WAR'S EFFECT ON TREES 



113 



South Carolina, presented the speakers and summed up 

 the situation at the close of the hearing in an eloquent 

 and forceful address in favor of the proposed measure. 



There was submitted for the consideration of the com- 

 mittee an amendment to the Agricultural Appropriation 

 bill, providing that two million dollars a year, for the next 

 five years, shall be provided for the purpose of continuing 

 the purchase of forest lands, and a sum, not exceeding 

 $25,000, to pay the necessary expenses of the Forest 

 Reservation Commission. 



The arguments were presented by Henry S. Graves, 

 chief forester of the United States ; William L. Hall, in 

 charge of the the Weeks law operation for the Forest 

 Service; George Otis Smith, director of the Geological 

 Survey; Senators John W. Weeks, of Massachusetts, 

 after whom the original bill was named; Allen Hollis, 

 representing the State of New Hampshire, the Society 

 for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests ; and the 

 Connecticut Valley Water Ways Association; Hon. 

 Harvey N. Shepard, of Massachusetts, representing the 

 Appalachian Mountain Club; George S. Powell, of Ashe- 

 ville, N. C, representing the Appalachian Park Associa- 

 tion; Harold M. Parker, chairman of the Massachusetts 

 Forestry Commission, representing the State of Massa- 

 chusetts and Governor McCall ; I. C. Williams, deputy 

 forestry commission of Pennsylvania, representing Gov- 

 ernor Brumbaugh ; John S. Ames, of Boston, represent- 

 ing the American Forestry Association ; Frank M. West, 

 of Springfield, Mass., representing the Western New 



England Chamber of Commerce, and W. O. Filley, of 

 New Haven, Conn., representing the State. 



There was a large attendance at the hearing, many mem- 

 bers of the Senate and House, who had been requested 

 by various State bodies to represent them, spending some 

 time listening to the arguments; and a large number of 

 delegates whom there was not time to formally hear, 

 whose names and whose authorization to attend were 

 later presented to the committee for its records. 



Besides those mentioned there were present, among 

 others, the following : 



H. C. Bryant, New Haven, Conn. ; Philip W. Ayres, 

 Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests ; 

 Allen Chamberlain, Massachusetts Forestry Association 

 and Society for the Protection of New Hampshire 

 Forests ; E. C. Hirst, State Forester of New Hampshire, 

 representing the New Hampshire Forestry Commission 

 and the New Hampshire State Board of Trade ; W. H. 

 Plummer, Director Asheville (N. C.) Board of Trade; 

 Dr. Joseph Hyde Pratt, Chapel Hill, N. C. ; A. E. Tate, 

 High Point, N. C. ; Fred Tate, High Point, N. C. ; C. C. 

 Smoot, North Wilkesboro, N- C. ; H. E. Fries, Winston- 

 Salem, N. C. : Julius C. Martin, Asheville (N. C.) Board 

 of Trade; Mr. DeBlanc, Agricultural and Commercial 

 Association, Riedsville, N. C. ; J. W. Haynes, Buncombe 

 County, N. C. ; D. Hiden Ramsey, Asheville, N. C. ; J. C. 

 Smoot, North Carolina Forestry Association, North 

 Wilkesboro. N. C. ; W. M. Goodman, Knoxville, Tenn., 

 Board of Commerce ; Porter H. Dale, representing the 

 Greater Vermont Association. 



War's Effect on Trees 



By F. McVickar 



Mr. McVickar is a well-known Canadian forester, who enlisted with the Canadian contingent, was assigned to the cavalry 

 arm of the service, and has been serving for some time in the British line in Northern France. He is not permitted to publicly 

 announce the name of his troop nor the place it is located. Editor. 



I AM sending all I could scrape up about the effects of 

 war on forests during the two months I was in 

 France. In the army on service a man's time is 

 never his own, and his movements are also very much 

 restricted. Also when in the areas affected one is gener- 

 ally as close to mother earth as he can get during day- 

 light hours ; and consequently one's horizon is very cir- 

 cumscribed, especially in a very flat country. 



"The sound of flying bullets and the burst of shells 

 too tends to keep one's mind occupied with problems 

 which at ordinary times are more interesting to wood- 

 chucks, badgers and the like than to foresters. How- 

 ever, now that everybody is talking of the war, and 

 thinking of the war above all else, my little effort may 

 not be entirely unwelcome. 



"Unfortunately the country in which our force is 

 operating is almost devoid of woodland. However, 

 farther south in Alsace and Lorraine, there are extensive 

 forests, but of course I couldn't get near them. Photos 

 are absolutely out of the question. Cameras are not 

 allowed out there to any except a few generals, etc. 



"I have been in the trenches in Northern France; 

 and although I didn't see enough of the effect of mili- 

 tary operations on forest land to warrant venturing on 

 anything like a technical discussion of the subject, a few 

 of my impressions of this side of warfare may not be 

 entirely amiss. First, I would like to say that while these 

 operations are going on it is pretty nearly impossible to 

 make any observations of value on this subject. This, 

 I hope, will be made clear in the remarks which follow. 



"The part of the line held by the British runs through 

 a very low, flat country largely taken up by farming. 

 It boasts of nothing but small patches of wood scattered 

 about here and there. 



"The operations that have taken place on this territory 

 may be grouped under two heads ; the first heading 

 covering those operations incident to the advance toward 

 Paris at the beginning of the war, and the second cover- 

 ing the almost stationary siege warfare of the present 

 stage of the war. 



"The damage caused by the first-class of operations is 

 very slight in this part of the country. Chiefly becaus? 



