News and Notes 177 



Tanbark, 1,060,000 cords. 



Railroad cross-ties, exclusive of electric lines, 80 million. 



Pulpwood, 3 million cords, estimated to be 85% of the total. 



Dead and down timber on the national forest reserves is now 

 being made the object of a special investigation by the Forest 

 Service. The object of this work is to determine the approxi- 

 mate amount on each reserve, its condition, accessibility, and 

 the demands of the market. 



A strong effort will be made to procure the removal of as 

 much as possible where a market already exists and to create a 

 demand for it where there is no market at present. 



Experiments to prove the worth of the various species are 

 being considered ; the most promising opportunities for the 

 utilization of this material now appear to be railroad cross-ties 

 and box lumber. E. R. Hodson and J. D. Warner have com- 

 menced investigations on the Pecos River Forest Reserve in 

 New Mexico. 



J. P. Wentling, who has been conducting a study of the 

 woods used in box making, will determine the suitability of 

 this dead and down and mature timber for boxes. Particular 

 attention will be given to the adaptabiHty of the Lodgepole Pine. 

 Eumber will be shipped east, made up into boxes, and tested in 

 the laboratory and in actual trade use. The scarcity and high 

 price of suitable box-board lumber is becoming a serious matter 

 with the large users of boxes, and if these woods prove to be 

 suitable, there should be a large demand for them. Plans are 

 under way for making a practical test on boxes made of some of 

 these woods, in cooperation with a packing house in Chicago. 



The forest fires which have been raging in the northern 

 peninsula of Michigan have covered an area of 200-400 square 

 miles and destroyed a dozen towns and several lives. Practically 

 all this land, which had been cut over for pine, was still produc- 

 ing valuable hemlock and hardwood, and the loss will be ex- 

 tremely great. The fire shows conclusively the striking in- 

 adequacy of the Michigan fire law and the paucity of combined 

 effort in its execution. It is to be hoped that this last lesson 

 will awaken the people to their danger and bring forth measures 

 productive of the long needed protection. 



