AMERICAN TREES IN GERMAN FORESTS 



927 



small stands. It was discovered in California in 1850 

 and three years later it was introduced into Germany. 

 In the park forest at Weinheim, Germany, belonging to 

 the Count von Berkheim, is an excellent stand of this 

 tree in mixture with fir. This stand is now (1915) fifty 

 years old. In 1911 the Sequoia had an average height of 

 55 feet and an average diameter of 14 inches. A careful 

 count showed 6-1 Sequoias and 350 firs to the acre. The 

 firs are of the same age, but have only an average 

 diameter of 7 inches. The Sequoia prefers deep, fresh 

 soil, mild climate and high atmospheric moisture. This 

 park forest of Count von Berkheim covers approximately 

 91 acres and contains about 100 different species, most 

 of which are exotics. Among the e.xotics are 30 species 

 of American conifers and 9 American board-leaved 

 species. 



Germany has been importing American forest trees 

 for three hundred and fifty years, with the result that 

 we find there today the oldest and best experimental plan- 

 tations of these species in the world. It is difficult to 

 travel far in Germany without seeing some American 

 trees. They are not only found in the forest, but an 

 common in private and public parks and gardens, on 

 castle grounds, and along streets. Almost every Ameri- 

 can tree can be found somewhere in Germany. It may, 

 however, be well to remember that while the introduction 

 into Germany of American trees has been going on for 

 a long time and on a large scale, yet their present aggre- 

 gate acreage is but a very small percentage of the total 

 area of the German forest. 



NATIONAL FORESTS TAKE IN $2,500,000 



THE National Forests turned into the United 

 States Treasury during the fiscal year ended 

 June 30, 1915, nearly $2,500,000, an increase of 

 more than $40,000 over the receipts of the previous year, 

 according to a statement just issued by the Forest Ser- 

 vice. The timber sales, which amounted to $1,164,000, 

 yielded on account of the depressed condition of the 

 lumber industry about $79,000 less than those of the 

 previous fiscal year, but the gain was made possible by 

 larger revenues from other sources. The grazing re- 

 ceipts, which totaled $1,125,000, increased $127,000 over 

 last year, and the water-power receipts, which amounted 

 to not quite $90,000, showed an increase of nearly 

 $42,000. 



The demoralization of the tur])entine industry on 

 account of the war's curtailment of the naval stores mar- 

 ket caused the receipts from the sale of turpentining 

 privileges on the National Forests to drop to about $9,000, 

 as against nearly $15,000 last year. The sale of special 

 use permits, under which all sorts of enterprises, from 

 apiaries to whaling stations, are operated on the forests, 

 yielded nearly $78,000, an increase of $9,000 over last 

 year. There was a decrease of nearly $37,000 in the 

 revenue derived by the settlement of trespass cases in 

 which Government timber had been cut without 

 intent to defraud, the revenue from this source being 

 only a little more than $3,000. More than $7,000, how- 

 ever, was collected from other timber trespass cases. 

 Grazing trespass cases yielded nearly $6,000, an increase 

 of about $1 ,000 ; occupancy trespass cases, which oc- 

 curred in only one of the seven forest districts, turned 

 in something less than $250; about $60 was derived from 

 turpentine trespass cases, and $660 from fire trespass 

 cases, the latter being more than $7,000 less than the 

 amount collected in the previous fiscal year for damage 

 to Government property through fires carelessly or wil- 

 fully started in or near National Forests. 



CHUGACH FOREST REDUCED 



THE area of the Chugach National Forest, Alaska, 

 which is to be crossed by the railroad that the 

 Government is building from Seward to Fair- 

 banks, is reduced nearly one-half by a proclamation 

 signed by President Wilson, returning approximately 

 5,802,000 acres to the public domain. This action follows 

 classification of the land by the Forest Service, showing 

 that the areas involved are not of high enough timber 

 value to warrant Government protection, and means the 

 largest elimination of National Forest land ever made 

 by a single Presidential proclamation. 



The boundaries of the forest, as redrawn by the Presi- 

 dent's proclamation, now contain approximately 5,818,000 

 acres, supporting about 8 billion feet of merchantable 

 timber. On the area thrown out of the forest there is in 

 the aggregate a large amount of timber, but it is so 

 sparse and scattered as to be of little or no commercial 

 value. The land remaining within the forest, however, 

 contains the largest and most accessible supply of timber 

 for the development of the great mineral fields to the 

 north of Bering River, and is the region in which the 

 Alaskan Engineering Commission has been authorized 

 to cut 83 million feet of timber for use in constructing the 

 Government's new railroad. On account of the time re- 

 quired for cutting and seasoning construction timbers, the. 

 Commission has had to purchase some lumber from 

 Washington and Oregon, but as cutting has already com- 

 menced on the Chugach, it is expected that the Alaskan 

 timber will soon be serving the needs of the railroad 

 builders. 



The lands eliminated by the proclamation are in three 

 large tracts ; one along the entire southerly slope of the 

 Chugach Mountains, the second lying northeast of 

 Seward, between Resurrection Bay and Kings Bay, and 

 the third, northwest of the Kenai Mountains in the 

 region around Tustamena and Skilak Lakes. In addi- 

 tion, the towns of Hope, Sunrise, Kenai, and Ninilchek 

 are eliminated. 



