944 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



the care and preservation of the forests of 

 the two counties now included in the asso- 

 ciation. 



Ruuia's Forests 



Russia now occupies first place among 

 the nations of the world in the extent of 

 its timber resources, the value and quality 

 of two-thirds of which are practically un- 

 known. The total area of the empire is 

 about one-seventh of the land surface of 

 the globe, and 39 per cent of it is under 

 forests. Those in European Russia cover 

 an area of 474,000,000 acres; in Finland, 

 50,500,000 acres ; in Poland, 6,700,000 acres ; 

 and in the Caucasus, 18,600,000 acres; a 

 total of 549,800,000 acres, exclusive of Si- 

 beria. In the Ural Provinces, forests 

 cover 70 per cent of the area, in the north- 

 ern Provinces 68 per cent, and in the four 

 lake Provinces 57 per cent. It is estimated 

 that in western Siberia alone there are 

 465,000,000 acres of virgin forests, and 

 eastern Siberia, while not so richly en- 

 dowed, has sufficient timber to supply the 

 world's demand for years to come. 



The Government owns 285,598,941 acres 

 of forest land in European Russia, 12,826,- 

 387 acres in the Caucasus, 360,519,435 acres 

 in Asiatic Russia, and 288,742,000 acres in 

 the Amur region, a total of 947,686,763 

 acres. Twenty-three per cent of the forest 

 land belonged to landed proprietors and 

 9 per cent to the peasantry in 1910. 



The principal timber lands of eastern 

 Siberia are in the valleys of the .^mur 

 River system, which cover an area of 

 about 2,000,000 square miles. Of this area, 

 only about 400,000 miles is considered 

 available for timbering, but according to 

 local calculations, allowing 45 merchantable 

 trees to the acre, this would give some 

 11,520,000,000 trees. As the time required 

 for these trees to mature is placed at 100 

 years, 115,200,000 trees could be cut per 

 annum without diminishing the forests, 

 with proper reforestation methods. 



The Russian Forestry Department places 

 the total timber land in Siberia at 810,000,- 

 000 acres, of which two-thirds can be suc- 

 cessfully placed on the market. 



Forest Fire Insurance 



What is believed to be the first forest 

 fire insurance policy ever issued in the 

 United States, and so far as can be learned, 

 the only one of its kind in existence, pro- 

 tects the forest plantation of Arthur H. 

 Hacker in Pike County, Pa., says The 

 Hardwood Record. Mr. Hacker's wood- 

 land was principally chestnut, but the blight 

 forced him to cut the timber. In the spring 

 of 1914 the cut-over area was planted with 

 white pine seedlings and transplants, a total 

 of 35,000 being used for the purpose. The 

 chestnut timber was of rather small size 

 but the proceeds paid nearly all the cost 

 of restocking the area. 



In order to protect himself against loss 



by fire the owner commissioned his broker 

 to insure the tract, .\fter considerable 

 difficulty this was finally done and on May 

 9, 1914, an Eastern insurance company is- 

 sued a policy. The form used is the stan- 

 dard fire insurance policy of the States of 

 New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Con- 

 necticut and Rhode Island, but the follow- 

 ing clause is inserted : "On young pine trees 

 to cover pro rata on each tree ; situate on 

 side of Raymond's Kill Creek on which 

 residence is located, on premises known as 

 'Woodside,' about one mile westerly from 

 Shanno's, Dingman's Township, Pike Coun- 

 ty, Pennsylvania." The amount is $750 

 and the premium rate is 10 per cent, a pro- 

 hibitive figure for ordinary plantations. 

 This company has no intention of entering 

 the forest fire insurance business and does 

 not care to assume such risks as a gen- 

 eral proposition. 



Forest fire insurance is fairly common 

 abroad and eventually will become so in 

 this country. Accordingly the policy just 

 described has especial interest as being the 

 very first attempt, so far as known, in the 

 United States. 



taxes. Mr. Madden expects to be in the 

 field until November. 



Forest Management Plan 



Six graduate students in the Department 

 of Forestry, Cornell University, have re- 

 cently completed a detailed working plan 

 for a 3500-acre tract in the Catskill Moun- 

 tains. This tract lies at the headwaters of 

 the well-known Esopus River, the main 

 feeder of New York City's mammoth 

 Ashokan Reservoir, and hence is of great 

 value as a protection to this and other 

 streams arising in the vicinity. The tract 

 is divided into steep upper slopes and more 

 gentle lower slopes, about half of the 3500 

 acres being in each of the two slope types. 



The work was done in connection with 

 the training given to its students by the 

 Cornell Forest School as a part of the 

 course in the management of large forest 

 tracts. 



The Cornell forestry authorities state 

 that logging operations should be con- 

 ducted under an orderly and well-planned 

 system which will insure the improvement 

 of the forest by use, and at the same time 

 will not impair its value as a protection to 

 stream-flow. Timber cutting under such a 

 plan, the Cornell foresters say, will yield 

 a revenue and safeguard the public in- 

 terest. 



Fires Cause Small Loss 



Washington reports some thirty-five for- 

 est fires during July, all promptly extin- 

 guished, and with small loss of timber. 

 The Washington Forest Fire Association 

 has eighty-seven men on duty, and the 

 state, through its own and the Federal 

 Weeks Law appropriation, nearly as many 

 more. 



Estimating Maine's Forests 



O. W. Madden, of the James W. Sewall 

 office, Old Town, Maine, is engaged in mak- 

 ing a thorough timber estimate of about 

 100,000 acres in the northern part of Maine 

 for the state. This work is being carried 

 out under the directions of the Board of 

 States Assessors for purposes of valua- 

 tion, and it is expected that the data gained 

 thereby will greatly assist in equalizing 



Montana Escapes Fires 



Montana reports a most favorable for- 

 est fire season as compared with last year. 

 The Northern Montana Forestry Associa- 

 tion has had no fires in its territory and 

 as all precautions have been taken to dis- 

 cover and extinguish fires quickly the sea 

 son may pass with little or no damage. 



Courses in City Forestry 



The raising and care of forest trees for 

 streets, home grounds and parks while not 

 the principal work of the forester is never- 

 theless closely connected with the proper 

 development of forestry. With a growing 

 interest in city planting and the beautifica- 

 tion of home grounds and country prop- 

 erties, there is an increasing demand for 

 men trained thoroughly for the carrying 

 out of city street and park work and other 

 phases of aboriculture. This demand the 

 New York State College of Forestry is fill- 

 ing by offering professional courses in 

 Arboriculture or City Forestry which will 

 train men thoroughly and effectively for 

 every phase of work connected with the 

 planting, care and protection of shade 

 trees, whether upon private grounds, in 

 streets or parks. A number of men are 

 already taking up this course. 



New York City Trees 



As a result of the special fund given to 

 the Department of Parks of the City of 

 New York, by John D. Rockerfeller, Jr., 

 Prof. Laurie D. Cox, Landscape Engi- 

 neer of the State College of Forestry at 

 Syracuse, is working during the present 

 summer with the Hon. Cabot Ward, Com- 

 missioner of Parks of New York City. Pro- 

 fessor Cox is making a study of the forest 

 trees of New York City, the various meth- 

 ods used in the planting and protection 

 of trees and of the organization of tree 

 planting work. Professor Cox is a grad- 

 uate in Landscape Architecture of Har- 

 vard University and went to the State 

 College of Forestry at Syracuse last year 

 after four years as Landscape Engineer 

 for the City of Los Angeles. The results 

 of the studies carried on by Professor Cox 

 during the summer will be presented in 

 a formal report to the New York City De- 

 partment of Parks. 



