BOY SCOUTS IN CITY PARK WORK 



585 



TYPES OF FARM BUILDINGS FOR WHICH CYPRESS IS PARTICULARLY DESIRABLE 



cent efficient remain monuments to his industry and some- farm, in the suburb, in the city home and in the thousands 

 what hasty notions of architecture. The story of cypress of factories whose products call for the use of wood upon 

 values and cypress uses is being told every day on the which dependence may be placed. 



BOY SCOUTS IN CITY PARK WORK 



By H. H. Tryon 



Instructor in Forest Utilisation, New York State College 

 of Forestry 



THE Park Commission of Syracuse, New York, had 

 for some time been confronted with the problem 

 of how to develop Westminster Hill, a steep little 

 knoll located in the University Hill residence section and 

 which, on account of its topography, is not suitable for 

 building purposes. A solution was found by enlisting 

 the help of local Boy Scouts and the New Yoik State 

 College of Forestry. Five thousand forest trees were 

 supplied from the College nursery ; these were chiefly 

 red and white pine, twice transplanted, with about 300 

 Norway spruce, also twice transplanted. This stock was 

 brought in from the nursery the night before and was 

 wheeled in near the scene of action. In the morning, 75 

 Scouts began the work of foresting the slopes of this hill. 

 Mr. S. W. Allen of the Forestry College was in charge, 

 assisted by several other members of the Forestry faculty. 



The spruce was put in in a border along the base of 

 the hill to insure its having a generous supply of moisture, 

 while the upper area was filled in with the red and white 

 pine. At the suggestion of the Park Commissioner, the 

 trees were not planted in rows but an irregular arrange- 

 ment was followed, care being taken that spacing was 

 always from 5 to 6 feet. The scattering or " shot-gun " 

 scheme of planting, such as this, was, of course, adopted in 

 view of the fact that the plantation was not being set out 

 for any commercial purpose but rather for its future 

 value as a playground and recreation park. 



The method of planting was the usual one; mattocks 

 were used to dig the holes, the sod being first scraped 

 off. The bulk of the Scouts were detailed in crews of 

 two, one to dig and one to plant. The remainder were 

 apportioned to " puddling " the trees, keeping the planters 

 supplied with stock, and last but not least, a small 

 detachment was kept busy bringing fresh water for the 

 thirsty ones. 



At noon work was stopped and the Scouts divided 

 into groups, each one with a small cooking fire at its center, 

 by means of which they prepared their meats, roasted their 

 potatoes, made cocoa, etc. For a short time after dinner, 

 Scout games were played, then planting was resumed until 



all the area was covered. It is safe to say that these few 

 hours of labor have assured to Syracuse at some future 

 date an attractive wooded park in the center of one of 



BOY SCOUTS PLANTING A HILLSIDE 



Syracuse, New York, solved the problem of how to develop a steep hill overlooking 

 the city by getting the Boy Scouts to plant it with red and white pine and 

 Norway spruce. 



its principal residence districts. Those who planted the 

 trees expect that at least 70 per cent will survive; and if 

 grass fires can be kept out, the existence is assured of 

 a grove of trees whose intrinsic value will be inestimable. 



DYES FROM ORANGE WOOD 



DUE to the investigations of the Forest Products 

 Laboratory at Madison, Wisconsin, the manu- 

 facture of dyes from the waste of osage orange 

 wood has become a commercial success. Carloads of the 

 wood are now being shipped to eastern extract plants 

 from Oklahoma and the dye is now produced at the rate 

 of about $750,000 per year. Previous to the establish- 

 ment of this industry, the waste of the osage orange wood 

 had no market value and the extract plants were importing 

 dye woods from Mexico and Central America at a very 

 high cost. 



