774 Forestry Quarterly. 



tuted or which are brought under purchase contract are surveyed 

 by the Forest Service by horizontal measurement and the acreage 

 thus ascertained is used as the basis of payment. In many cases 

 in the Appalachian region lands have never been accurately sur- 

 veyed. Such surveys as have been made have usually been by 

 surface measurement, which in a mountainous region is very in- 

 accurate. Frequently the actual acreage is found less than that 

 reported by from 5 to 10 or more per cent. 



The lands placed under purchase contract or condemnation pro- 

 ceedings during the year are partly cutover, partly more or less 

 culled of their best timber, and partly virgin timberland. The 

 average price is $5.95 per acre with a range of from $1.16 to 

 $15.00 per acre. 



During the last session of Congress action was taken to make 

 available until expended the appropriation for the fiscal years 

 1912 to 191 5. A fund of $8,000,000 is thus made available for 

 the work. An appropriation was also made for the protection and 

 administration of the lands acquired. The appropriation having 

 been made available for these purposes as soon as a purchase con- 

 tract has been executed or the lands placed under condemnation the 

 areas covered in the work of the last fiscal year are already under 

 the care of the Government. The agents of the Government are 

 now on the ground and plans for the protection and improvement 

 of these lands are being worked out. 



For a number of years the Government has owned several 

 tracts of land in western North Carolina. These lands are of the 

 character desired for purchase under the Weeks Law and are in 

 fact in one of the Purchase Areas. Congress at its last session 

 transferred these lands amounting to 32,000 acres from the care 

 of the Treasury Department to the Agricultural Department to 

 form a part of the system of Appalachian National Forests. 

 These lands are now being surveyed and will soon be put under 

 administration. 



White Pine Culls. A peculiar feature of current lumber de- 

 mand in the old white pine sections of the North is the extraordi- 

 nary requirement for low grade stock, which 20 to 30 years ago 

 would have been considered refuse, thrown into the burner or 

 used to build wharves or roadways, or for firewood. Grading 



