



The bureau officials say that the spirit of 

 conservation is manifest in all the cities as 

 well as in the rural districts, the question 

 being recognized as vital to the nation. New 

 York plainly is leading the great move- 

 ment. 



Growth of tree culture sentiment nowhere 

 is in greater evidence, assert the expert for- 

 esters. One tree grower wants an almost un- 

 limited number of white pine trees from six 

 to fifteen feet high. The stipulation is that 

 these trees must be growing from six to 

 twenty feet apart in a loam, preferably not 

 more than four miles from a railroad. 



Texas 



Texas is the largest State and has more 

 forested area than any other, though the 

 total stand of its timber is much below some 

 of the rest. The area of its woodland has 

 been placed at about 40,000,000 acres ; but it 

 is difficult to draw the line between forested 

 and unforested land in the State. There 

 are all grades and degrees from the heavily 

 timbered pine belts of the east to the thinly 

 covered brush land in some of the central, 

 southern and western parts. Much land is 

 covered with tree growth and yet is incap- 

 able of producing a large amount of mer- 

 chantable lumber, because the trees are too 

 small for milling purposes. There is room 

 for difference of opinion as to where the 

 lines should be properly drawn between the 

 timbered and untimbered portions of Texas. 

 The estimate of 40,000,000 acres land includes 

 only that which now is capable of yielding 

 a reasonable amount of saw timber per acre 

 and does not include wide expanses of brush. 



