History of Forest Ecology 423 



Europe, and additional notes upon the relation of forests to water 

 supplies and sanitary conditions. Since 1898, the new idea of 

 making working plans for private timberland owners developed 

 and much valuable silvical data has been gathered in this way. 



While the creation of forest reserves dates from 1891, a man- 

 agement of the established reservations was not attempted 

 until 1897. But the policy which was adopted even at 

 that late date was far from efficient. The new law placed 

 the authority over the forests in the hands of the Secretary 

 of the Interior and the technical and scientific work with the 

 Secretary of Agriculture. In the former department the admin- 

 istrative work was carried on by the General Land Office, 

 and the surveying, mapping, classification, and description 

 of the reserves was done by the U. S. Geological Survey. 

 This anomalous condition lasted until 1905 when the entire forestry 

 business was handed over to the Department of Agricidture. It 

 was while the administration of the forest reserves was in this 

 chaotic condition that an important piece of work was done by the 

 Geological Survey. This work concerned itself with the survey 

 and description of the reservations and cost over a million and a 

 half dollars. The results of these investigations were published in 

 handsome volumes and they serve not only as a useful educational 

 work but they mark a distinct advance in the field of silvics in the 

 United States. It is true that this work was of an observational 

 rather than of an experimental nature but that fact does not detract 

 in the least from its value. It was a pioneer work well done and 

 upon a gigantic scale. The forests of the country had been studied 

 by botanists, but no attempt had been made to gather silvical data 

 describing the conditions of the forest lands, not only those still 

 bearing timber but also those lands cut or burned over. The men 

 sent out by the Survey gathered information upon the character 

 of the soil, litter, humus, underbrush, young growth, size of the 

 timber, stand per acre, height, clear length, age, soundness, fire 

 resistance, rate of growth, burned areas, geographical and alti- 

 tudinal distribution of species and many other matters. This 

 data was usually taken by legal subdivisions, and over 70,000,000 

 acres were covered both in the East and in the West. Among the 

 men engaged in this work should be mentioned Graves, Leiberg, 

 Ayres, Plummer, Dodwell, Rixon, and Sudworth. Of the dozen 

 or more engaged in this work there were only two or three foresters, 

 the rest being geologists, surveyors, etc. 



