THE MOUNT MITCHELL TRAIL 



99 



The logging road has been extended to 

 within a mile and a half of the summit 

 of Mt. Mitchell, approximately 1,000 

 acres of spruce and balsam have already 

 been cut off and most of the cut -over 

 land has been fire swept several times, 

 giving the appearance of a vast, desolate 

 waste. Unless prompt measures are 

 taken by the Government of the United 

 States or the State of North Carolina, this 

 great king of mountain peaks will soon 

 be denuded of its magnificent balsam 

 and spruce forest, destroying water- 

 sheds of infinite value from these moun- 

 tains to the Atlantic Seaboard east, and 

 to the Mississippi River and Gulf of 

 Mexico west. 



While the agitation for the Appa- 

 lachian Park has progressed during the 

 past nearly ten years to the extent that 

 the Government has already purchased 

 in North Carolina more than 225,000 

 acres of land, it would seem that strenu- 

 ous efforts should be made by the people 

 of the East to preserve the wonderful 



balsam forests of Mt. Mitchell to the 

 people of the Nation, as a part of this 

 Appalachian National Park. 



iViany millions of dollars are spent 

 annually by American tourists in Swit- 

 zerland, where more than $164,000,000 

 are invested in hotels alone. This will 

 give some faint idea of the benefits that 

 would accrue to the eastern mountain 

 section of the United States as a country 

 if these mountains were properly devel- 

 oped into a great park threaded with 

 good roads, as is the case in the National 

 Parks of the West. 



Mount Mitchell can be reached over 

 the Southern Railway or by motor to 

 Black Mountain, where guides can be 

 procured, and thence over the trail 

 sixteen miles, afoot or horseback. Or 

 to Graphite ville, 23 miles from Asheville 

 by rail, thence by walking trail, con- 

 structed by the Government, to summit 

 of Mt. Mitchell, a distance of twelve 

 miles. 



FORESTRY EDUCATION IN 



VERMONT 



A 



CCORDING to the nev^ curriculum 

 of the University of Vermont 

 and State Agricultural College, 

 Forestry is made a required 

 subject for all agricultural students. 

 All sophmores are to have a half year's 

 course in Farm Forestry, which may be 

 followed by a two week's forestry camp, 

 and other courses. The University of 

 Vermont has been modest in its aims, 

 and has never attempted to establish a 

 forestry school, but so far as is known, 

 it is the first agricultural college to 

 require forestry of all students. It does 

 this beheving that its graduates will 

 need a certain amount of forestry 

 whether they become farm managers, 

 teachers of agrictilture, or pursue other 

 lines of agriculture. Those intending 

 to become professional foresters are 

 encouraged to continue their studies at 



a technical forest school. It is inter- 

 esting to note, in this connection, that 

 an elementary course in forestry is also 

 given at the state agricultural school at 

 Randolph, Vermont. The forestry class 

 of thirty wide awake boys recently 

 visited the Downer State Forest, and 

 inspected the four-year-old plantations 

 of white, Scotch and Norway pines, 

 and Norw^ay spruce, as well as the 

 forestry cuttings. 



The Agricultural College and Experi- 

 ment Station have just completed a 

 forestry exhibit for the San Francisco 

 Exposition, illustrative of the extension 

 work in forestry, and the various lines 

 of forest investigations, including the 

 establishment of permanent sample 

 plots for the accurate study of natural 

 reproduction . 



