258 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Some of the advantages are that the plant will grow on very poor and dry land. 

 It grows best in a subtropical climate, which is of advantage from the standpoint of 

 labor, and is not injured by night frosts. The crop can be worked up at any time 

 during the year. In districts suited to its culture it is believed that the crop can be 

 grown profitably, especially if culture and manufacture are combined. 



An English translation of this article has recently appeared in The India Rubber 

 World, 33 {1905), Nos. -U pp. 335, 336, fig. 1; 5, pp. 367-369. 



Caoutchouc plants; an agricultural-geographical study, P. Reintgen (Tro- 

 penpflanzer, Beihefte, 6 {1905), No. 2-3, pp. IV+73-218, dgms. 4, map 1).— Part 1 of 

 this treatise deals with the discovery and. uses of caoutchouc and part 2 with the 

 individual caoutchouc plants, describing them and giving their habitat, cultural 

 requirements, and economic value in each of the different countries in which they 

 are grown. Statistics are included as to the production and exports of different 

 countries. A bibliography of 65 papers on the same subject is included. 



Eucalyptus screens as fire protection belts {Indian Forester, 31 {1905), No. 5, 

 p. .297). — A note is given in which it is stated that in Cape Town, South Africa, 6 

 n»ws of eucalyptus planted 6 by H ft. are placed around plantations, etc., and within 

 5 or 6 years they form a barrier which no fire can cross, since they kill out all the 

 grass completely and at the same time prevent burning leaves, etc., from being blown 

 across. 



A successful root-pruning device now in use at the Government nursery 

 in Nebraska, L. C. Miller {Forestry and Irrig., 11 {1905), No. 6, pp. 168-170, figs. 

 3). — From observations in the Bureau of Forestry Nursery at Halsey, Nebr., where 

 two and a half to three million seedlings are grown annually, it has been found that 

 the seedlings should be 2 years old before planting to their permanent sites. 



To transplant these seedlings at the end of the first year greatly increases the cost 

 of production. As a substitute for transplanting, the seedlings are root pruned. 

 The author devised a tool for this purpose by which 2 men working 8 hours can 

 prune from 100,000 to 150,000 seedlings. ''The important feature of this tool is the 

 cutting blade. This is 1 in. wide and one-eighth of an inch thick, and made from a 

 first-class piece of steel. It is U shaped, and the perpendicular sides are 7 in. long 

 and the horizontal base is 6 in. long. 



" This blade is riveted to substantial collars, which are made to fit on a Planet, Jr., 

 garden hoe frame. This is a single-wheel frame, and in order to have the wheel 

 run between the rows of trees it was necessary to change it to the outer side. . . . 

 The. cutting blade is filed to a keen edge and kept so during the pruning operation. 

 By having such a thin blade and keeping it sharp, there is practically no resistance 

 offered in passing through the soil, and all roots are cut without the usual injury 

 done with a heavier tool." Two men are required to operate the tool satisfactorily, 

 one to pull it through the soil and the other to guide it. 



The movement of wood prices and its influence on forest treatment, B. E. 

 Fernow {Forestry Quart., 3 {1905), No. 1, pp. 18-31, dgms. 2).— A paper read before 

 the American Association for the Advancement of Science at its December meet- 

 ing, 1904. 



Statistics largely from German, Austrian, and Swiss sources are drawn upon to 

 show that there has been a steady advance in wood prices during recent years. 

 The distinction is made between wood prices and lumber prices, for while various 

 factors, such as improvement in machinery for sawing timber and handling lumber, 

 may tend to keep down the price of lumber, the stumpage prices of wood are 

 steadily increasing. In Prussia wood prices have doubled within the past 50 years. 



In America stumpage prices appear to be rising relatively faster than lumber 

 prices. Stumpage of pine is now held at $2 to $3 per 1,000 which 10 years ago could 

 be bought for 50 cts. to 81. The average stumpage price in Europe for work wood 

 is placed at 6 cts. per cubic foot, or about $10 per 1,000. 



