AMERICAN TREES IN GERMAN FORESTS 



927 



small stands. It was discovered in Califdrnia in 1X5(1 

 and three years later it was introduced into (".ernian\'. 

 In the park forest at W'einheim, Germany, belonging to 

 the Count \on lierkheim, is an excellent stand of this 

 tree in nn'xture with tir. This stand is now ( l!)l.")) fifty 

 years old. In liill the Sequoia had an a\erage height of 

 .").) feet and an average diameter of 14 inches. A careful 

 count sh( wed Hi Se(|Uoias and ;i.Mi firs to the acre. The 

 firs are of the same age, but have only an average 

 diameter of T inches. The Sequoia prefers deep, fresh 

 soil, mild climate and high atmospheric nmisture. This 

 park forest of Count von ISerkheim covers apjjroximately 

 in acres and contains about Khi different species, most 

 i)f which are exotics, .\niong the exotics are 'M) species 

 I if American conifers and !• Americ;in board-leaved 

 species. 



Germany has been impcirting .\merican forest trees 

 for three hundred and fifty years, with the result that 

 we find there today the oldest and best experimental plan- 

 tations of these species in the world. It is difficult to 

 tra\el far in Germany without seeing some American 

 trees. They are not only found in the forest, but arv 

 common in private and public parks and gardens, on 

 castle grounds, and along streets. Almost every Ameri- 

 can tree can he fmnul somewhere in German)'. It may. 

 however, be well to remember that while the introduction 

 into Germany of American trees has been going on for 

 a long time and on a large scale, yet their present aggre- 

 gate acreage is but a very small percentage of the total 

 area of the (^icrman forest. 



NATIONAL FORESTS TAKE IN $2,500,000 



Til 1{ .\ational Forests turned into the United 

 States Treasury during the fiscal vear ended 

 June .■)ii. lIM.'i, nearly $-i, 51)0, Odd, an increase of 

 more than $4( »,()(>() over the receipts of the previous year, 

 according to a statement just issued by the Forest Ser- 

 \ice. The timber sales, which amounted to $1 ,U)4.t)()0, 

 yielded on account of the depressed condition of the 

 lumber industry about $;'.), 000 less than those of the 

 previous fiscal }-ear. but the gain was made i^ossible b\ 

 larger revenues from other sources. The grazing re- 

 ceipts, which totaled $1 ,l-v'5,oii(l, increased $12T.()()0 over 

 last year, and the water-power receipts, which amounted 

 to not (|uite .S'.in.ouo, showed an increase of nearlv 

 S-|-i,0(Hi, 



The demoralization of the turpentine industr\' on 

 account of the war's curtailment of the naval stores mar- 

 ket caused the receipts from the sale of turpentining 

 privileges on the National Forests to drop to about $9,000, 

 as against nearly $] 5,000 last year. The sale of special 

 use permits, under which all sorts of enterprises, from 

 apiaries to whaling stations, are operated on the forests, 

 yielded nearly S7s,oou, an increase of $i),00() over last 

 year. There was a decrease iif nearly $37,000 in the 

 revenue derived by the settlement of trespass cases in 

 which (rovernnient limber had been cut without 

 intent to defraud, the revenue from this source being 

 only a little more than $:l,0oo. More than $7,0()0, how- 

 ever, was collected from other timber trespass cases. 

 Grazing trespass cases yielded nearly $(!,000, an increase 

 of about $1,001); occupancy trespass cases, which oc- 

 curred in only one of the seven forest districts, turned 

 in something less than $250; about $(iO was derived fmm 

 turpentine trespass cases, and $ti(IO from tire trespass 

 cases, the latter being more than $7,000 less than the 

 amount collected in the ])re\ious fiscal year for dam;ige 

 to Government property through hres carelesslv or wil- 

 fully started in or near National Forests. 



CHUGACH FOREST REDUCED 



Tllh'. area ni the Chu.gach National Forest, Alaska, 

 which is to be crossed by the railroad that the 

 Goxernment is Ijuilding from Seward to Fair- 

 banks, is reduced nearly one-half by a proclamation 

 signed by President Wilson, returning approximateK- 

 5,802,000 acres to the jjublic domain. This action follows 

 classification of the land by the Forest Service, showing 

 that tlie areas involved are not of high enough timber 

 Aalue to warrant Government protection, and means the 

 largest elimination of National h^irest land e\er made 

 by a single Presidential proclamation. 



The liiiundaries of the forest, as redrawn Ijy the I 'resi- 

 dent's proclamation, now contain aijproximately 5,.sl,S,0o0 

 acres, sujiporting about S billion feet <_)f merchantable 

 timber. On the area thrown out of the forest there is in 

 the aggregate a large amount of timljer, but it is so 

 sparse and scattered as to be of little or no commercial 

 value. The land remaining within the forest, however, 

 contains the largest and most accessible supplv of timber 

 for the develoijment of the great mineral fields to the 

 north of Pering River, and is the region in which the 

 Alaskan Engmeering Commission has been authorized 

 to cut iSo million feet of timber for use in constructing the 

 Government's new railroad. On account of the time re- 

 tiuired for cutting and seasoning construction timbers, the 

 Commission has had to purchase some lumlter from 

 \\'ashington and ()regon, but as cutting has already com- 

 menced on the Chugach, it is expected that the Alaskan 

 limber will soon be serving the needs of the railroad 

 builders. 



The lands eliminated by the proclamation are in three 

 large tracts; one along the entire southerl_y slope of the 

 Chugach Mountains, the second lying northeast of 

 Seward, between Resurrection Bay and Kings P.av. and 

 the third, northwest of the Kenai .Mountains in the 

 legion around Tustamena and Skilak Lakes. In addi- 

 tion, the towns of Hope, Sunrise, Ken.ii. ;ind Ninilchek 

 are eliminated. 



