LIVE GAME AND FOREST RECREATION 



727 



only the "game-hog" who wishes to strip a region of all 

 living wild life. 



In the great recreational systems of the Nation are 

 areas of many acres which will be used intensively for 

 outdoor play. Those most used today and those which 

 will be used more in the future now lack a great value 

 that is found in the presence of living game. The estab- 

 lishment of game preserves and stocking of depleted 

 ranges will add to these areas an element of life that 

 will make no smaller part of the value in an area from a 

 recreational standpoint. 



When thinking of game do not always think at the 

 same time of a high-power rifle. Think a part of the 

 time of the fun of jumping a bunch of deer from an 

 aspen flat and have them stand and stare at your in- 

 trusion before they trot away to another place of hiding. 

 Think of the morning in the fall when the frost has 

 nipped the aspen and has left a tingle in the atmosphere 

 and the hike that morning which has as its outstanding 

 feature the whirring flight of a flock of grouse. Live 

 game has a charm, a grace that never is possessed by a 

 dead carcass or stuffed heads, and the place it presents 

 the greatest joy to the beholder is where it is truly wild 

 and not trammeled by iron fences. 



Game in forest land offers two major appeals to the 

 recreation user. Hunting and its attendant outdoor 

 life appeals to all sportsmen and is the motive for a 

 great use of the forest lands for that type of recreation. 

 But there is another feature perhaps little thought of 

 but none the less present and important in the simple 

 presence of living game in the landscape and there is 

 little question but that the value of a live animal viewed 

 by forest visitors several times during its life, has a 

 greater aggregate worth in the recreation scheme than 

 the same animal dead. 



THE MASQUERADING MAPLE 



'T'HERE is one tree in the Arnold Arboretum which 

 -* probably has been the subject of more good-natured 

 disputes than all the rest of the foreign and domestic 

 subjects in the big collection put together, says' Mr. E. I. 

 Farrington, in the Boston Evening Transcript. It is an 

 exceedingly narrow tree, shooting straight up into the 

 air, and with the branches hugging the trunk as closely 

 as though they were strapped in that position. The argu- 

 ment chiefly indulged in by visitors concerns the identity 

 of this tree, many of them contending that it is a Lom- 

 bardy poplar, while others, somewhat more fully versed 

 in arboreal lore, assert that it doesn't possess the charac- 

 teristics of the poplar at all. The argument is not always 

 settled even when the little aluminum label attached to 

 one of the lower branches is read, because the words 

 "Acer saccharum monumentale" may not mean much to 

 the average person. Being interpreted, though, they 

 disclose the fact that the odd-shaped tree is a sugar 

 maple. It is often spoken of as the fastigate sugar 

 maple, meaning that its growth is upright. It is, in point 

 of fact, one of the narrowest trees known, and its ap- 

 pearance is strikingly distinct. Standing in a somewhat 



isolated position, although within the maple group, it 

 looks like a sentinel on guard, and is so tall that it is 

 readily observed by motorists on the main highway. Not 

 infrequently remarks about its unique character are made 

 by those who pass by and glance over the vine-covered 

 stone wall. The tree is fully fifty feet high, but only "a 

 few feet in diameter, and it looks so little like an ordinary 

 sugar maple that it is difficult for anyone to realize its 

 claim to imitate kinship with that well known New 

 England tree. 



The parent tree was found growing in a cemetetry in 

 Newton in 1885, and this, like all other similar trees now 

 known, came as grafts from this Newton specimen, 

 which seems to have appeared as a spontaneous freak 

 of nature, it being understood that a natural freak is not 

 always something unpleasant or amusing to look upon. 

 This maple is really handsome, especially in the fall, 

 when it takes on a brilliant coat of red and yellow. Trees 

 of this form might well be substituted for the better 

 known Lombardy poplar, for they have a much longei 

 life, although not growing so rapidly. (See illustration 

 shown on Contents page.) 



FOREST FIRES IN NORWAY 



/~\N June 19 one of the worst fires on record in trie 

 ^-^ country broke out in the forest of Rendalen, Nor- 

 way, about 180 miles northeast of Christiania. The fire 

 started through the carelessness of some men who were in 

 the woods. Swept by a heavy southern storm the fire 

 spread rapidly over an extensive area. 



Fifteen hundred to two thousand men, both civilians 

 and military, fought the fire and for over fifteen hours 

 their efforts seemed in vain, but, owing to the practical 

 skill and tireless energy of these men, it was at last 

 checked and then heavy rains setting in completely ex- 

 tinguished it. 



The devastated area is estimated to be over six thou- 

 sand acres and the damage is, unofficially, estimated to be 

 sixty thousand pounds, sterling. 



Other forest districts have been visited by fires lately, 

 but on a more limited scale. 



"TRIBUTE WHERE TRIBUTE IS DUE" 



??"TV ESPITE the heavy turnover in recent years there 

 -"-^ is more genuine esprit de corps in the Forest 

 Service than in any organization, public or private, 

 of like size in existence. For fifteen years the Service 

 has thrived on it and there have been times when it has 

 had little else to exist on. Esprit de corps to the Service 

 might be likened to the rim of the wagon wheel, taking 

 the knocks and bumps as they come, warding off the 

 rocks, yet holding the structure firmly together and leav- 

 ing a clear-cut, squared-edged imprint in the roadbed 

 over which it travels." District 2 Review. 



\ CHINESE trust controls the dye used on fire- 

 ** crackers, made from cibucao, a Philippine wood. 

 The same dye is used for sealing wax and Chinest ink. 



