416 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



tions were right for a tunnel with windows cut out to 

 the face of the rock chfi'. A 200- foot viaduct of rein- 

 forced concrete was planned for the west approach. 

 The tunnel portal at this end is short, the highway enter- 

 ing the face of a rocky nose. At the east end the portal 

 excavation is more than 100 feet long. There are five 

 windows in the tunnel, each window being approximately 

 20 feet long and 19 feet high. The tunnel section is 



HORSETAIL FALLS 



One of the many beautiful waterfalls along the course of the highway 

 bearing, however, anything but a romantic name, so freely given 

 similar falls. 



18 feet wide and 19 feet high. The tunnel required 

 very careful work on the part of the contractor, the 

 specifications providing a bonus for carefulness in ex- 

 cavating the tunnel and window sections. The tunnel 

 cost complete $14,472.8.5, its actual length is 390 feet, 

 giving a cost per lineal foot of $37.10. This tun- 

 nel, it is claimed, excels the Axenstrasse on Lake Lucerne 

 in Switzerland. The windows are protected by con- 

 crete railings and are recessed to provide ample room 

 for tourists to stand and view the Columbia River a 

 hundred and fifty feet below and the rugged shores of 

 Washington on the opposite side. 



Hood River County voted a $75,000 bond issue which 

 was used in grading six and one-half miles of the high- 

 way in places where no road existed. The comple- 

 tion of these sections made it possible to open the 

 Columbia Highway to traffic in .\ugust. lOl-'J. 



TROPICAL FORESTRY AT YALE 



A X important development in forest education is 

 /-\ marked by the recent announcement that after 

 the first of next July research and instruction in 

 tropical forestry will become an established part of the 

 work of the Yale School of Forestry. The step is sig- 

 nificant both of the importance of tropical forests and 

 of the part which this country may be expected to play 

 in guiding their development. 



With the gradual exhaustion of the timber resources 

 of the temperate regions, the growing investment of 

 American capital in the tropics, and the improved sanita- 

 tion of such countries, tropical forests are unquestion- 

 ably destined to become of constantly increasing import- 

 ance. The need for thorough study of tropical forests 

 and for the education of professional foresters for work 

 in the tropics is therefore obvious, particularly when it 

 is remembered that the few schools which now exist in 

 the tropics, particularly in British India and the Philip- 

 pines, are either local in character or devoted to the train- 

 ing of the lower grades of forest personnel. 



Tropical forestry is an almost untouched field. Al- 

 though tropical forests are vast in extent and one of the 

 foremost resources of tropical regions, comparatively lit- 

 tle is known even of their composition and practically 

 nothing as to the best methods of handling them. Their 

 organization, utilization, and development are conse- 

 c|uently bound to receive much attention during the next 

 half century. Li this the United States should play an 

 important part, particularly in the training of profes- 

 sional foresters upon whom will devolve the important 

 task of developing forestry in the tropics. American 

 forestry methods have already been accepted by several 

 far eastern countries as the type best fitted to their 

 conditions. Foresters trained in this country and with 

 experience in the Philippines have been selected by the 

 English to organize and take charge of forestry work in 

 P.orneo, and by the Dutch for similar work in Sumatra ; 

 while China has recently appointed a graduate of Yale 

 as forestry adviser and co-director of its forest service. 



The action of the University in making instruction in 

 tropical forestry one of the activities of the Yale School 

 of Forestry makes it certain that Yale will play an im- 

 portant part in training men for professional work in 

 the tropics and in helping to formulate the forest policies 

 for tropical regions. No announcement has yet been 

 made regarding the organization of the work in tropical 

 forestry or the personnel under which it will be con- 

 ducted. Such research and investigation as is under- 

 taken will, however, in all probability be concerned chiefly 

 with tropical dendrology and silviculture; technical prop- 

 erties and uses of tropical forest products ; and trade in- 

 formation and methods of forest exploitation. Present 

 plans, it is understood, contemplate making the School of 

 Forestry the center for information on ti-opical forestry, 

 and particularly on Central and South America. 



It is estimated that there is enough waste from the sawmills 

 of the South alone to produce twenty thousand tons of paper 

 a day. 



