STATE NEWS 



ooo and 300,000 acres, there is a staggering 

 loss in taxable values every year. 



The annual forest fire report of the De- 

 partment of Conservation shows the loss 

 from fires during 1919 to have been the 

 smallest in a great many years. While no 

 fire records were kept prior to 1916, it is 

 probable that not since 1905, when 75 inches 

 of rain fell in the State, has so small an 

 area of forested and cut-over land been 

 burned over. A rainfall of 69 inches is, of 

 course, chiefly responsible for the small 

 loss, although in the portions of the State 

 where fire patrol was maintained the 

 State's campaign against fires has evidently 

 borne fruit. 275,000 acres are said to 

 have burned over, all in the long-leaf 

 pine region. About two-thirds of this area 

 was cut-over land, and the total damage of 

 $130,000 was distributed as follows: To 

 standing timber, $23,000; to young growth, 

 $96,000 ; to grazing, $10,000 ; and to improve- 

 ments, $1,000. This damage was done by 

 897 fires. The causes of the fires make an 

 interesting study. 13 per cent was at- 

 tributed to railroads, 17 per cent to lum- 

 bering, 5 per cent to brush burning, 4 per 

 cent to hunters and campers, 3 per cent to 

 miscellaneous causes, and 58 per cent to 

 incendiarism. These per cents are for 

 those fires the cause of which were known ; 

 as a matter of fact, nearly 88 per cent of 

 the fires were of unknown origin. The 

 very high percentage of incendiarism is 

 due to the fact that three-fourths of the 

 fires occurred during the Spring, at which 

 time it is still the practice of many stock- 

 men to burn off the old grass with the mis- 

 taken idea that it improves the range. An- 

 other source of incendiarism is the desire 

 of knot gatherers and wood haulers to get 

 rid of the tall grass which hides the mate- 

 rial they are seeking. The State spent 

 $1,750 for fire control in 1919, and received 

 $2,100 from the United States Forest Serv- 

 ice under the Weeks law for the same pur- 

 pose. From one to thirteen men were on 

 patrol at various times during the year. 



A preliminary report on a study of the 

 cost of logging and milling small timber 

 was made public for the first time by the 

 Department at the Southern Logging Con- 

 gress in New Orleans in October. Some 

 very interesting figures were presented, 

 showing the extreme costliness of lumber 

 from small trees of 12 inches in diameter 

 and less, as compared with the cost of lum- 

 ber from medium and large sized trees. 

 For example, the cost of felling and saw- 

 ing was three times as much per thousand 

 for 8-inch trees as for 16-inch; skidding 

 7-inch logs distances up to 200 feet cost 

 five times as much per thousand feet as 

 for 14-inch logs ; the cost of sawing 7-inch 

 logs in the mill was nearly 90 per cent 

 higher per thousand than for 14 per cent 

 logs. The department intends to gather 

 more and better information along the 

 same lines, the figures as given out being 

 preliminary and tentative. In connection 



251 



iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiui 



Blasting stumps is easy 

 grubbing is drudgery 



To remove a stump by grubbing and horse 

 pulling is a back-breaking, killing job. When 

 at last the stump is out, the job is but half 

 done. The big, heavy chunks must be dis- 

 posed of. 



Compare this kind of stumping with that de- 

 scribed by Mrs. J. R. Cronister, of Jeanette, 

 Penna., who writes: 



"We read tbc book. 'Better Farming.' The pictures and 

 directions made everything so plain. You surely are 

 right in saying Atlas Farm Powder is the easy way to 

 get rid of stumps. It is so much easier than any other 

 way we ever tried." 



Let us send you the book, "Better Farming 

 with Atlas Farm Powder," mentioned by Mrs. 

 Cronister. Its 128 pages and 140 illustrations 

 show how to use Atlas Farm Powder to re- 

 move stumps, break boulders, blast beds for 

 trees, make ditches and drain swamps. 



ATLAS POWDER COMPANY 

 Division F.D 3, Philadelphia, Penna. 



Dealers everywhere Magazines near you 



with the study an attempt was made to 

 approximate the over-run on logs of vari- 

 ous sizes by actual tests at the mill. 



NEW YORK 



A N appeal to the Legislature to extend 

 the jurisdiction of the Conservation 

 Commission of New York State to all the 

 Forests of the State along lines similar to 

 those upon which it is now exercised in 

 the Adirondack and Catskill sections, is 

 made in that part of the Commission's re- 

 port relating to the work of the Division 

 of Lands and Forests. Commissioner 

 Pratt points out that the total area of farm 

 woodlots in New York State is only slightly 

 smaller than that occupied by the great 

 Adirondack Forest, and that with a proper 

 administration of the land best adapted 

 for timber production, New York State 

 should eventually be able to supply a large 

 part, if not all, of its timber needs. 



A special campaign to encourage the 

 broadest possible recreational use of the 

 State Forest Preserve and the St. Law- 



rence Reservation is being made by the 

 Commission as "a public service of the 

 greatest importance." Seven free illustrated 

 "Recreation Circulars" have already been 

 issued, and if funds are made available the 

 work of improving and marking trails, the 

 building of open camps and the construc- 

 tion of fireplaces throughout the Forest 

 Preserve will be undertaken on a scale 

 commensurate with the great use that the 

 people are making of this public property. 



Eleven new steel observation towers 

 erected during 1919 bring the total number 

 of such towers in use to 50, and leave only 

 4 of the Commission's fire stations still 

 to be equipped with standard towers. The 

 266 forest fires reported by the observers 

 in the Adirondacks and Catskills aid dam- 

 age to the extent of only $3,825, which is 

 less than in 1918, and far below the average. 



Additions during the year to the area of 

 the Forest Preserve, which now totals 

 1,886,500 acres, were made at an average 

 purchase price of $13.48 per acre in the 

 Adirondacks and $6.26 per acre in the 

 Catskills. 



