The Lumber Edition 



NO INDUSTRY in California holds more of interest to the general pub- 

 lic, presents wider scope for investigation, gives surer returns of profit 

 on money invested, than the lumber industry. 

 With thousands upon thousands of acres covered with virgin 

 forest, some dating its origin back into the dim vistas of time whose 

 archives tell the story of prehistoric man, there is no other State 

 in the Union, and, indeed, no country on the face of the globe where is pre- 

 sented so intimately intertwined romance and commerce, as is to be found 

 on the Pacific slopes of the Sierra Nevadas, within the confines of California. 



There is much beside the mere cutting of timber and sawing the huge 

 logs into lumber, to be considered, when taking a comprehensive view of 

 the great forests of the Golden State. Promiscuous cutting means devas- 

 tation, destruction and future dearth. The proper conservation of the for- 

 ests of California has received the attention of strong mentalities, and of 

 these that of Professor Gifford Pinchot, of the National Department of 

 Agriculture, is conspicuous. In this number he has contributed an article 

 on "The Forest Reserves and Their Object," and in it he gives a clear and 

 comprehensive idea of the subject. 



Following in the same line State Forester E. T. Allen has written of 

 how owners can co-operate with the State in the matter of forest protection, 

 and he gives some timely advice on protection from fires, and from the 

 needless destruction of the magnificent forests of the State. 



J. F. Nash presents a new theme in his article on "Lumbering on a 

 Scientific Basis," and in it he tells the story of the coming out from the old 

 days when the ox and the mule helped the lumberman, to the present when 

 high grade machinery is used and long steel ropes wind their sinuous way 

 through the forests to draw the immense logs to the mills. 



"California Redwood," that most unique of all lumber in the whole 

 world, is told of in a most interesting article by E. C. Williams, the pioneer 

 lumberman of the State, who has watched the industry grow from its in- 

 fancy. This article brings out many interesting points, not only about the 

 lumber industry itself, but about these mysterious trees, relics of a by-gone 

 age. 



The pine industry of California, second in importance to that of the 

 redwood, is treated of in an article by Clarence E. Edwords, and in it he 

 gives vital statistics and records relating to the growth of this most 

 important field in the lumbering interests of the State. 



To the tourist and prospective settler coming from the other side of 

 the range there is nothing more striking than the graceful eucalyptus, whose 

 symmetrical form is to be seen rising on all the hillsides where man has his 

 home. But in addition to the beauty and grace possessed by this tree it has 

 a commercial value in that it is rapidly taking its place in the front rank 

 of the hard woods of the country. "On this phase of the eucalyptus George 

 O. Brehm has written, giving much interesting information. 



Taken as a whole the present number of "For California" is one which 

 is of interest to the practical lumberman on account of its technical accu- 

 racy and to the general reader because the articles depart from the usual 

 dull and statistical reports found in subjects of this kind. Something of 

 the life of the tree, the free swing of the open, the breezy sway of the 

 lofty boughs have been brought out in the articles presented, and one feels 

 a closer kinship to the outdoors of California after reading them. 



