NOTES AND COMMENTS 1073 



"In addition to this work, small local nurseries are made, and the 

 seedlings from these are transplanted in the month of July into blanks 

 where no natural seedlings are to be found. Only 15-months-old plants 

 are transplanted. 



"In the second year the plants, formerly marked, are again inspected, 

 weeded, and blanks caused by the death of the previous year's plants 

 are filled up. 



"In the third year the area is once again gone over and plants in 

 danger of being smothered by grass are cleared. After the third year 

 the plants are left to themselves, as by this time they have got a good 

 start and are able to compete with the grass." 



Only an abundance of cheap labor renders such silviculture possible. 



The Yale School of Forestry has issued a small pamphlet referring 

 to its course of research and instruction in tropical forestry. It is 

 stated that there are at least two very large forest regions in the tropics. 

 These are the Amazon region of South America and the Indo-Malay 

 region of southeastern Asia and adjacent islands. The forested region 

 of the Amazon River basin, comprising an area of 1,600,000 square 

 miles, is the largest in the world. The forested area of Borneo, Su- 

 matra, the PhiHppine Islands, the Malay Peninsula, and Burma is 

 roughly estimated to be not less than 500,000 square miles, or nearly as 

 large as that of the United States. Thus the forested area of these 

 two tropical regions alone comprises more than 2,000,000 square miles. 

 Contrary to the usual opinion, it is claimed that tropical forests are not 

 all composed of hard woods fit only for special purposes, but that they 

 have a much larger percentage of soft and medium hard woods, which 

 it is quite practicable to develop economically. 



What is needed is public appreciation of the value of the undeveloped 

 forest resources and of the possibility of making them a permanent 

 asset. This can be brought about by expert foresters, who will not 

 only direct operations in the woods, but also arouse the public to the 

 need of forest conservation, and assist in the formulating of a proper 

 forest policy and in the enactment and enforcement of suitable legis- 

 lation. 



The work proposed falls under two heads: (i) Instruction; (2) In- 

 vestigation. Each of these headings has been divided into three dif- 

 ferent branches, as follows : 



(a) Tropical Silviculture and Dendrology-. 



(b) The Technical Properties and Uses of Tropical Woods. 



(c) Trade Information and Methods of Forest Utilization. 



Dr. H. N. Whitford, with H. M. Curran, will cover the first subject, 



