554 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



FORESTRY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 



Continued Jrmn Preceding Poo* 



thirty years old, and must be over fifty years old before 

 they make good lumber. A beech and birch will take 

 twice as long, and are not made into paper at any stage. 



"On State land the lumber must not be cut. Fish 

 and game are j)rotected by state and federal laws well 

 enforced by wardens. 



"The forests are protected from fire by lookouts, 

 wardens and guards. At present there are not enough 

 guards to stop large fires that may get started, so the 

 people have to turn out and become fire-fighters to save 

 their property. Outside of the State lands little has been 

 done to renew the forest ; but any who wish to take the 

 time and trouble to plant may get young trees from the 

 State, and a few have undertaken to replant. When all 

 do this the future of the Adirondack forests will be sure." 



Thus ends Master Galloway's story of the Adiron- 

 dack region. Some day, as a forester, he may look back 

 on what is, as far as I know, his first printed work on 

 the subject. Looking back at it as a grown-up, will he 

 think, as I do, that he found out a great deal, or will he 

 then decide that he knew very little in the light of all the 

 things he has learned since? 



CD 



THE POISONOUS CICUTA 



\NY deaths, both of human beings and domestic 

 animals, are caused every year by cicuta, or water 

 hemlock, a poisonous plant. It is the most vio- 

 lently poisonous of temperate region plants, yet 

 it is not generally recognized. Cicuta is widely distrib- 

 uted. Unfortunately, it resembles a number of harm- 

 less plants and is not easily recognizable. It belongs to 

 the same family as carrots and parsnips. It has a num- 

 ber of popular names, of which the most common is 

 "covvbane," or "water hemlock." In the mountain re- 

 gions of the West it is frequently called "parsnip," or 

 "wild parsnip." Other names, less common, are "snake- 

 root," "snakeweed," "beaver poison," "muskrat weed," 

 "spotted hemlock" and ".spotted parsley." 



The plant grows in wet places and is especially com- 

 mon in some parts of the West along irrigating ditches. 

 It has a thickened rootstock with roots which some- 

 times takes the form of a group of tufiers. The cicuta is 

 most readily distinguished from plants of similar ap- 

 pearance growing under the same conditions by the trans- 

 verse chambers in the rootstock. Further description, 

 except by botanical terms, is difficult. 



Only the root of cicuta is poisonous. Cases of poison- 

 ing are more frequent in the spring, partly because the 

 roots are more likely to be noticed at that time and 

 partly because they appear to be more poisonous then 

 than later in the season. Occasionally stock find the roots 

 when they are washed out by high water in small streams. 

 Farmers in their plowing sometimes bring to the surface 

 a considerable number of roots and these are eaten by 

 cattle, with resulting sickness and death. 



SPRUCE FOR AEROPLANES 



GiAPT. DE LA GRANGE of the French aviatiou 

 I corps, says that Uncle Sam's greatest aid to the 

 allies can be accomplished by aeroplanes, built of 

 American spruce, of which large quantities are 

 being shipped from the forests of the Pacific Coast both 

 to American and English manufacturers. He says: 



"If the Government wishes to, before the first of 

 April, 1918, it can have a tremendous aero fleet. Sup- 

 pose it decided to have only 5,000 planes and 10,000 

 motors. In order to keep that number of aeroplanes 

 always at the front it will be necessary to build 2,000 

 planes and 4,000 motors per month, viz, 18,000 planes 

 and 36,000 motors during the next nine months. There- 

 fore, between January 1, 1918, and December 31, 1918, 

 the United States must build 22,000 planes and 46,000 

 motors. This means a great eilort on the part of tht 

 American factories. They can make this effort, as they 

 have already the buildings, the workmen and part of the 

 machinery needed. They have also a large number of 

 the best scientists and technicians. The size of the orders 

 given them will insure obtaining the money necessary 

 to organize the plants for their construction." 



Photngraph by G. T. K. Norton 



AFAMILIAR SIGHT TO WASHINGTONIANS 



'pHIS "house" stands on the lawn or mall of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. It is 

 made of a hollowed section of a red cedar and was 

 first exhibited at the World's Fair; in pieces it was 

 brought to Washington and set up, when the roof was 

 added. It is sixteen feet in diameter; the lower por- 

 tion is used for the storage of gardener's tools, while 

 birds by the hundreds live in the upper story. The 

 whole is a rich, dark red and is ivy-grown, and forms 

 one of the most attractive bits of wildness in the city. 

 The dome of the New National Museum building is 

 seen on the horizon at the left. 



