2S0 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



cannot be made with them from a moving plane and 

 Lieutenant Graham has found no hope that the process 

 can be speeded up to a point where this will be possible. 

 As a result, in the mapping work which has been car- 

 ried out, a combination of photographs and visual obser- 

 vation is used. After some experiments the system has 

 been worked out until it is highly satisfactory. The air- 

 plane with a photographer first goes over the territory 

 to be mapped and takes an outline strip of photographs. 

 After these are mounted a second trip is made over the 

 territory, with a skilled woodsman who has this outline 

 before him. He is able to note the particular species of 

 trees in each locality as well as to draw in on the vacant 

 spaces the main features of the land and all stands of 

 timber which are not completely shown in the photo- 

 graphic outline. 



The result is a map which physically is sufficiently 

 accurate for all practical purposes at a scale of about 400 

 feet to an inch, and which shows within very close limits 

 the water area, muskeg, fire scars, stands of hard timber 

 and stands of soft timber by species. 



The Laurentide Company has not found it desirable 

 as a general rule to operate directly on the information 

 furnished by these maps and a forester or timber cruiser 

 is usually sent to make a detailed estimate of the stand 

 of timber before a cut is begun. But as a result of these 

 maps, it can determine accurately the physical features 

 of the country in their relation to getting out logs and it 

 can also send its ground parties into the exact points 

 where more detailed work is needed and avoid any chance 

 that they will spend days or weeks wandering about in 

 unprofitable territory. 



The cost of maps on this scale has so far figured to 

 about $6.00 a square mile, if the airplane is used only 

 for mapping purposes. In practice the work is usually 

 done in conjunction with some other duty, so that the 

 cost is considerably reduced. A further reduction is ex- 

 pected during the coming Summer when smaller planes, 

 which can be operated at lower expense, will be used 

 for the work. 



One of the great advantages of this form of survey 

 is the speed at which it can be accomplished. The time 

 required is only about a tenth of that necessary for 

 ground work while the results are far more accurate 

 than anything except detailed surveys could be. 



An instance of the value of this service to the com- 

 pany occurred during the summer of 1920, when word 

 was suddenly received that there would arrive on the 

 same day a man with whom the company was negotiating 

 for the purchase of a large timber area but who had not 

 been expected for several weeks. An official of the com- 

 pany was rushed over to the airdrome and taken out over 

 the territory. Five hours later, when the owner arrived, 

 the company officials were able to meet him with a map 

 of the country and far more accurate information about 

 it than he himself possessed. 



Another valuable service, similar to that of mapping, 

 has been rendered in taking logging bosses and company 

 officials over territories with which they wish to become 

 familiar. A three hours' trip in the air would give them 

 more information than they could have acquired in 

 many weeks spent on the ground and has greatly facili- 

 tated the laying out of plans for future work. 



This work has been carried out at long distances from 

 the headquarters and one particular trip covered 850 

 miles through the northern woods for timber explora- 

 tion. This distance was accomplished in twelve and one- 

 half hours. Several stops were made to permit the ob- 

 servers to complete their notes of the country traveled 

 over and one stop was made for fuel. The airplane car- 

 ried, beside Lieutenant Graham and his mechanic, a pho- 

 tographer and Mr. M. C. Small, chief of the logging 

 operations of the company. Mr. Small says that the in- 

 formation acquired in these twelve hours was greater 

 than could have been secured by years of travel on foot. 

 The value of the airplane in fire patrol 'has been very 

 great. In this territory the danger period occurs in the 

 early spring when the woods dry out quickly and fires are 

 are likely to gain headway during the period before the 

 hardwoods put on leaves and serve as a blanket. The 

 airplane on fire patrol is able to observe a strip between 

 forty and eighty miles wide and to report very promptly. 

 Further, the fact that the planes were in the air and 

 likely to come down to investigate any suspicious circum- 

 stances has had a splendid moral effect on the few in- 

 habitants of the district, who have feared that they could 

 be detected in case of any carelessness. It has also had 

 a deterring effect on criminals, who realize that pursuit 

 by airplane would make escape almost impossible. 



THE GENTLE WOOD 



The gentle wood enfolds me in its arms, 

 As doth a mother crooning to her child ; 



There are no cares, no jars, no rude alarms, 

 Here in the ways of this unbroken wild, 



Each softly swaying tree breathes tenderness ; 

 Each bough-and-leaf-touch seems a loving word ; 



The sight of every flower is a caress, 



A harmony the note of every bird; 

 Even the grasses murmur happy things; 



The vines a soothing tenderness impart ; 

 The wind, with the faint winnow of its wings, 



Reveals a gracious kindliness of heart ; 

 Apart from men, and the world's restless mood, 



In the wood's depths I find beatitude. 



Clinton Scollard, {Reprinted.) 



