AMERICAN FORESTRY 



voted to permit all affiliated associations equal 

 voice in the affairs of the parent organiza- 

 tion, regardless of their financial support, and 

 to have the states and the national forest 

 service represented by their chief forest of- 

 ficers in the territory embraced. 



It was also voted to raise funds for col- 

 lecting and disseminating reliable information 

 regarding fire prevention, conservative log- 

 ging methods, and reforestation. Forester 

 Allen was authorized to prepare data for a 

 handbook along these lines as one of the 

 first steps. 



Discussion of practical fire preventive meth- 

 ods, such as patrol systems, disposal_ of log- 

 ging debris, and safeguarding logging and 

 railroad engines, occupied much of the time 

 of the association. Representatives of the 

 Forest Service described a form of con- 

 tract recently entered into bv several promi- 

 nent railroads traversing the national for- 

 ests which provides for clearing the rights of 

 way of inflammable materials, patrolling the 

 track with speeders, and handling possible 

 fires. It was brought out that the railroads' 

 interest in maintaining a lumber traffic is 

 manifested by increasing cooperation with all 

 protective effort. The use of oil for fuel by 

 loggers and railroads was advocated. 



Federal and state officials in attendance 

 included G. M. Homans, state forester, and 

 W. C. Hodge, deputy forester, California; 

 J. R. Welty, state firewarden of Washington, 

 Olympia; C. S. Chapman, district forester, 

 and G. H. Cecil, associate forester, Port- 

 land, and F. A. Silcox, associate district for- 

 ester, Missoula. R. W. Douglas, Seattle, rep- 

 resented the Washington Conservation As- 

 sociation. Other affiliated organizations rep- 

 resented were the Oregon Conservation, 

 North Idaho Forestry, North Montana For- 

 estry, Washington Forest Fire, Oregon Forest 

 Fire, Potlatch Timber Protective, Clearwater 

 Timber Protective, Pend Oreille Timber 

 Protective, and Coeur d'Alene Timber Pro- 

 tective associations. 



Among the delegates from the foregoing 

 and timber owners present were G. M. Corn- 

 wall, E. T. Allen, Portland; W. S. Ewart, 

 D. P. Simons, Jr., J. L. Snapp, Seattle; 

 G. S. Long, Tacoma ; A. W. Laird, Potlatch ; 

 T. J. Humbird, Sandpoint; F. J. Davies, 

 Coeur d'Alene ; E. O. Hawksett, Spirit Lake, 

 Idaho ; W. C. Ufford, Milan, Wash. ; William 

 Condon, San Francisco; A. L. Flewelliner, 

 J. P. McGoldrick, E. F. Cartier Van Dissel, 

 H. P. Svendsen, C. H. Fancher. C. M. Crego, 

 H. C. Culver, and H. C. Crombie, Spokane. 



One Owner's Planting 



Dr. Frederick Brush, superintendent of the 

 New York Post-graduate Medical School and 

 Hospital, last month planted twenty-five 

 acres o-f recent slashing at Great Bend, Pa., 

 with red oak acorns at a total cost of less 



than $i per acre, buying the nuts. The 

 area is sprouting rapidly to soft woods ash, 

 basswood, maple, etc. and weed stuff. Doc- 

 tor Brush intends to plant pine later on 

 other lands. 



Burning a Half^million a Year 



If any set of men deliberately burned 

 up a million dollars in the literal, not the 

 colloquial sense they would receive the re- 

 proaches of the Nation. If any set of men 

 stood calmly and indifferently by while a 

 half-million in crisp bank notes went up in 

 smoke, they would be given the contempt of 

 the world. Cries of prodigal waste and un- 

 reasoning extravagance would be heard on 

 every side. Moralists would complain and 

 economists would wring their hands in help- 

 less anger. 



But this is almost exactly what timber 

 owners in Virginia have been doing for the 

 last half-hundred years. Every autumn, by 

 carelessness or neglect, they allow forest 

 fires to begin. November winds fan the 

 flames, and fallen leaves give them fuel. Be- 

 fore the winter is over, young timber, under- 

 brush, fences, barns, and dwellings worth 

 more than a half-million dollars go up in 

 smoke. This year the annual waste has al- 

 ready begun. 



This is waste, absolute and unwarranted. 

 No more reason exists for it than for the 

 neglect of fire protection in a crowded city. 

 It is no more justifiable than would be the 

 closing of our engine-houses and the dis- 

 bandment of our fire departments. The same 

 methods that minimize fire loss in the cities 

 can be employed to reduce the havoc wrought 

 by forest fires in the country. Richmond 

 (Va.) Times-Dispatch. 



The San Antonio Basin 



Mr. T. P. Lukens calls attention to the 

 fact that he is misquoted by the French writer 

 a translation of whose article we printed in 

 March, his original figure of twenty-six miles 

 in the basin of the San Antonio River being 

 given at 267 miles. 



A Neglected River 



Speaking of the Mississippi River, the 

 Beaumont, Tex., Enterprise, says : 



"In the early days it bore on its surface 

 the French and Spanish explorers ; then came 

 the trappers and traders, the Frenchmen of 

 the North, and the merchants of the Frencb 

 colonies of the South, each utilizing it as a 

 highway, and each pressing forward until 



