644 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



pointed out that much of the best reproduction is to be found on 

 agricultural soil, which will be cleared before the young growth can 

 reach maturity. Young growth on such land "must be excluded from 

 damage appraisal'' unless the soil itself has been damaged. "Lands 

 worth more for grazing and incapable at the same time of producing 

 forage and merchantable timber must also be excluded." For first- 

 class agricultural land a sale price is fixed by the Government at $10, 

 and second-class land has a minimum valuation of $5. The lands 

 which are finally left for forest purposes must be less in value, but as 

 there is no set sale value, and while the land remains vested in the 

 crown, such lands are disregarded by land seekers, and since the 

 data for figuring a soil rent are insufficient, the author considers that 

 no value needs to be placed on them for the present. For his stand 

 expectancy calculations he uses 4.5 per cent and asserts that "a lower 

 rate can scarcely be considered, even by the State." 



The two logging articles, each ten pages, are written by experts 

 and well illustrated, namely, one on overhead cable logging, describing 

 a number of combinations, and on log and lumber flumes. 



Dr. Howe's contribution was based on his summer's work for the 

 Conservation Commission, a study of regeneration of Douglas fir, 

 with special relation to fire. 



Coming to the same conclusion as Dr. Hoffman, that regeneration 

 may be secured from the dormant seed in the soil without the presence 

 of seed trees after a light fire has cleared off weeds and debris, he 

 seems also to subscribe to the dangerous proposition that "you do 

 not need your seed trees; just burn it off lightly and you get your 

 reproduction." Without impugning the findings of the two investi- 

 gators, in a country where a first fire is rarely left without a successor, 

 we consider even the suggestion of leaving no seed trees criminal. 

 And a second fire is fatal. Dr. Howe found that at least 5 seed 

 trees commonly, and up to 60 were left per acre by the loggers; 

 that salal and salmonberry interfere greatly with reproduction, and 

 that, therefore, even with seed trees, a light fire is desirable. Alder 

 is a retarder, but not a preventer of regeneration. The number of 

 seedlings in stands four years old is given as 500,000 to 700,000, 

 1. e., 12 to 16 per square foot. This can hardly be anything but a 

 mathematical deduction from countings on small areas, especially since 

 the number in the next four years drops to 8,000 to 10,000, in the 20 

 to 30 year period becomes 1,000 to 1,500, in the 30 to 40 year period, 

 500 to 800. 



