Nezvs and Notes 649 



This weed has been a nuisance, its nature being to spread over 

 extensive areas and kill off other vegetation. For the sake of 

 range improvement, the government desires to rid the forage 

 areas of all such injurious plants, and so Forest Service officers 

 hope that the commercial demand for soap weed will reach 

 such proportions as to not only take an otherwise useless product 

 but also eradicate it from areas utilized to supply forage to 

 cattle and sheep. 



From the Indian reservations of New Mexico and Arizona, 

 Juniper is furnished as material for pencil wood. 



One of the uses for blight-killed chestnut that should not be 

 continued is that of crating stone. Quarry owners have found 

 that this wood leaves an indelible stain on marble or granite. 



The Powell National Forest, Utah, has passed 10 successive 

 years without a forest fire. 



Sixty little Lodgepole pine trees to the square foot were 

 counted in Southern Idaho in the spring, from seed sown broad- 

 cast on the snow. The dry summer following, however, killed 

 all plants not sheltered. 



The barking of Lodgepole pine trees, at various periods before 

 cutting them for use as telephone poles, in order that the effect 

 of the exuded resin as a preservative may be secured, is being 

 tried in the Beaverhead National Forest. 



Lodgepole pine, when given preservative treatment, compares 

 well with red cedar as a pole timber, the latter untreated and 

 outside its own region being dearer than the former. Fire-killed 

 Lodgepole pine showed a strength, under test, equal to 80 per cent 

 of that of live red cedar. 



The increased price of creosote since 1912 of from 7.35 to 10.04 

 cents per gallon led to an investigation relative to the compara- 

 tive economy of treating piles. Taking as basis the price of 10 

 cents per foot for untreated and 30 cents for treated Douglas 

 fir piles, the length of life of untreated piles as eight years, and 



