REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTTJRE. XXXIX 



in Michigan; Sugar Pine in California; Balsam in Maine; White Oak 

 and Chestnut Oak in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri; Western 

 Yellow Pine in Arizona, and Lodgepole Pine in Wyoming and Mon- 

 tana. Previous studies of the Longleaf and Loblolly pines, of the 

 Sierra Big Tree of California, and of the Bristle-cone Fir in southern 

 California were completed and reports prepared on Western Hemlock 

 and the Pacific Coast Redwood. 



Studies of the growth and possil)ilities of New England second- 

 growth hardwoods were carried on, and an investigation was begun of 

 the distribution and the conditions necessary to the best development 

 of the trees comprising the eastern Missouri and Arkansas swamp 

 forests. 



Studies of the forest and its industrial relations were made in the 

 States of Michigan, Kentuck}", Ohio, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, 

 South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, California, and Iowa. Some of 

 the questions involved were the present and future timber supply, 

 forest fires, and the relation of the forest to stream flow, irrigation, 

 and grazing. 



Descriptive studies were conducted in cooperation with the United 

 States Geological Survey of about 3,000,000 acres of the Sierra For- 

 est Reserve and of the region in the Southern Appalachians, within 

 which it is proposed to establish a national forest reserve. 



In cooperation with the Bureau of Chemistry, investigations have 

 been undertaken of native tan extracts and their comparative values 

 in tanning, of Philippine gum products, and of possible additions to 

 the present list of native woods suitable for the production of paper 

 pulp. 



A cooperative study of insects which injure the forest was begun 

 with the Division of Entomology. 



It is highly gratifying that the efforts which the Bureau has been 

 making to discover a less injurious method of turpentine orcharding 

 than that hitherto employed, and to which I made reference in my last 

 report, have been successful, and that the way is apparently open for 

 the general introduction of an improved method which will be of nota- 

 ble value in maintaining the source of the turpentine industry. 



Tests of the dvirability of treated and untreated construction timber 

 and railroad ties have been continued, in cooperation with the Bureau 

 of Plant Industry. The enthusiastic assistance which has been received 

 from railroad companies has demonstrated their appreciation of this 

 valuable work. 



In cooperation with the Bureau of Chemistry, and as the result of a 

 widespread and urgent demand, the Bureau of Forestr}^ has taken up 

 the series of tests to determine the strength of the principal mer- 

 chantable timbers of the United States, which were discontinued in 

 1896. 



