THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREST RECREATION 



557 



entire water supply comes from a stream fed by melting 

 snow the cold snappy finish to the shower is there. 



Municipal, state, county and national provision for 

 auto campers is a thing which has come to stay so long 

 as the automobile is a commonly owned means of trans- 

 portation. Wanderlust calls to each of us and the lure 

 of the open highway beckons. More and more people 

 will become gypsies of the auto highways, and there 

 must be camps to accommodate visitors. 



These camps are needed many places now and the 

 coming few years will witness a greatly increased need. 



THE METAL FIREPLACE SET IN CONCRETE, DEVELOPED BY 

 THE CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS FOR OUTDOOR COOKING. WHILE 

 RATHER EXPENSIVE IN ORIGINAL COST, IT WILL OUTLAST 

 MANY OF CHEAPER AND LESS CAREFUL CONSTRUCTION 



To keep these visitors from being unwelcome guests 

 will be a problem. Camp areas properly equipped are the 

 logical solution of these problems of taking care of 

 our auto traveler-visitors. These need certain improve- 

 ments and an attempt has been made to show what has 

 been done so there may be better planning in the future. 



PROTECT THE WOODS FROM FIRE 



A tree will make a million matches a match may 

 destroy a million trees. 



Take no chances with lighted matches, tobacco, brush, 

 or camp fires. 



Forest destruction is quick forest growth slow. 



Burned timber pays no wages. 



When fire is discovered, put it out if you can. Get 

 help if you need it. 



Are you practicing fire prevention and forest protection? 



HOME FOREST PAYS DIVIDENDS 



A WELL cared for "home" forest wll make the farm 

 more prosperous, add to the comfort of the farm 

 home, and enhance the value of the farm as an invest- 

 ment, says a new publication, Forestry and the Farm 

 Income, issued by the Forest Service, United States 

 Department of Agriculture. Farm forestry properly 

 practiced supplies timber for farm needs, enables the 

 owner to market surplus timber profitably, furnishes em- 

 ployment for men and teams in winter, makes waste land 

 yield a profit, and increases the sale value of the farm. 

 Even if a farmer sells no timber, the woodland pays, says 

 the bulletin. The time and money saved by having fire- 

 wood, fence posts, and material for repair and construc- 

 tion conveniently at hand, and the protection afforded the 

 crops, farm buildings, and stock are worth considerably 

 more than the slight trouble and expense of raising and 

 caring for the trees. 



Farm woodland need not occupy land that will grow 

 other crops, it is pointed out. On the contrary, the trees 

 should be located on ground too poor to cultivate. A 

 little care given in the winter or at other times when the 

 farm work is slack will make such land produce valuable 

 timber. If fully stocked with trees and well cared for, 

 an acre of hardwoods should grow from one-half to one 

 cord of wood yearly, while pine should produce from 

 one to two cords. 



The prime essential for success in farm forestry, the 

 bulletin states, is adequate protection against fires. For- 

 est fires kill the little trees outright and weaken full- 

 grown ones, so that they may become diseased or infested 

 with insects. It also destroys the humus cover and 

 causes depletion of the soil. Burning over the ground 

 for the purpose of improving grazing is characterized 

 as an expensive mistake. Although it is possible to 

 secure green grass for the stock a week or two earlier 

 in the spring by such a practice, many of the rich legumi- 

 nous plants and annual grasses are killed, leaving only 

 the hardy bunch, wiry, and other coarse perennial 

 grasses. 



When timber is needed, the cutting should be done 

 so as to cause the least possible waste of valuable wood 

 and should not damage other living trees. The first 

 trees to be cut should be the dead or dying and deformed 

 and diseased specimens, which shade out healthy trees. 

 Less valuable kinds, such as gray birch, aspen, blackjack 

 oak, dogwood, sow wood, blue birch, ironwood, and 

 others, should be removed in preference to the more 

 valuable kind. By following this practice the woodland 

 is constantly improved and its value is increased. 



Preservative treatment will considerably increase the 

 life of timber which is used for fence posts and other 

 similar uses, and is distinctly worth while. Treatment 

 \yith coal-tar creosote has been found to be far the most 

 satisfactory process. 



