1228 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



room was bunching it became a silent race to see who 

 would finish first, and who would have the greatest num- 

 ber of bunches, for it was always something of a lottery 

 as to how many ferns a basket 

 contained. 



The ferns are put up in 

 bunches of twenty-five. Each 

 bunch must contain an assort- 

 ment of sizes, varying from about 

 nine inches to eighteen inches. 

 The largest is laid on a table 

 or other flat surface, and the 

 others on top of it. The stalks 

 of the twenty-five ferns are then 

 bound together with a piece of 

 thread. Time is not wasted to 

 tie the thread ; the end is simply 

 wedged between the stalks. 



T'ne bunched ferns are deliv- 

 ered to the dealer usually in the 

 same hamper used in picking 

 them, with a memorandum of the 

 owner's name and count. The 

 dealer's agents verifies the count 

 and so expert has he become in 

 the handling of bunched ferns 

 that he is able to tell pretty close- 

 ly from the heft and appearance 

 of a bunch whether it contains 

 twenty-five freshly picked, well 

 conditioned ferns. Saturday is 

 pay day for the pickers. A 

 record of the number of bunches 

 delivered by each picker is carefully kept; and any time 

 after the money arrives, a picker may collect his ac- 

 count. The certainty of the pickers receiving their 

 money when due, and the acknowledged fact that the 

 industry is a boon to the hamlet, seem to have been 



ON THE WAY TO DELIVER 



elements in the success of this dealer. One's first thought 

 on seeing this industry is to engage in it as a dealer 

 rather than as a picker. But closer observation shows 

 this to be easier thought of than 

 done. An organization of quite 

 a size is necessary for its con- 

 duct. The ferns have to be kept 

 in cold storage. The wastage is 

 great, and considerable care is 

 necessary to shield the fern from 

 injury. If kept too long piled 

 at the receiving station, it will 

 begin to sweat, which is detri- 

 mental to its preservation. It 

 seems also to be subject to a 

 blight, which attacks it as a 

 brown discoloration, and pick- 

 ers are warned to allow no such 

 ferns to be found in their 

 bunches. 



In the case whereof 1 wrue, 

 the dealer had to pack his ferns 

 in crates and truck them thir- 

 teen miles to the railroad, which 

 took them twenty miles farther 

 to his warehouse. At his ware- 

 house he had to reinspect, reas- 

 sort and rebunch the ferns. From 

 the locality where I picked he 

 took ninety million ferns the 

 previous year, how many more 

 from other localities I did not 

 hear. When he started business he must have found 

 the nearby markets quite fully supplied, and had to 

 develop new ones. In no other way can I explain 

 his sending them to such a distance as Chicago and 

 Denver from Vermont. 



A TTENTION is being given by the United States 

 -^*- Forest Service to the importance of landscape engi- 

 neering in the National Forests. One of the questions 

 continually arising involves the proper way to lay out 

 a summer camp site to make the most of the natural 

 beauties of a location. Another has to do with the prin- 

 ciple to be followed in running a scenic trail to insure 

 the best views for the traveler. Still another deals with 

 making ranger stations most attractive as dwelling places 

 and the creation of designs which will best harmonize 

 with the surroundings. To meet these and kindred 

 questions Dr. Frank A. Waugh, an eminent landscape 

 engineer of Amherst, Massachusetts, has visited a num- 

 ber of the Forests where recreation use is especially 

 important. His trip was made at the request of the 

 Forest Service. As a result he has prepared a report 

 setting forth some simple principles of landscape engi- 

 neering applicable to the various questions. These are 

 intended to provide a basis for correct landscape engi- 

 neering practice in the National Forests. 



'T'HE National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, 

 -*- with headquarters in Chicago, has compiled a handy 

 reference of "Information on Wood and Where to Find 

 it." This booklet is a directory of literature which may 

 be had for the asking from the National Lumber Manu- 

 factures' Association, California Redwood Association, 

 North Carolina Pine Association, Northern Hemlock 

 and Hardwood Manufacturers' Association, White Pine 

 Bureau of St. Paul, Minnesota, Southern Cypress Manu- 

 facturers' Association, Southern Pine Association, West 

 Coast Lumbermen's Association, Western Pine Manu- 

 facturers' Association and other sources, and is abso- 

 lutely free. 



Some of the subjects covered include : Barns, bee hives, 

 bird houses, boats, bridges, bungalows, cars, canoes, 

 cattle sheds, chicken houses, corn cribs, dairies, docks, 

 factories, farm buildings, fences, freight cars, furniture, 

 garages, incubators, kitchen cabinets, schools, silos, toys 

 and warehouses. 



