HARDWOOD RECORD 



37 



good of the live-stock industry through 

 proper care and improvement of the grazing 

 lands; and (3) the protection of the settler 

 and home builder against unfair competi- 

 tion in the use of the range. 



During the season of 1908 permits were 

 issued to 24,000 different owners, allowing 

 1,380,000 cattle and horses and 7,000,000 

 sheep and goats to be grazed upon the Na- 

 tional Forests. The revenue derived from 

 grazing this stock was $960,000. 



SPECIAL USES 



All uses of National Forest lands and 

 resources, except those which relate to tim- 

 ber and grazing, are known as ' ' special 

 uses, ' ' among which are included the fol- 

 lowing: Eesideneos, farms, pastures, drift 

 fences, corrals, dairies, schools, churches, 

 roads, trails, telephone and telegraph lines, 

 stores, mills, factories, wharves, tanks, dams, 

 reservoirs, etc. 



For such permits a reasonable charge may 

 be made. This charge is based chiefly upon 

 the value of that which is actually furnished 

 to the permittee by the Forest Service, in- 

 cluding advantageous location and other 

 indirect benefits, and not directly upon the 

 profits or the magnitude of the business 

 which is to be carried on. 



Permanent Improvements 



Permanent improvements have during the 

 past two fiscal years been provided for by 

 special appropriations from Congress. Eoads, 

 trails, and bridges for readier travel and 

 transportation and the protection of the 

 forests; telephone lines — one the great- 

 est aids in reporting fires and getting to- 

 gether a fire-fighting crew, as well as in the 

 transaction of ordinary forest business; 

 drift and pasture fences for the control of 

 stock, and watering places for their use; 

 houses, barns, and corrals for various pur- 

 poses, are transforming the forests and in- 

 suring the safety and convenience of settlers 

 and users. During the year 1909, $554,435 

 was expended for permanent improvement. 



The Protection or Forests from Fire. 



The methods of controlling forest fires on 

 National Forests consist in : 



(a) Constant patrol of the areas included 

 within the National Forest boundaries by a 

 picked force of rangers and guards. The 

 present summer force of rangers and guards 

 whose main duty is fire patrol is 1,351 men ; 

 the average area that each is required to 

 protect is 121,506 acres. 



(6) The construction of roads and trails 

 in order to provide rapid means of travel 

 between the various parts of the National 

 Forests and to facilitate the massing of large 

 forces of men to fight fire, as well as to 

 furnish vantage points from which fire may 

 be fought successfully; and of telephone 

 lines connecting ranger stations with the 

 headquarters of the forest in order that fires 

 may be quickly reported and effective meas- 

 ures taken promptly to extinguish them. 

 During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908, 

 160 miles of road, 3,300 miles of trail, and 



3,500 miles of telephone lines were con- 

 structed in the National Forests. In several 

 cases also fire breaks from 16 to 100 feet 

 in width have been constructed, from which 

 all timber and inflammable material are re- 

 moved. These cheek the spread of fire and 

 afford lines of defense in fire fighting. Sev- 

 eral miles of such fire breaks have been con- 

 structed on the National Forests in southern 

 California, where it is especially important 

 that the forest cover on the watersheds of 

 important irrigation streams be protected. 



(c) The equipment of the National Forest 

 with fire-fighting tools, canteens, and other 

 supplies necessary for fire-fighting crews. 

 Just as rapidly as possible each National 

 X orest will be fully supplied with shovels, 

 axes, and other tools, which will be dis- 

 tributed over the forests and in cabins and 

 tool boxes placed at points where there is 

 the greatest danger of fire and where they 

 can be most easily reached by road or trail. 



The Forest Service has been most success- 

 tul in securing the cooperation of local resi- 

 dents in the vicinity of National Forests, 

 and especially of the stockmen and others 

 who use the forests under permits of the 

 various classes. Every permittee is required 

 to assist the forest officers, in the suppres- 

 sion of fire, and this assistance has been of 

 the utmost value. 

 Other Forest "Work or the Govekxment 



In addition to administering the National 

 Forests, the Forest Service carries on many 

 lines of forest work; in the investigation of 

 forest problems; cooperation- with other de- 

 partments of the national government, with 

 states, and with private owners; the dis- 

 semination of information, and various kinds 

 of educational work. 



STATE C0-0PER.\TI0N 



The i'orest Service cooperates with states 

 in making examinations of their forest con- 

 ditions and outlining forest policies necessary 

 to protect and maintain the timber supply. 

 Preliminary examinations are often followed 

 by more comprehensive studies, which in- 

 clude, among other things, a detailed forest 

 map and an estimate of the timber, plans 



for systematic management of the timber- 

 lands, and a general forest policy for the 

 state. The cost of such examinations is 

 shared equally by the Forest Service and the 

 state. In addition, experiments in nursery 

 practice and field planting are conducted in 

 cooperation with state educational institu- 

 tions and state forest commissions. 



PRIVATE CO-OPERATION 



Private owners of timberland, large or 

 small, may secure the aid of the Service in 

 the care of their timberlands and in plant- 

 ing. Forest Service Circular 165 outlines 

 the plan of cooperation with owners of tim- 

 berlands. Any owner who wishes to learn 

 whether forestry might be profitable to him 

 may apply to the Service for an examination 

 by one of its experts. A preliminary ex- 

 amination is made on the ground and a re- 

 port in all cases is submitted to the owner. 

 If the tract is large and the owner desires 

 a working plan afterwards, a party is sent 

 to collect the necessary data. The investiga- 

 tion is conducted from both the forester 's ' 

 and the lumberman 's point of view. When , 

 tlie field data have been collected, a working 

 plan is made which takes into account the 

 special needs or purposes of the owner. The 

 recommendations in the plan enable the ' 

 owner to derive from the forest the fullest 

 and most permanent revenue which is con- 

 sistent with his special requirements. Appli- 

 cations for assistance of this character have 

 been received from the owners of about 10,- 

 000,000 acres of forest. 



The Forest Ser\-ice provides two forms of 

 assistance to prospective tree planters: (1) 

 Advice for forest planting in all the prin- 

 cipal planting regions, which can usually be 

 given free of cost by means of publications 

 and an advisory letter, together with lists 

 of dealers who sell plant material of the 

 species recommended; (2) examinations of 

 tracts in regions where a detailed study has 

 not been made, and which present problems 

 of great economic importance and high ex- 

 perimental or educational value. As a result 

 of such examinations, planting plans are 

 usually prepared. 



NeWs Miscellany 



Oklahoma Hardwood House 



The Pioneer Hardwood Company, with general 

 offlccs at Wagoner. Okla., announces that its 

 new mills and finishing factory at Durant. Olila.. 

 are almost finished. With this factory com- 

 pleted the Pioneer Hardwood Company will 

 have two thoroughly equipped, modern wagon- 

 « ood plants located in the heart of various tim- 

 ber sections. For competitive delivery the com- 

 pany is well located, having outlets over the 

 St. Louis & San Francisco, the Missouri Pacific, 

 the Missouri. Kansas & Texas and the Missouri- 

 Oklahoma and the Gulf railroads. The policy 

 of the company will be continued as in the past 

 to manufacture a strictly high-grade line of 

 hardwood lumber and vehicle woods, and to 

 maintain complete assortments. 



At the Wagoner, Okla., plant, where the com- 

 pany's general offices are located, the Pioneer 

 Hardwood Company has a sawmill, storage 



yards and finishing plants, and a duplicate of 

 this equipment at its plant No. 2 at Durant, 

 Okla. 



Incorporate to Centralize Interests 



S. E. Slaymaker & Co., the big West Virginia 

 spruce, hemlock and hardwood house, with head- 

 quarters P'ifth Avenue building. New York, who 

 are sales agents of the large lumber output of 

 the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company, have. 

 in line with the centralization of all those inter- 

 ests as recently instituted, incorporated under 

 the laws of West Virginia, under the style of 

 S. E. Slaymaker & Co., Inc. The stock of the 

 new corporation is but nominal and will be 

 owned by Mr. Slaymaker and the Messrs. Luke 

 and their associates in the West Virginia pulp and 

 paper institution, and is the last step in the cen- 

 tralization of all those interests under the latter 

 named style. S. E. Slaymaker & Co., Inc.. will 



