108 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



to push exclusively the wood of that tree. Other species of Australian 

 woods will be exploited and the influence of the magazine devoted to 

 furthering the interests of the x\ustralian forest resources. 



According to the British Timber Trades Journal, the Rafanut x\ktie- ' 

 bolaget has been formed in Stockholm to exploit new methods of ship- 

 ping wood, in view of the anticipated shortage of tonnage after the war. 

 The plan is to raft the lumber across the North Sea, and it is to be 

 specially noted that the company's idea is to facilitate the shipment of 

 sawed goods. Some previous experiments in floating large masses of 

 logs have been successful, but it is thought that no previous attempts 

 have been made to float sawed timber long distances at sea. 



Irvin C. Williams, deputy commissioner of forestry in Pennsylvania 

 since 1904, matriculated at the University of Michigan Graduate School 

 in October, 191 7, as a candidate for the degree of Master of Science in 

 Forestry, which was awarded to him in June, 1918. He is now a candi- 

 date for the Ph. D. degree. Mr. Williams became the legal adviser to 

 the Pennsylvania Department of Forestry in 1903. For several years 

 he was lecturer in civil and criminal law at the Pennsylvania State 

 Forest Academy, and is now giving a series of fortnightly talks to the 

 students on general biological and forestal subjects. 



Because the appropriation bill for the Department of Agriculture for 

 the current year had not yet been passed, it was necessary to resort to 

 the special defense fund of $50,000,000 put at the disposal of the Presi- 

 dent by Congress for a loan of $1,000,000 that the Forest Service might 

 meet the necessary fire-fighting expenses attendant upon the serious 

 emergency conditions in the National Forests of the Northwest and 

 Pacific Coast States. The loan was readily authorized by the Presi- 

 dent, who recognized the protection of the National Forests as a war 

 activity. 



The forthcoming report on British Columbia's forest resources, pre- 

 pared by ^Messrs. Craig and Whitford for the Conservation Commission 

 of Canada, makes the total stand of timber, including pulpwood, 366 

 billion board feet. Of the total land area of the province, amounting 

 to 355,855 square miles, 200,000 square miles are incapable of bearing 

 commercial forest growth, and only 28,000 square miles carry sufficient 



