NOTES ON JACK PINES AND SITKA SPRUCE. 155 



Columbia forests produced enough spruce lumber to construct 

 20,000 aeroplanes. When cut into thin boards, its resonant 

 quality makes it useful for piano sounding-boards, organ-pipes, 

 and stringed instruments, and it is a very valuable pulpwood. 

 Spruce wood is considered to produce the best grades of paper, 

 and as the demand greatly exceeds the supply, the wood of this 

 tree will always find a ready market. The growth of Sitka 

 spruce is rapid and persistent after the first few years. Under 

 proper silvicukural management it will prove itself a valuable 

 tree for forest planting, provided it is set out in suitable soils 

 and in situations with ample soil and atmospheric moisture. 



19. The Landes of Gascony. 1 



( With Plates.) 

 By If. E. Lapeyrere. 



The value of the Landes as a timber-producing area has been 

 well shown in the recent war. Many British and American 

 visitors showed a very keen interest in the resin industry, and 

 it is hoped that the short account given below may help these 

 and others to appreciate the importance which these forest areas 

 possess. A short historical account of the development is of 

 special interest in countries in which the forest services are still 

 young, and in Great Britain, at all events, many problems will 

 inevitably arise that strongly resemble those that did arise in 

 the history of the forests of the Landes area. The questions 

 dealing with the influences of ownership in management and 

 the degree of State interference that is justified are of special 

 value. The nature of the forest service established in Great 

 Britain has been well presented to French readers by M. Humbault 

 in a recent issue of Revue des Eaux et Fonts. Special prominence 

 is given to the emphasis laid on the preservation of private 

 ownership and the promotion of private enterprise. The real 

 justification set down for the establishment of a forest service 

 and a national forest area in Great Britain, is the provision of a 

 reserve of timber that may be available in any set of conditions 

 which may arise and create a situation similar to that from 



1 Translated, in an abbreviated form, from the original French by 

 fames Fraser, B. Sc. 



