880 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



victims. It has a clear cool note of two syllables which 

 is always given when it takes wing and further adds 

 to its charm. 



The Wilson's plover of our southern coasts is a very 



NEST AND EGGS OF THE KILLDEER 



The eggs are large for the size of the bird and very protectively colored. 

 They are pointed at one end and ordinarily fit together like the segments 

 of a pie. Here one of the eggs has been disarranged by the bird's hasty 

 departure. The nest is a mere depression in the gravel. 



similar bird but is somewhat larger. The piping plover 

 is a much paler bird and does not have the pronounced 

 breast band of the ring-necked species. It is nowhere a 

 common bird but is found in summer locally from 



CAN YOU SEE THEM? 

 Three young killdeers crowding in the nest and one unhatched egg are 

 here shown. The young birds are even more protectively colored than 

 the eggs and crouch at the slightest alarm and this makes them very 

 difficult to find. 



Saskatchewan to Virginia. The snowy plover of the 

 southwestern states is an even lighter bird with just a 

 suggestion of the breast band and face markings of 

 the other species. 



All of the plovers have long legs and relatively shorter 



toes than the sandpipers with which they usually associ- 

 ate. Their bills are likewise much shorter and are 

 slightly swollen at the tip being suggestive of those of 

 pigeons with which birds, indeed, they are supposed 

 to have much in common. 



NEW YORK FORESTRY AND RECONSTRUCTION 



TN AN address before the annual meeting of the New 

 * York State Forestry Association held in the Educa- 

 tional Building in Albany, oji January 21st, Dr. Hugh 

 P. Baker of the State College of Forestry at Syracuse, 

 who has just returned to his work in the College after 

 sixteen months as an officer in the regular infantry, de- 

 scribed the effects of the war upon the torests of the 

 world and discussed the important problem of the de- 

 velopment of a land policy for New York and the rela- 

 tion of the forests to water conservation. He empha- 

 sized the fact that the period of reconstruction will be 

 the day of the technical man, speaking as follows : 



"The turning of nearly every industry in the country 

 from the beaten path of pre-war years into war channels 

 through which was poured unending shiploads of war 

 supplies onto the shores of France, has demonstrated 

 clearly the idea that the time of reconstruction in this 

 country and the period of prosperity which seems to 

 promise to follow reconstruction will be the day of the 

 technical man." 



In describing the effect of the war in Northern France, 

 Dr. Baker stated that for the two years ending Decem- 

 ber, 1918, the total requirements of the Associated Gov- 

 ernments were approximately 600 million cubic feet of 

 saw log timber; three quarters of which by volume had 

 to be large sized material. This tremendous demand 

 upon the French forests had to come from a greatly 

 decreased forest area since over 1,230,000 acres of forest 

 land was in the territory occupied by the Germans. The 

 loss of this acreage of forest land meant to France an 

 annual loss of approximately 17^4 million cubic feet of 

 saw log timber. The drain upon the French forests for 

 the past four years is estimated to be equivalent to the 

 growth of twenty years. In other words, the growth 

 that would have taken place in the next twenty years 

 in the French forests has already been used. It was 

 shown further that the forest areas of practically every 

 other European country, excepting Russia, have been 

 seriously depleted and that lumber for the rebuilding of 

 the devastated portions of France and Belgium must 

 come from America, as the disorganized condition of 

 Russia will probably not allow that country to come into 

 the world lumber trade for years to come. 



In emphasizing the place of the forester in assisting 

 the State of New York in solving its land and water 

 problems, Dr. Baker emphasized the necessity of having 

 a clear understanding of just what forestry means. As 

 agriculture means not alone the growing of a crop of 

 grain but the production of food and draft animals, and 

 the manufacture of the crude products, as in the dairy 

 industry, and finally the marketing of the product, so 

 forestry has been as broadly defined in the 200 years of 

 its application to European forests. 



