208 



ARBORICri.l TKl': 



Reviews. 



llic World's JTork for April contains 

 an able article and very timely, "The Rail- 

 roads and Forestry." by Urof. John Clif- 

 ford of Cornell. This article ought to 

 attract considerable attention among the 

 railway officials of the country, every one 

 of whom should read it. Mr. Clifford 

 makes some estimates which are based 

 on the natural forests, in which a great 

 majority of trees are useless for any eco- 

 nomical purixise. being weeds occupying 

 space, but having no utility. When a 

 forest is planted in a systematic manner 

 every space occupied by a tree of value 

 for the object intended, all of one kind, 

 and given reasonable attention, the re- 

 sults will be very different. 



"There is a constant annual demand 

 for more than loo.ooo.ooo ties. A tree 

 which will }ield three good ties under 

 forest conditions, in this climate, is at 

 least fifty years old, and it is an excep- 

 tional acre which produces more than 

 three hundred such trees. An acre of 

 tended forest ought, therefore, to yield 

 about eighteen or twenty ties each year. 

 The annual demand for each mile is about 

 400 ties. Twenty-five acres of forest are 

 necessary, therefore, for every mile of 

 track. A railroad with a trackage of 

 5,000 miles would need about 125,000 

 acres of tended forest to supply itself 

 perpetually with ties. For a large cor- 

 poration this is a slight task. It spends 

 $1,000,000 frequently for a single bridge." 



Catalpa trees 20 years old will supi)ly 

 five ties per tree, or 850 crossties per acre, 

 an average growth per annum of 42^/^ 

 ties. Instead of requiring to be renewed 

 every six or seven years, the catalpa will 

 last thirty years with tie plates. This 

 would mean an annual renewal of 100 

 ties, or a little more than the annual 

 growth from two acres. A railway of 

 5,000 miles trackage, therefore, would 

 require less than 1,200 acres of catalpa 

 forest. The article concludes as follows : 



"Were Germany recklessly to cut her 

 forests, a large proportion of her people 

 would be paupers, and it would ruin 

 many small industries dependent upon a 

 constant supply of raw material. By de- 



pleting our forests zve are driznng a large 

 iiionber of our people indoors to the fac- 

 tories of the cities. It secms unjust to 



THE TAXPAYERS OF TOWN AND FARM FOR 

 A CORPORATION OR AN INDIVIDUAL TO CUT 

 IX A FEW DAYS A FOREST WniCII HAS 

 liEEX CEXTURIES GROWING, AND THEN TO 

 LEAVE IT, A DESOLATE WASTE, TO THE 

 .STATE. 



"The [)ro(luctivity of the land is the 

 thing to consider and we are constantly 

 consuming more of essentials. The 

 projx^r policy is to spend the interest and 

 conserve the principle. Tliis is the aim 

 of scientific forestry." 



United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Bureau of Forestry, sends Con- 

 servative Lumbering at Sczvonee, Tenn., 

 by John h'oley. Lumbermen can learn 

 much of importance and profital)le to 

 themselves by examining this Bulletin 

 No. 39. The illustrations and descrip- 

 tions are excellent. 



Bulletin No. 38, The Rcdioood, gives 

 much valuable information in regard to 

 this California tree and the forests of the 

 coast range. Tinely illustrated. 



Address Bureau of Forestry, Wash- 

 ington, D. C, for copies. 



Circular No. 24, A New Method of 

 Turpentine Orcharding. It is hoperl the 

 l)eople of the South will ])rofit by this in- 

 vestigation. The pine will be exhausted 

 very soon, unless a change is made in tur- 

 pentining. 



77/t" loica Journal of History and 

 Politics for .\i)ril is a welcome addition 

 to our literary department. The history 

 of our coinitry. esj)ecially the civil war 

 period, is presented in a most instructive 

 and interesting manner, by several writ- 

 ers. Questions bearing upon our nation's 

 policy are ably discussed and the subjects 

 ])resentcd in excellent form. Published 

 at Iowa City, la. Subscription price, $2. 



Forest Leaves, a bi-monthly publication 

 by the Pennsylvania h>)restry Associa- 

 tion, always has something of interest to 

 all who love trees. Pennsylvania is do- 

 ing a wonderful work in caring for her 

 mountain forests, and much of the .Xpril 

 number is devoted to this subject 



