460 



AMKRICAN FORESTRY 



including some interior farming land. They comprise 

 the White Mountains, the Monongahela, the Potomac, 

 the Massanutten, the Shenandoah, the Natural Bridge, the 

 White Top, the Unaka, the Boone, the Mount Mithcell, 

 the Pisgah, the Savannah, the Georgia, the Cherokee, the 

 Nantahala, the Alabama and the Arkansas and Ozark 

 Purchase Areas. Since the purchase program was 

 developed, other States, including Kentucky, in which 

 conditions seem to meet the requirements of the law, 

 have enacted legislation authorizing the acquisition of 

 lands for National Forest purposes. A further appro- 

 priation of the kind which has been recommended, cover- 

 ing a period of years, would be expended primarily in 

 acquiring lands on areas which have already been located 

 so as to secure consolidation and more efficient adminis- 

 tration, and with the further object of extending the 

 policy to new units located particularly in States in which 

 no purchase areas have as yet been established. The tota' 

 area of hardwood and spruce lands in the mountains of 

 the Eastern States which is unsuited for agricultural 

 purposes and which should be maintained in productive 

 forests is in excess of 30,000,000 acres. 



A TREE GAME 



1. Which tree a kissing game could play? Tulip 



2. And which its father's name could say? Paw-Paw. 



3. Which shall we wear to keep us warm? Fir. 



4. And which do ships prefer in storm? Bay. 

 Which shows what lovelorn maidens do? Pine. 

 And in your hand which carry you? Palm. 

 And which is it that the fruit men fear 



Which makes a call each seventeenth year? Locust. 

 And from their pipes men shake which tree? Ash. 

 Which tree does a bad boy hate to see? Birch. 

 Which like a man bright, dapper, neat? Spruce. 



11. Which is a girl both young and sweet? Peach. 



12. And on which do the children play 



With pail and shovel all the day? Beech. 

 And to which tree shall we now turn 



For goods to wear and stuff to burn? Cottonwood. 

 And now divide you one tree more 



You've part of a dress and part of a door? Hemlock. 

 Which tree is never seen alone? Pear. 

 And which in church doth office hold? Elder. 

 And which is a town in Ireland old? Cork. 

 For this one do not look so far 



Which tells what charming people are? Poplar. 

 The carpenter doth use which tree 



To make his wall as straight as can be? Plum. 

 And to which tree do urchins call 



To show you shouldn't have looked at all? Rubber. 

 21. Which tree on calendars find you? Date. 



5. 

 6. 

 7. 



8. 



9. 



10. 



13. 



14. 



15. 

 IS. 

 17. 

 18. 



19. 



20. 



22. 

 23. 

 24. 

 26. 



Which is a joke told times not few? Chestnut. 

 And on our feet well wear which tree? Sandalwood. 

 And which our hero's crown shall be? Laurel. 

 Another tree to find just try 



For fish and fuel for a fry? Basswood. 

 Now, last of all, what tree have we, " 



The first an animal faithful indeed, 



The second our country's industrial need? Dogwood. 



HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE A TREE 

 TO DECAY? 



r ~PHE accompanying photograph taken just outside the 

 -"- city of Vancouver, Canada, throws some interesting 

 light upon the subject. The log which is down beneath 

 the roots of the big stump is of fir, a comparatively soft 

 wood. The stump, the roots of which cover it, is of 

 cedar. The cedar tree of which this stump was once a 

 part had a diameter of more than three feet, as even 



EVIDENCE OF THE LASTING QUALITIES OF FIR 



Though dead and down for over seven decades this old fir log his not 

 even begun to soften. 



now, after being partly eaten away by fire, the stump is 

 twenty-six inches across, indicated by the outstretched 

 arm of the man measuring twenty-six inches from arm- 

 pit to fingertips. To reach such dimension the cedar 

 must have been at least seventy-five years in growing, in 

 the estimation of a man who has given his attention to 

 such matters. 



This fact throws an interesting light on the question 

 of how long it takes a fallen tree to decay. As may he- 

 seen from the position of the two immense roots of the 

 cedar, the fir log must have fallen when the cedar was a 

 seedling. Very possibly the fir may have been down 

 before the cedar ever started to grow. As the little cedar 

 sapling grew taller its roots were forced to encircle the 

 log as seen. Though the fir log has been down at least 

 seventy-five years, its wood is still hard with the excep- 

 tion of an inch on the outer surface. This slow decay 

 of even so soft a wood as fir in a country like British 

 Columbia, where in winter frost often follows weeks of 

 rain, and where the summers are hot and dry, a combina- 

 tion of climatic conditions greatly furthering decay, gives 

 some idea of the immense length of time which harder 

 woods will last, for the fir, though down at least seventy- 

 five years, has not even begun to soften. 





