NOTES AND COMMENTS 803 



Mr. Sherrard addressed the party informally after lunch. S. C. Lan- 

 caster told about the building of the Columbia River Highway. Four 

 of the younger members of the party, headed by Mr. Reynolds, Secre- 

 tary of the Association, made the trip up Eagle Creek trail 25^ miles 

 to the Punch Bowl. On the way back to the camp grounds one mem- 

 ber of the party said it was the finest trail they had seen on their trip. 



The third day was spent in sight-seeing about Portland, and the 

 party left for Crater Lake and southern points in the evening. 



The Massachusetts Forestry Association has a membership of 3,000. 

 Secretary Reynolds states that it is planned to arrange a western trip 

 annually, so the members and their friends can see the National Forests 

 and Parks and become better informed regarding their administration 

 and use. At the same time, the trip will make a wonderful outing for 

 all who take it. 



The Chicago Daily Nezvs is authority for the statement that large 

 sums of money have been subscribed in Germany for the exploitation 

 and manufacture of a new material which it is expected will make 

 Germany independent of the importation of cotton, jute, and wool. 

 The material is made from "typha," a species of cat-tail growing in 

 marshes, and can be worked into threads according to the kind of cloth 

 to be made. There are many varieties of the plant, having different 

 fibers, which can be worked into coarse or fine materials, having both 

 strength and softness of texture. The lowest estimate of the crop of 

 typha for last year was 500,000 tons ; the yield in finished product is 

 10 per cent. Good land is not needed for this crop. Germany has ex- 

 tensive marshes, which it is proposed to sow with the plant. The cost 

 of growing, harvesting, and manufacturing into the different materials 

 required is estimated to be much less than the normal cost of such 

 goods imported. The industry is being developed to fulfill the present 

 war needs and for commercial purposes after the war. 



D.. T. Mason, formerly Professor of Forestry in the University of 

 California and now Captain in the loth Reserve Engineer (Forest). 

 Regiment, has an article in the American Lumberman, June 30, 191 7, 

 on "How the Lumber Industry Can Help in the War." He urges, 

 among other things, greater economy in the use of food supplies in 

 camp, the production of food crops in gardens by loggers and mill 

 workers, production of forage crops for logging animals, introduction 

 of labor-saving machines, and a general increase in efificieticy along all 

 lines. 



