NEWS AND NOTES 



697 



by Sir Frederick Moore, of Glasnevin Gar- 

 dens, and Dr. Charles S. oargent, director 

 of the Arnold arboretum. 



It requires more than superficial con- 

 sideration to realize the importance, both 

 to the present generation and to posterity, 

 of planting an experimental forest of 1,000 

 acres and applying to it, for 100 years and 

 more, the scientific methods adopted at 

 Glasnevin, tue Arnold aboretumn and the 

 Highland Parlt botanic gardens. A com- 

 paratively few years of trying out of every 

 variety of forest tree adaptable to Ameri- 

 can soil, and the elimination of undesirable 

 varieties, will enable the authorities al- 

 most immediately to bring into activity the 

 functions of the great arboretum as a sup- 

 ply nursery. Thus the Letchworth arbor- 

 etum will within the short space of a de- 

 cade become the progenitor of similar ar- 

 boretums throughout the entire country. 



The popular study of shrubs and plants 

 in the Highland Park arboretum has al- 

 ready had its effect in the direction of 

 education, 'lue grounds and yards of the 

 numerous homes which have been estab- 

 lished under the shadow of Highland Park 

 are already ornamented with choice trees 

 and shrubs which have been tried out and 

 approved by the expert horticulturiests 

 who have charge of the beautiful arboretum 

 at the park. 



New England Farmer as a Source of Supply 



Economists concerned with the country's 

 timber resources are constantly confronted 

 by the apparent fact that the commonwealth 

 can conserve timber (because it can exempt 

 its own timber from taxation), but con- 

 servative forestry is impossible for the tax- 

 paying individual. It appears, however, 

 that, even under the present adverse taxa- 

 tion conservative forestry perhaps may be 

 practiced by the American farmer at a 

 profit. It may be possible, though, only in 

 a well settled country close to a steady 

 local demand. 



Investigating the farmer's wood lot as a 

 serious proposition, an editorial representa- 

 tive of the American Lumberman while 

 in Boscawen, N. H., recently found there 

 a concrete example of a farmer's wood lot 

 operated apparently at a profit. Forty 

 years ago George L. Pillsbury, of Boscawen, 

 bought forty acres of land for $1,000 and 

 set it aside as a wood lot. Even at that 

 date he believed that timber could be made 

 a profitable farm crop. The conditions 

 were somewhat favorable to the success of 

 the experiment, as Mr. Pillsbury was a 

 builder and required native timber in his 

 operations. During the forty years he has 

 practiced conservative forestry he has con- 

 verted the timber that decayed or devel- 

 oped serious defect into cord wood and the 

 mature timber into building material, 

 shingles, etc. Of exact figures none are at 



hand. It is known, however, that this forty 

 yielded twenty cords of wood a year, aside 

 from building material. Thus far in 1911 

 the lot has produced one car of spruce pulp- 

 wood which totaled eight and nine-tenths 

 cords and brought $8 a cord f. o. b. station. 

 In addition, 1,500 feet of hemlock sleepers 

 were taken out this year and they brought 

 from $16 to $20 a thousand. The wood 

 output this year was thirty-five cords at 

 $4.50 a cord, the 1911 production being a 

 little heavier than usual. A few years ago 

 Mr. Pillsbury sold seventy-five trees for 

 $13 a thousand on the stump. They scaled 

 51,420 feet and brought him $668.46, more 

 than two-thirds the price of the original 

 forty. 



The only figures that would be actually 

 illuminating would be those showing just 

 what had been taken off the forty for a 

 period of years, the net price it brought 

 (less the labor cost of taking it off), with 

 a corresponding charge against the lot of 

 interest on the original investment, taxes 

 paid, etc. It is presumed that if conserva- 

 tive forestry was actually practiced and 

 only mature timber was removed the wood 

 lot is in as good condition today as forty 

 years ago. If this is true there has, of 

 course, been no depreciation. The trouble 

 with this kind of a proposition is that it 

 may look profitable on its face, but when 

 proper charges are made against it, such 

 as cost of superintendence, etc., the actual 

 profit vanishes. 



That an operation of this kind supplying 

 a neighborhood need might be profitable 

 is likely also, but an operation on similar 

 lines of a thousand times the magnitude, 

 subject to long shipments of the manufac- 

 tured product and to meet the competition 

 of saw mills operating on undervalued vir- 

 gin stumpage, would be impossible. Amer- 

 ican Lumberman. 



Banana Stalks for Paper Pulp 



Paper for October 4 has an article on 

 "Banana Stalks and Their Value," by Harry 

 D. Maddox. Banana stalks are among the 

 many products that have been considered 

 from time to time as possibly available for 

 paper pulp. Apparently nothing is to be 

 hoped for from them, however. The ba- 

 nana is a type of plantain, and a close re- 

 lative of the musa texilis of the Philip- 

 pines, from the leaf stalks of which is ob- 

 tained the valuable cordage and ultimate 

 paper fibre known as manila hemp. The 

 banana fibre is just as worthless as the 

 manila hemp is valuable. 



The yield of fibre in a practical test 

 turned out to be practically three per cent, 

 while the length of boil and proportion of 

 lye puts the material out of the question 

 for papermaking. Mr. Maddox describes 

 the results of tests of paper made from 

 banana stalk pulp. 



