582 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



GETTING THE STEAM UP 



In this kiln 17,000 gun stock blanks are being made ready for service. Five days 

 is about the time required to prepare them. The walnut timber which_ goes into 

 airplane propellers is steamed in a similar way before the turning of it into its 

 finished shape is begun. At some points whole batteries of kilns are at work, hissing 

 out the smoke of battle thousands of miles from the firing line. 



Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps and in planting 

 war gardens. As a result of the President's personal 

 appeal to them they feel that they are the trusted mes- 

 sengers of the commander-in-chief of the American army 

 and navy. In some places the boys attach tags to the 

 tree located, giving the name of the scout and his troop 

 number, and adding that this marking was done "at the 

 request of the President of the United States." With 

 reports still coming in, there have been located in this 

 manner about 4,000 carloads of lumber. 



Valuable aid is being given by the American Red Cross 

 which has sent requests to its chapters and branches in 

 various parts of the country to direct the attention of the 

 members to the need for walnut. This help is referred 

 to as "an opportunity to demonstrate their patriotism in a 

 most practical and effective way." 



"Owners of walnut trees can probably find out in your 

 community," says the Red Cross statement, "which saw- 

 mills have government contracts, but if this information 

 is not available, please write, giving the number of trees 

 and their location, to the Ordnance Department, Procure- 

 ment Division, Small Arms Section, Washington, D. C; 



One Red Cross member who desired to donate some 

 trees to the government was informed that this could 

 not be done but that the same result could be accomplish- 

 ed if the trees were given to the Red Cross chapter or 

 the national organization which could sell them and use 

 the money thus obtained to aid in the great philanthropic 

 and life-saving work of that society. 



Offers of all sorts have been received. People have 

 written in to inform the war department that they had an 

 organ, a walnut bedstead, some furniture, a few boards 

 in the attic or other small pieces of this wood. Of course, 

 the patriotic spirit back of these desires to help is greatly 

 appreciated, even when the material is not available for 



use. Unless as much as a carload lot at least could 

 be assembled in the same neighborhood, it would 

 not be practicable to utilize the lumber. 



Representatives of the United States Forest 

 Service and county agents of the Department of 

 Agriculture, in addition to their own field men, 

 are working with the Bureau of Aircraft Produc- 

 tion and the Ordnance Department in locating 

 walnut and in getting the owners in touch with 

 the buyers. There is complete co-operation be- 

 tween these two branches, and after that part of 

 the lumber has been taken which is most suitable 

 for one purpose, the balance is applied to the 

 other. Ordinarily when a large tree contains 

 material for both airplane and gun stock use, 

 about fifteen per cent goes into the former and 

 seventy-five per cent into the latter, the remaining 

 ten per cent being sold for small furniture manu- 

 facture or some similar purpose. Trees which 

 are large enough for government use as a rule 

 would be fifty inches and up in circumference at 

 a point breast high. 



Three giant black walnuts which had stood 

 in the graveyard of a Presbyterian Church in a little 

 Maryland town for almost two hundred years, have 



"DRAFTED FOR SERVICE" 



This fine old walnut tree has been selected to serve the country whose 

 soil nourished it. There will be no cry of "Woodman, spare that tree," 

 when the ax is laid to the root, for it has been called into the service of 

 the Government. It will soon be on its way to the airplane and gun 

 stock factory. 



