THE CONIFERS CURSE 



285 



of all animals should be condemned as a nuisance and its 

 ravages minimized, if he is not entirely exterminated. 

 This can be done by concerted action on the part of 

 private owners, the special agents and forestry officials 

 in charge of the public domain. 



NATIONAL FORESTS' TIMBER 



OF the 688,922,000 board feet of timber cut on the 

 National Forests during the fiscal year ended June 

 30, 1915, according to statistics just compiled by 

 the United States Forest Service, 123,168,000 feet was 

 taken under free-use permits given to settlers and others 

 living in or near National Forests. There were 40,000 

 free-use permits, and the value of the timber they cut 

 was $206,464.13. 



The remainder, or 565,745,000 board feet, was cut 

 under sales contracts, for the most part with lumber oper- 

 ators, but including 19,246,000 feet sold at cost to farmers 

 and settlers, as required by a special provision of the law. 

 The prices received for all sold timber varied from 50 

 cents to $5 per thousand feet, and the total value was 

 $1,179,448.39. 



EXPERIMENTAL NUT ORCHARD 



THE New York State College of Forestry is planting 

 an experimental and demonstration nut orchard 

 on its Chittenango Forest Experimental Station. 

 English walnuts, Paragon chestnuts, pecans and Hardy 

 almonds in different varieties, also hazelnuts and filberts, 

 will be tested for hardiness, growth and adaptability to 

 New York conditions and bearing proclivities. The Eng- 

 lish walnuts secured from the Jones Nurseries at Lan- 

 caster. Pa., and planted last season, have grown vigor- 

 ously, the seedlings having attained a height of 27 inches. 

 The fact that these seedlings have come through the 

 winter in perfect condition is very gratifying and shows 

 the possibilities of nut culture throughout this region. 



HUGE DOME OF GRANITE 



By Guv E. Mitchell. 



ONE of the mose remarkable masses of solid granite 

 in the world is the huge bare dome surmounting 

 a high mountain of the same imperishable rock. 

 The mountain itself rises very steeply from the almost 

 fiat floor of the Yosemite Valley and the view shown in 

 the photograph is an unusual one of the rear of "Half 

 Dome" taken from the crest of the beautiful Nevada 

 Falls. The hugeness of this dome may be better appre- 

 ciated when you know that the tiny looking trees at its 

 base near the arrow, are big pines over 100 feet high. 

 Straight up from the arrow to the top of the dome the 

 distance is 1,400 feet. The other side of the granite dome 

 is a sheer perpendicular face of 2,000 feet. Incredible 

 as it appears, it is possible for a good mountain climber 

 to scale this dome and crawling to the edge to look over 

 and even drop a stone straight down over a third of a 

 mile before it will strike. The remaining 2,500 feet to 

 the bottom of the valley is only a little less sheer, and 



objects in the valley 4,500 feet below, such as horses and 

 people, appear smaller than ants. Only those with well 

 seasoned nerves dare approach the edge of this half 

 dome without being fast tied with ropes. The great rock 

 is of course immovable, but with most people there is a 

 vivid impression that it is falling, and a strong tendency 

 to become panic stricken and pitch over the edge to ter- 



HALF DOME, YOSEMITE VALLEY 



Rear view of Half Dome, Yosemite Valley, Cal. A great granite mass 

 which overlooks the Valley from an altitude of 4,756 feet above its 

 floor. 



rible destruction. The great granite sentinel must have 

 been shorn apart by some mighty cataclysm in past ages. 

 Half Dome is the commanding feature of the upper 

 end of the Yosemite Valley with Tenaya Creek passing 

 by one side of it and the Merced River on the other, 

 uniting in the main Yosemite Valley. 



DAMAGE BY WILD ANIMALS 



THE annual losses of live stock on the National 

 Forest ranges of the West due to predatory ani- 

 mals are over $500,000. An organized campaign 

 is now going on to exterminate these animals. Wolves 

 are responsible for about 70 per cent of the cattle losses, 

 while bears cause most of the remainder. Approximately 

 75 per cent of the sheep losses are due to coyotes, 20 

 per cent to bears, and 5 per cent to lynxes and wild cats. 

 Mountain lions are charged with killing only a few head 

 of cattle and sheep. 



