MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



NATIONAL FORESTRY IN COLORADO. 



It is safe to say that the loss to Colorado 

 alone fnun forest lires runs up into many mil- 

 lions of dollars. Fortunately, however, they 

 have caused but little damage during the past 

 lew year-. The administration of the national 

 forest lands has been very fortunate in this 

 regard. Of the 1,200,000 acres of national for- 

 est land in Colorado under the care of the 

 Leadville office, less than 100 acres were burned 

 over 1,-isi year, and of that area less than 10 

 acres was land bearing green timber. The 

 showing is especially good in view of the fact 

 that the -eascm was especially dry and the for- 

 est tire loss in the country at large has been 

 the greatest for a generation. The forest ser- 

 vice. h"wever, does not claim all the credit for 

 the prevention of fires. Every class of persons 

 using the forest has given most efficient help, 

 and but for the help given by citizens, the 

 situation in regard to forest fires in Colorado 

 would be a very different story. 



A little more than 5,000,000 feet of timber 

 was cut from the Leadville forest during the 

 past year, of which about 95 per cent was dead 

 material. Most of the dead timber was sold 

 for railroad ties. As there is more dead tim- 

 ber on the forest than can possibly be used 

 before it decays, the service is using every 

 effort to dispose of it as rapidly as possible. 

 The present policy on the Leadville, as well 

 as on all national forests, is to encourage the 

 use of dead timber and dying green timber 

 while holding the healthy timber, which will 

 keep and put on growth for future use. Ac- 

 cordingly, very little thrifty green timber is 

 being cut at present. Besides the timber sales, 

 about 400 permits for the free use of timber 

 were issued, chiefly to ranchers and prospect- 

 ors. 



The work of replacing the forests is, of 

 course, of as much importance as using it and 

 much consideration has been given to the sub- 

 ject on the Leadville forest. Most of the area 

 which has been cut and burned over in the 

 ]ia-t ha- a young stand of timber well started 

 and no cutting of green timber is now allowed 

 where there is no young stand present to take 

 the place of the timber cut. There are, how- 

 . large areas where timber has all been 

 cut and burned and the service is experiment- 

 ing to find the best method to bring them back 

 The work at persent must be on a 

 small scale, on account of the heavy cost of 

 ensive operations, and is chiefly confined 

 to experiments to find the best manner of 

 Mcking the forest so that when funds are 

 available the most efficient methods of replac- 

 ing the forest may be employed. During the 

 past season about 140 bushels of pine and 

 spruce cones were collected which will be used 

 the coming spring in experimental sowing of 

 seed. 



SELLING TREES AT COST. 



Efforts at reforesting lands in New York 

 state now idle that valuable wood material 

 may be produced and physical conditions be 

 rally bettered and the resources of the 

 State increased are to be started immediately 

 under the direction of State_ Forest, Fish and 

 Game Commissioner J. S. \Yhipple. The work 

 be begun under the provisions of a law 

 >-d by the last legislature, which author- 

 izes the commissioner to furnish seedlings and 

 plantings of forest trees to citizens of New 

 York state at cost, provided they shall be 

 planted under the direction of the commission. 



As long as the supply lasts it is intended to 

 fill applications for these trees, none, however, 

 to be provided for purely ornamental planting. 

 The State Department will furnish blanks to 

 those interested, stating the kinds and sizes of 

 trees that are available for planting and the 

 prices at Which the state is prepared to fur- 

 nish them. 



CITIES SHOULD OWN WOODLOTS. 



I make a prophecy that the time is coming 

 when every city will own one if not more 

 tracts of well protected forests, in the prime- 

 val state, to be concomitant with the art 



Fire in a Re 

 servation.) 



untain Forest, Rosebud County, Montana. (Courtesy of Con- 



gallery of the city in administering to and 

 developing the artistic tas^e of the com- 

 munity. 



These municipal forests will be preserved 

 in a state of nature, in charge of a genuine 

 forester, and not allowed to be butchered by 

 landscape gardeners who think that they can 

 improve on nature by nickclplating the trees. 



Apropos to the subject of the preservation 

 of the forests for their beauty, 1' am pleased 

 to record the fact that eight miles south of 

 Battle Creek, on ihc shore of Barnum lake, 

 resides a lady, Mrs. Jane Barnum Lossing, 

 who owns sixty acres of tine white oak whicli 

 she refuses to sell for any sum of money. A 

 Battle Creek sawmill man i> ready to pay her 

 $6,000 for the standing timber. The beauty 

 of the woods, in which she played when a 

 girl, and around which many dear memories 

 cluster, are of more real value to her than 

 the gold. To Mrs. Lossing there is "Music 

 in the world other than the clink of coin." 

 So long as she lives the trees will live. Is 

 this sentiment? Does it seem strangely out 

 of place in this commercial age? All honor 

 to Mrs. Lossing. Charles E. Barnes, Battle 

 Creek. 



RAILROADS ARE SUED. 



Suits against railroad companies for damage 

 done by forest fires are to be begun by John 

 K. Ward, general counsel of the State Forest, 

 Fish and Game Commission of New York. 

 This action was decided upon by Mr. Ward 

 following the receipt of a letter from Com- 

 missioner James S. Whipple. in which he says 

 that railroad companies that are negligent in 

 caring for the right of way are Just as liable 

 for the destruction of timber and property, of 

 the state by forest fires as an individual would 

 be in case of trespass or negligently destroy- 

 ing property. 



FORESTRY IN NEW ENGLAND. 



Corporations and private citizens through- 

 out New England are beginning to realize the 

 opportunities which the region offers for 

 profitable forest planting. This year about 

 2.500 acres have been planted in the six New 

 England states by private citizens. In addi- 

 tion, a number of water companies have 

 adupted a forest policy. 



One of the most important phases of re- 

 forestation in New England is that of plant- 

 ing abandoned farms and other waste land 



which at present is bringing in no income. 

 In Massachusetts this waste land amounts to 

 10 per cent of the total area of the state, 

 while the latest reports in Rhode Island show 

 228 abandoned farms. It is this type of land 

 which is now being planted. Wealthy men 

 see a good investment, and a number of them 

 have planted tracts of at least fifty acres each 

 this year, with the intention of increasing the 

 size of the plantations annually. One owner 

 in Masachusetts who started a white pine 

 plantation of sixty-three acres this year ex- 

 pect s to plant fifty acres annually for the next 

 ten years, while others intend to plant tracts 

 of various sizes ranging upward to 200 acres 

 apiece next spring. 



A PATRIARCH MARKED FOR 

 SLAUGHTER. 



At Gaylord, Mich., the other day they cut 

 down an elm that was eight feet through the 

 base. It scaled more than 10,000 feet. An- 

 other one, although rotten at the base, was 

 cut off eighteen feet from the ground and 

 contained 5,000 feet. A third tree in that 

 section is twenty-seven feet in circumference. 

 The vandals have spared it so far, but their 

 greedy eyes have marked it for slaughter. 

 Considering the half century of lumbering 

 that has denuded large parts of the state and 

 defaced the landscape, one would think Michi- 

 gan would rigidly protect her few remaining 

 hardwoods. 



FAMOUS ENGLISH HEDGE. 



The work of pruning the mammoth beech 

 hedge at Meilklehour, Perthshire, on the es- 

 tate of the Marquis of Landsdowne, is now 

 being carried out. The hedge, which is the 

 most famous of its kind in the world, was 

 planted in 1715. It is one-third of a mile long 

 and about 100 feet high. It is pruned every 

 eight or ten years, the operation, as may be 

 supposed, being both a difficult and a costly 

 one. Special apparatus for the purpose has 

 to be obtained from London. 



FORESTRY NOTES. 



The Wisconsin state forester and the offi- 

 cials of the lumbering concerns of that state 

 are devising plans for the protection of timber 

 against fires in the years to come. It is likely 

 that a large number of men will be employed 

 in 1909 in Wisconsin looking- after the dis- 

 tricts where forest fires are likely to occur. 



