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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



ring drawn tight enough to prevent fish of a marketable 

 size from being completely swallowed, but at the same 

 time loose enough to allow the smaller fish captured to 

 pass and feed the bird. The ring is never removed. 

 Around the body is a cord to which is fastened at the 

 middle of the back a short piece of stiff whalebone with 

 which the bird is lowered into, or lifted from, the water 

 when at work. To the whalebone a twelve-foot spruce 

 fibre is fastened which is so lacking in pliancy as to mini- 

 mize the possibility of entanglement. 



The fishing ground reached, the master lowers his 

 twelve birds one at a time into the water, gathering the 

 reins into his left hand. The second fisher does the 

 same with his four birds. The kako starts his din. The 

 birds set to work, diving with wonderful swiftness, as 

 fish, attracted by the torches, become plentiful. 



Now is the time the master proves his skill and makes 

 his reputation, for he is the busiest of men. His eyes 

 must be everywhere with his hands working accordingly, 

 adjusting the dozen strings and keeping the twelve erratic 

 fisher-birds from entangling themselves. He must see 

 the moment that any of the flock is gorged a fact the 

 bird makes known by swimming about in a foolish, 

 helpless way with head and swollen neck erect. Dis- 

 covering this, the master shortens in on the bird, lifts 

 it aboard, forces open the bill with his left hand, still 

 holding the eleven other lines, and squeezes out the fish 

 with his right hand. The bird is off on a fresh hunt 

 so quickly that the others have had no time or chance to 

 get their reins tangled. The operation is performed with 

 such dexterity and quickness that in a few seconds the 

 whole team is again well in hand and at work. The 

 operation in no way injures the birds, in fact, so ac- 

 customed to it are they, that they assist. 



From four to eight marketable fish is the usual result 

 for a single excursion of one bird an average of about 

 150 fish an hour per bird, or 450 each for the three 

 hours. Multiply this number by 16 and you have the 

 average catch. And do not forget that fish is one of the 

 chief staples of the Japanese. 



Each bird in the team has and knows its number. A 

 funny habit with them is the quick-witted jealousy with 

 which they invariably insist, by all that cormorant lan- 

 guage and pantomimic protests can do, on due observ- 

 ance of the recognized rights belonging to their individual 

 numbers. Ichi, or number one, is the corps leader, the 

 senior in years and rank. The other birds come after him 

 in numerical order according to their ages. He is last 

 to be put into the water and first to be taken out; the 

 first to be fed and the last to enter the carry-baskets 

 when the work is over. Ichi has the post of honor at "the 

 eyes of the boat." Usually he is a solemn, grizzled old 

 fellow, with a pompous air worthy of a victorious poli- 

 tician on the fifth of November. When aboard, the other 

 birds are placed after him, by rank, alternately on either 

 side of the gunwale. If, for instance, number three is 

 placed in the water before number four, or number nine 

 be placed above number seven, a family rumpus prompt- 

 ly results. 



As each bird is taken from the water, the master can 

 tell by its weight if it has secured enough food. If too 

 light it is fed from the catch. The sight of the great, 

 ungainly sea-birds, placed so exactly in the boat shak- 

 ing themselves, flapping their wings, gawing, making 

 toilets, clearing their throats, looking about with a stupid 

 stare and indulging in old-maidish tiffs is quite the 

 strangest one would wish to see. 



USE OF THE RANGE EXPANDS TO MEET WAR CONDITIONS 



TO MEET the war needs of the country, sheep and 

 cattle will be grazed on the National Forests in 

 increased numbers this year. Half a million more 

 sheep and nearly a quarter of a million more cattle will 

 be taken care of than last year, according to the officials 

 of the Forest Service. This will bring the total number 

 of stock grazed under permit to about nine million sheep, 

 2,360,000 head of cattle, and 51,000 swine. 



This increase is on top of an increase of 200,000 sheep 

 and 100,000 cattle made last year, when it was recognized 

 that the country's need for beef, mutton, wool, and hides 

 called for the fullest possible use of the National Forest 

 ranges. Through conservative handling of these ranges 

 for more than ten years their productiveness has been 

 steadily rising. With the country at war, the Secretary 

 of Agriculture felt it was necessary to take some chances 

 of over-grazing in the interest of larger immediate pro- 

 duction. The results of admitting a large number of 

 livestock were, however, carefully watched. The further 

 increases made this year are mainly made possible by 

 finding out how additional stock can be grazed without 



,. injury to the ranges, through more intensive methods 

 J^f use. 



These include readjustments in the allotments of range, 

 closer utilization of the forage, and the opening up of 

 country not before used for grazing stock. In order to 

 make the new areas accessible to stock it has been in many 

 instances necessary to construct trails or driveways. 

 Watering facilities have also been improved. The various 

 increased allowances have been authorized only after 

 careful consideration. 



The largest increase has been made in the Colorado 

 and Wyoming Forests, where 51,000 additional cattle and 

 151,000 more sheep will be grazed. In the State of 

 California there will be 137,000 more sheep. The pro- 

 vision for more cattle is widely distributed through rela- 

 tively small increases on practically all of the Forests. 



In Colorado virtually all of the additional sheep to 

 be grazed are owned in small numbers by settlers of the 

 immediate vicinity. Under present wartime conditions 

 it is no longer necessary to handle sheep in large bands 

 in order to make the handling profitable. 



