THE PEDIGREE OF A SPLENDID TREE 



45 



notably red gum, bald cypress and "big tree," never 

 succeeded in working their way again as far north as 

 Canada; while the yellow poplar and the California big 

 tree parted company during the Ice Age, never to meet 

 again. 



The apex of the yellow poplar leaf has a characteristic 

 notch. The shapes of the leaves of all the species from 

 the earliest till the present, have varied greatly, but the 

 notch has always been there. Among the earliest poplar 

 leaves were some shaped like a peach leaf, except for the 

 notch. Then came the form like a "fiddle, " but still the 

 notch was in evidence. There was one which looked 

 somewhat like an oak leaf, with the notch present. 

 Changes followed until the present form was developed. 



Hardwood Record. 



THE 640-ACRE STOCK-RAISING HOMESTEAD LAW 



THE 640-acre Stock-Raising Homestead Law is now 

 in force, having been approved by the President 

 on December 29, 1916. All qualified homestead 

 entrymen may share in its benefits. The law requires the 

 Secretary of the Interior to designate the lands as "stock- 

 raising lands" before they may be entered, and he can 

 designate only such lands "the surface of which is in his 

 opinion chiefly valuable for grazing and raising forage 

 crops, do not contain merchantable timber, are not suscep- 

 tible of irrigation from any known source of water supply, 

 and are of such character that 640 acres are reasonably 

 required for the support of a family. "This means that of 

 necessity a classification of the lands will be made before 

 they are opened to entry. The lands which are to be 

 designated are those upon which it is possible to raise 

 forage crops other than grasses naturally growing upon 

 them, and upon which an entryman may reasonably ex- 

 pect to support his family upon 640 acres. Undoubtedly 

 a portion of the remaining public lands is of the character 

 contemplated by this act and will pass into the hands of 

 settlers under its provisions. 



To acquire title to a homestead under this act, an entry- 

 man must reside upon the land not less than 3 years and 

 make permanent improvements thereon, tending to in- 

 crease its value for stock-raising purposes not less than 

 $1.25 per acre, one-half of which must be placed on the 

 land within 3 years after the date of entry. Cultivation 

 of the land, except so far as this may be necessary to raise 

 forage crops, is not required. Commutation of entry is 

 not allowed. Applications accompanied by affidavits as 

 to the character of the land may be filed in the local land 

 offices and this will give the applicant a preferential right 

 of entry in case the land applied for is designated, but 

 occupancy of the land is not allowed until after it has been 

 classified and designated by the Secretary of the Interior 

 for entry under this law. 



Where a homestead entry has already been made upon 

 lands of the character described in this act, additional 

 lands of the same character may be taken in such quantity 

 as will not increase the total holding to more than 640 

 acres, provided the additional lands are located not more 

 than 20 miles from the original entry. Provision is made 



in the bill for withholding waterholes needed to insure 

 public use of the remaining grazing lands and for the with- 

 drawal of driveways needed in the movement of stock 

 between summer and winter ranges and to and from ship- 

 ping points. 



When the lands suitable for entry under this act have 

 been designated there will still remain a large portion of 

 the public grazing lands which are not of sufficiently good ' 

 character to be suitable for entry as 640-acre homesteads. 

 Some provision should be made under which the remaining 

 grazing lands can be protected and improved and their 

 use for grazing purposes controlled. This could best be 

 accomplished by the application of a plan similar to that 

 which has been worked out for the management of graz- 

 ing on the National Forests, with such modifications as 

 may be necessary to meet the conditions in different lo- 

 calities. Investigations by experts of the Department of 

 Agriculture into the production of meat on the western 

 ranges and the possibilities of increasing the number of 

 meat producing animals on them have developed the fact 

 that in general the original value of these lands has been 

 gradually decreased through unregulated grazing, and 

 that, in their judgment, with proper supervision and con- 

 trol these lands could be so improved within a reasonably 

 short time as to carry approximately 30 per cent more 

 stock than at the present time. The conservation of the 

 public grazing lands demands that additional legislation 

 for the accomplishment of this purpose should be enacted 

 at an early date. 



STATE REFORESTATION 



A DEFINITE legislative program was formulated at 

 the third logged-off land conference in Seattle, says 

 the West Coast Lumberman. At this conference bills 

 relating specifically to the handling of logged-off lands 

 were read. J. T. Condon, dean of the University of Wash- 

 ington Law School, and chairman of the committee on the 

 country unit plan for land clearing, read the bill drafted by 

 the committee to be introduced in the state legislature at 

 the next session. Another bill was read by Hugo Winken- 

 werder, dean of the Forestry School of the University of 

 Washington, who is chairman of the committee on re- 

 forestation. This bill has to do with the purchase by the 

 state for reforestation of forest lands or logged-off lands. 



TREES WITH A HISTORY 



IS there a tree with a history in your town? 

 What do you know about it? Is it being 

 cared for or is it being allowed to die? AMERICAN 

 Forestry would like to know about such trees 

 and would be glad to receive pictures and articles, 

 not to exceed 100 words about such trees. Such 

 as are available will be printed in the magazine 

 from time to time. 



