News and Notes 573 



pressure areas in northern British Columbia, advancing south- 

 ward towards Washington and Montana. Passing wholly over 

 the Interior, such a wind has but a small moisture content and 

 consequently is very drying. The value to forest protective or- 

 ganizations of being informed about such winds before they 

 arrive is obvious. 



Cooperation with the Government Weather Bureau to get fore- 

 casts of such winds was initiated in the United States by the 

 Western Forestry and Conservation Association, of which Mr. 

 E. T. Allen, Portland, is Forester. 



This cooperation work has been extended until now it includes 

 both the Canadian and United States Weather Bureaus ; while the 

 fire wind forecasts are daily received and used through the fire 

 season by the British Columbia Forest Service in Canada, and, 

 in the Pacific States, by the United States Forest Service, the 

 various State Forest Services, and the many private forest fire 

 protection associations of which the Western Forestry and Con- 

 servation Association is the central body. 



The system has proved of considerable value to the British 

 Columbia Forest Service, but is at present of greater value to 

 the protective organizations in the States, because there the much 

 greater number of weather stations enables the forecasts to be 

 made more definitely and accurately. With the opening of 

 northern British Columbia now taking place by the new rail- 

 roads, such as the G. T. P., P. E. E., etc., many more weather 

 stations will be established and the value and usefulness o'f the 

 weather bureau reports will be increased, both to British Co- 

 lumbia and the Pacific States. In British Columbia reports are 

 sent from several of the weather stations by wireless telegraphy. 

 The rapidly increasing use of the wireless telegraph is a most 

 important factor in this work, since it will enable weather reports 

 to be received from a much larger number of stations than would 

 otherwise be the case. 



It seems a strange fact that the identity of Picea engelmanni 

 as distinguished from P. canadensis so far seems to rely entirely 

 on the shape of the bracts of the cone, and often even this dis- 

 tinction becomes doubtful. This is an important matter, since the 

 two species occur together in the foothills and East Slope of the 

 Rocky Mountains in mixture. While it is asserted that the 



