332 DEPARTMENTAJ- REPORTS. 



bei'laiKl, Mud auriciiltnral and othor lands witliin tlio area of 0,600,000 

 acres examined. 



An examination of 3,0'49,120 acres in the Sierra Forest Reserve was 

 made, also in cooperation Math the U. S. Geological Survey. Special 

 attention was given to the kind, quality, distribution, and. stand of 

 the forest trees. The effects of lumbering, fire, and sheep grazing on 

 the forest were also noted. A map which accompanies the report shows 

 the distribution of forest and other lands, the density of the forest, 

 and the location of lumbered, burned, and grazed areas. 



FORESTS OF NEBRASKA AND TEXAS. 



An extensive investigation of the present forest condition of 

 Nebraska was begun and carried far enough to demonstrate the 

 practical feasibility of replanting large areas hitherto believed to be 

 permanently treeless. 



An elaborate report on the forests of Texas was completed and will 

 be published during the coming year. 



STUDY OF SHEEP GRAZING. 



During the season 12 of the Federal forest reserves were examined 

 with special reference to the effects of grazing on the forest. The 

 result of this work was to develop, in harmony with the conclusions 

 reached after similar study in the past, a workable system of proposed 

 regulations, whose enforcement would sustain equally the welfare of 

 the forest, of the uses of water, and of the grazing interests. 



STUDIES OF VARIOUS FOREST SUBJECTS. 



Forest fires. — An extended study on the ground was made of forest 

 fires and reproduction in the North Park and Medicine Bow Moun- 

 tains of Colorado. Special attention was given to this subject in the 

 reserves of Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, and Wj'oming. 



In the historical study of forest fires, records of about 1,800 fires 

 were added during the year, bringing the total number recorded to 

 over 10,000. 



Forest history. — Histories of lumbering in Mississippi, Louisiana, 

 and Texas were undertaken, and that of New York was pushed far 

 toward completion. 



Log scales. — The first volume of the Woodman's Handbook is near- 

 ing completion. It contains information useful to foresters, forest 

 students, luml)ermen, and laymen. A feature of the preparatory work 

 for the Handbook is an exhaustive collection of American log scales, 

 with a discussion of their comparative accuracy. 



Forest products. — A useful report has been prepared on the maple- 

 sugar industry. It deals with the history and distribution of the 

 industry and with methods of manufacture of the pure and unadul- 

 terated product. 



FOREST EXHIBITS. 



The forest display installed at the Paris Exposition in the spring of 

 1900 remained on exhibition during the remainder of that calendar 

 3'ear. The general purpose of tlie exliibit was to illustrate the rela- 

 tion of forests to agriculture. Its most notable part consisted of 92 



