54 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



we will have an unbroken forest. Then I think land 

 classification will largely take care of itself. As the 

 1 Herniation expands, as the new settler requires additional 

 areas, he will segregate the best soil, clear it off, and 

 put it to use, and in the meantime all the balance of it will 

 be growing timber, which will be getting, as years pass 

 by, more and more valuable." 



.Mr. Forbes was kept busy answering questions con- 

 cerning the Louisiana situation and the feasibility of 

 applying Louisiana's methods in others of the Southern 

 States. The meeting finally unanimously passed the fol- 

 lowing motion : 



"That the basis of successful reforestation is fire pro- 

 tection and that it shall be the purpose of the various 

 organizations here represented to individually and col- 

 lectively exert all possible efforts within their respective 

 states and territories to the end that the custom of 

 "burning-over" the land be stopped or minimized to the 

 greatest possible extent and to further place practical 

 reforestation prominently in their respective programs of 

 future activities." 



". . . That in our opinion the work of reforesta- 

 tion as conducted in Louisiana should be emulated in 

 other Southern States and to the end that this shall be 

 done will our efforts be directed." 



"That it is the consensus of our opinion that cattle 

 raising and reforestation should go hand in hand with 

 any National forest policy which may be evolved." 



The work being done by the Federal Government in 

 co-operative fire protection under the Weeks Law was 

 explained to the meeting and the effort to obtain an in- 

 crease in the Weeks Law appropriation for fire protec- 

 tion from $100,000 annually to $500,000, received hearty 

 endorsement. 



United States Forest Service, under the Department of 

 Agriculture, which provides for general expenses as 

 follows : 



"For silvicultural, dendrological, and other experiments 

 and investigations independently or in co-operation with 

 other branches of the Federal Government, with states 

 and with individuals, to determine the best methods for 

 the conservative management of forests and forest lands, 

 $78,728." 



Urge that this appropriation be increased to $250,000, 

 which amount will provide for such forest investigation 

 as may be necessary. 



FOR FOREST INVESTIGATIONS 



/"iUR forest resources are being depleted from two to 

 " three times as fast as our forests are growing. The 

 supply in our eastern section is rapidly approaching ex- 

 haustion ; the forest supply in the South will be exhausted 

 within twelve or fifteen years; much of the timber in the 

 Lake States is gone, and that on the Pacific Coast is 

 being steadily cut. 



Measures for reproduction, for fire protection, and for 

 other features of a national forest policy, to provide for- 

 ests for the future, are absolutely essential at this time. 



It is necessary, for the successful operation of a na- 

 tional forest policy, to have a series of forest investiga- 

 tions in order to develop the best method of reproducing, 

 growing, and protecting timber on denuded lands, for 

 cutting and protecting timber on timberlands, and for in- 

 vestigating other forest problems. 



It is necessary, in order to conduct such forest investi- 

 gations, to have forest experiment stations located in 

 various sections of the country and also to provide exist- 

 ing stations with more funds. Members of the Associa- 

 tion are, therefore, asked to write to their Senators and 

 Representatives in Congress and urge them to favor an 

 increase in that section of the appropriation for the 



CAN SAVE WHITE PINE 



THAT the white pine, most valuable of American soft- 

 woods, can be saved, and not made extinct by the 

 dreaded blister rust was the consensus of opinion at the 

 international blister rust conference in Albany, when 

 experts from all parts of the country gathered to dis- 

 cuss means of stopping the spread of the infection. If 

 proper care is taken to prevent its spread there is no 

 reason why the reforestation of this country with white 

 pine can not be continued. Methods of treatment of the 

 infected tree, but particularly of stopping the carrying 

 of the spores to uninfected trees were discussed. Dr. 

 L. H. Pennington, head of the Forest Pathology Depart- 

 ment of the New York State College of Forestry 

 at Syracuse, told of important tests in the Essex 

 County region, to determine the distance to which 

 the disease could be carried, and he gave his opinion 

 that the blister rust spores were able to carry 

 the infection to a much lesser distance than has com- 

 monly been supposed, thus making the protection of un- 

 infected stands of pine much simpler. He urged that the 

 greatest care be taken, however, to completely eradicate 

 the currant and gooseberry bushes which participate in 

 transmitting the pest within the danger zones. Prof. 

 John W. Stephen, head of the Silviculture Department of 

 the New York College of Forestry, told of practical in- 

 vestigations in Wisconsin. Clifford L. Pettis, chief for- 

 ester of the New York Conservation Commission, pre- 

 sided at the conference. 



LASTING QUALITIES OF CEDAR 



A N ancient grave marker dug up near Seattle by 

 -^*- workmen clearing land, disclosed a remarkable testi- 

 monial to the long life, durability and resistance to 

 decay possessed by Washington red cedar. 



The lettering on the marker, which remains distinct, 

 showed that it must have been placed in commission 

 nearly fifty years ago. There is no name on it to indi- 

 cate over whose grave it was erected, but the date of 

 death is inscribed as Dec. 30, 1868. 



When unearthed the cedar piece was several feet 

 under ground, indicating that it had lain there for many 

 years. Although conditions were most favorable for 

 decay, the marker remained in an almost perfect state 

 of preservation. While it was weathered to a deep gray 

 color, fungi and insects had given it a wide berth. 



