HARDWOOD RECORD 



87 



Urge Railroads to Save Forests 



Further participation by railroads in the con- 

 servation movement was advocated at the 

 eleventh annual convention of the American Kail- 

 way Engineering & Maintenance o£ Way Associa- 

 tion at the Congress Hotel, Chicago. 



The alarm I'elt by the railroads on account 

 of the rapidly decreasing supply of timber suit- 

 able for ties and other railroad purposes, and 

 the willingness of the roads to co-operate in the 

 national movement for the conservation of nat- 

 ural resources, were expressed in the report of 

 (he Committee on Conservation. That body, 

 of which A. 8. Baldwin, chief engineer of the 

 Illinois Central, is chairman, has liept in touch 

 with the work of the government Forest Service 

 in this respect, and its report urged upon the 

 railroads the compliance with the suggestions 

 for railroad work in forest preservation, pre- 

 [lared by the National Conservation Commission. 

 Control of forest fires was pointed to as an im- 

 portant phase of the problem. 



"One of the best methods by which railroads 

 can insure themselves against shortage of ties 

 and timber in the future," the report states, 

 "is for them to own and manage their own 

 forests. A number of roads already have adopted 

 this policy. Some have withdrawn from the 

 market the remainder of their forested land- 

 grant areas ; others have purchased forest land 

 outright. The management of existing forests 

 is more economical, and in the long run probably 

 will be more satisfactory than the establish- 

 ment of plantations. 



"Such land should be in charge of trained 

 foresters, who should manage the lands more 

 with a view to producing ties and timber than 

 to meeting the immediate demand." 



About 19.000,000 treated ties were used by 

 the railroads in 1907, according to the report, 

 and the number is rapidly increasing. 



this property have been contractors in railroad 

 ties for a number ot years and it is their inten- 

 tion to devote most of their energies to this line 

 of trade for the present, although eventually 

 they will become full-fledged lumbermen. 



Western Fire Disasters 



The serious loss of life and extensive destruc- 

 tion of timber property from forest lires in Idaho 

 and some of the northwestern states during the 

 last fortnight, point to the inadequacy of present 

 lire protection in timber areas, not only in this 

 region but in many other parts of the United 

 States. It is high time that better methods 

 were inaugurated for clearing up the slashings 

 following lumber operations, and laws enacted 

 making the penalties for wanton or careless 

 setting of forest fires severe enough to put a 

 stop to this practice. 



Beductiou of Teak Output from Siam 



A new system of administration, whereby the 

 output of teak from the forests of Siam will be 

 somewhat curtailed and the supply protected, is 

 announced by Vice-Consul-General Carl C. Han- 

 son of Bangkok, in a recently submitted report. 

 Beginning with December, 1909, leases of teak 

 forests have been lengthened from six to fifteen 

 jears. The smalk-r leases have been consolidated 

 and regrouped, the larger of these areas being 

 divided into halves, one of which is reserved, 

 and the other leased for fifteen years with the 

 right to work all mature trees during that pe- 

 riod. In view of the greater economy made pos- 

 sible by this new ruling, the government royalty 

 per log has been raised from .f3.65 to $4.38, an 

 arrangement which will very likely effect a ma- 

 terial reduction in stumpage manufactured, at 

 least for the first term of lease. 



Southern Timber Deal 



.Vn important deal was consummated at Jlans- 

 field. La., a lew days ago when W. T. and S. A. 

 Pergues purchased the extensive timber holdings 

 of the Roberts-Brown Lumber Company, located 

 at Trenton Station, four miles south of Mans- 

 field on the Kansas City Southern Railroad. It 

 is stated that the Messrs. Pergues will imme- 

 diately begin preparations for the erection of a 

 large sawmill at Trenton. The purchasers of 



Building New Veneer Warehouse 



In connection witli his saw ami veneer mills 

 and other structures on Roby street, near Blue 

 Island avenue, C. L. Willey of this city is build- 

 ing a new four-story and basement concrete and 

 brick veneer warehouse. This building will be 

 used to store fancy figured veneer, of which Mr. 

 Willey manufactures largo quantities. The 

 building is of modern construction and will be 

 dust and fire proof. Very shortly Mr. Willey 

 will install at this plant a steam cylinder for 

 preparing mahogany and other fancy woods for 

 drying, also a new battery of dry-kilns. 



Export Stave Trade With Trinidad 



The following report from Consul F'ranklin D. 

 Hale ot Trinidad deals with the Importance of 

 the native wood, Inga. in the cooperage ti'ade, 

 and gives an idea of the proportions of that in- 

 dustry in his territory : 



Recent experiments have proven that the na- 

 tive wood, pois doux (scientific name, Inga), 

 can he successfully used iu the manufacture of 

 rum-puncheons, in competition with imported 

 woods. A special point in its favor is that it 

 docs not flavor or color the liquor in the least ; 

 it is quite plentiful all over the island, and com- 

 mon in some districts. A rum-puncheon of im- 

 ported wood cannot be obtained for less than 

 JO, while the cost of a cord of pois doux, from 

 which can be made five or six puncheons. Is only 

 S2.-10. It is classed as a soft wood of little 

 value, and is of very rapid growth, reaching ma- 

 turity in a few years. Local coopers can put 

 puncheons made of this wood on the market at 

 S4 and make a satisfactory profit. White oak 

 staves arc worth $8 a hundred, while staves of 

 pois doux can be furnished at $4 a hundred. 

 In the fiscal year 1908-09, 629,400 staves were 

 imported into Trinidad from the United States 

 and 443,750 from British North America. 



Meeting Spoke Manufacturers' Association 



Tlie Sitoke Manufacturers" Association, com- 

 posed of the trade iu the Mississippi Valley, 

 held the second of its three meetings a year at 

 the Southern Hotel, St. Louis, on Wednesday, 

 .\ugust 10. The discussions were chiefly relative 

 to the supply of timber for the manufacture 

 of this line of products, much emphasis being 

 laid on the scarcity of choice hickory and walnut 

 in the old fields of production where these woods 

 were most abundant. Considerable attention 

 was given th,2 subject of conservation as a 

 means of remedying the shortage which seems 

 bound to come within the next generation un- 

 less some means are adopted for saving waste 

 in the woods and reforesting along the most 

 approved scientiflc lines. 



A Bam Baising 



A barn raising of an unusual character is re- 

 reported by a farmer near Goliad, Tex. A few 

 years ago he erected a small stable, -and for his 

 comer posts and side posts used green willow 

 timbers, without removing the bark. This ar- 

 rangement was very satisfactory for some time, 

 and nothing unusual was noticed. After being 

 away for a period, upon returning he discovered 

 that the floor, which originally had laid flat on 

 the ground, was now fully three feet above the 

 soil. Upon investigation it was discovered that 

 the willow posts had taken root in the moist 

 soil, and were already sprouting, the expansion 

 caused by their growth • being responsible for 

 raising the floor. It is reported that in the 

 course of two years the floor was raised high 

 enough so that the farmer merely had to board 

 up the sides and had a two-story barn (rather 

 an unusual growth, even for a willow). Since 

 last reported, the trees have undoubtedly grown , 



at least another halt-story, and in the course of 

 time the owner will be able to make additions 

 almost at will and with comparatively little ex- 

 pense. Astonishing things are happening In 

 Texas every day, but unfortunately for the ver- 

 ity ot the foregoing story the evidence at band 

 scarcely constitutes proof. 



The Pacific Coast Edger 



Among the many styles of edgers built by the 

 Gordon Hollow Blast Grate Company, of Green- 

 ville, Mich., manufacturer ot the Tower line 

 of edgers and trimmers, is what is known as the 

 I'acific Coast type of edger, which has no front 

 table. 



Of these the Gordon Hollow Blast Grate Com- 

 pany not only makes several different sizes, but 

 two distinct styles. One of these has hand 

 wheels to shift the saws ; the other, short 

 handles. In both cases the saws may be in- 

 stantly locked in any desired position. In both 

 cases, t(X>. the scales, or indexes, indicate the 

 distances between the various saws. Instead of 

 the distance each saw is from the stationary 

 saw or from the guide. 



This is a unique and valuable feature, much 

 appreciated by users ot the machine. It is cov- 

 ered by letters patent. 



Spanish Cork Oak 



The United States Department of .\griculture 

 recently authorized the carrying out of extensive 

 experiments with a view to determining whether 

 or not cork oak can be naturalized in this coun- 

 try. The tree will be given a fair trial on the 

 natural forests in the West, 2,000 one-year-old 

 seedlings having already been consigned for 

 planting in experiment stations. 



F'ifteen hundred of the seedlings will be in- 

 stalled in the Santa Barbara Natural Forests 

 and Ave hundred on the Monterey Natural For- 

 ests in southern California. The district for- 

 ester for that section has already been instructed 

 to make preparations for the planting and the 

 work will be carried on as expeditiously as pos- 

 sible. Professor Gowsell of the Forest School 

 at Point Lona, Cal., has received a hundred 

 seedlings for experimental purposes. 



In addition one hundred pounds of the cork 

 oak acorns will be secured from Catalonia. Spain, 

 and next tall will be planted In District 6. In 

 view of the fact that this species of oak has 

 already been successfully raised in California, it 

 seems highly probable that the experiments will 

 be satisfactory in that state especiall.v, and to a 

 more limited extent in Florida. 



Preserving the Sequoias 



The California big trees are the oldest living 

 things which exist at the present day. Stump 

 analysis shows that some of these gi.ant trees 

 have existed for 4.000 years, a date which makes 

 comparatively modern the construction of the 

 pyramids in Egypt or the founding ot Rome. 



In one portion ot the Calaveras grove there 

 are 10 trees each having a diameter greater 

 than 25 feet, and more than TO which are be- 

 tween 15 and 25 feet through. A bark, varying 

 from 6 inches to 2 feet in thickness, acts as an 

 eflicient shield against ^rest fires, which have 

 practically no effect on these /trees. In fact, 

 there is almost no cause which can do any ma- 

 terial damage to them except the saws ot the 

 lumbermen, and with this peril eliminated there 

 Is no reason to doubt but that they will live 

 for hundreds of years to come. The tact that 

 each tree contains as much lumber as is usually 

 found on from 15 to 20 acres ot ordinary forest 

 land makes protection against the lumbermen 

 especially difficult. A Minnesota lumber concern 

 now owns the Calaveras grove, and the United 

 States government has Insured them against de- 

 struction for lumber by trading an equal amount 

 ot timber situated elsewhere on the forest re- 

 serves. Similar action in behalf of the various 

 other groves should •be. taken by the government 

 before it. is too late. 



