STATE WORK 



The Louisiana Forest Law 



Unless unexpected delays occur, by the 

 time this issue of the Journal reaches its 

 readers, Louisiana will have placed itself upon 

 record as having enacted into law the first 

 up-to-date forestry bill to be passed in any 

 of the southern states. The bill would have 

 been introduced several weeks ago, had not 

 some of the larger lumber interests of the 

 state asked for additional time to examine it. 



The bill as it seems certain to pass is es- 

 sentially a fire protection measure. The tax 

 imposed for fire protection will be three 

 quarters of a cent per 1,000 feet on pine, 

 and the same amount on hardwoods. The 

 constitutionality of this tax on lumber has 

 been questioned, and may ultimately be tested 

 in the courts. 



The sentiment of the lumbermen seems to 

 be that, inasmuch as the passage of such 

 a bill is demanded at this time, the provi- 

 sions of the bill, as introduced by Repre- 

 sentative Henry Hardtner, representing the 

 Conservation Commission, are as mild as can 

 be expected, and most of the lumbermen seem 

 inclined to accept this bill in lieu of other and 

 more radical measures which might be forced 

 through. Lumber Trade Journal. 



Forestry for Profit 



M. W. Wentworth, steward of the sani- 

 tarium ot Battle Creek, has embarked in an 

 extensive experiment in forestry, according 

 to Michigan Roads and Forests. He has 

 bought the sanitarium farm of 200 acres at 

 the south end of Lake Goguac, formerly 

 known as the Gregory homestead, and will 

 plant 10,000 trees. The varieties that will be 

 planted are the black locust, the catalpa. and 

 the spruce. 



The pruce will be grown for Christmas 

 trees and the locust for fence posts and rail- 

 road ties. The cataloa and locust will be 

 grown on the marsh land, of which there is 

 quite an extensive area adjacent to the lake. 

 This wi'l utilize land that has hitherto been 

 useless for cultivation. Mr. Wentworth is 

 the second person in that section of Michigan 

 to make the experiment. 



The first person to make an experiment 

 in this line was Clayton Strait, of the town- 

 ship of Emmett, Calhoun county, who three 

 years ago set out 300 sweet chestnut trees on 

 a piece of land on the shores of Beadle Lake. 

 The trees were obtained from the Michigan 

 Agricultural College and at that time were 



432 



only a few inches in height. They hav< 

 nearly all lived and are now from five to si> 

 feet in height. So far Mr. Strait's experi 

 ment has been a success. 



The experiment of Mr. Wentworth wil 

 be watched with much interest, as it is on r 

 much larger scale than Mr. Strait's. If th( 

 black locust and catalpa will grow in mars! 

 land there are thousands of acres in Michigai 

 that can be devoted to tree growing. 



New Hampshire 



Two nurseries, intended largely for th 



production of white pine seedlings, have re 



cently been started in the state. The mem 



bers of the New Hampshire Forestry Com 



mission, not having succeeded in obtaining 



state legislation to establish a nursery, hav 



undertaken to start one themselves as a: 



object lesson, and this has been establish^ 



in Pembroke. It is the hope of the pro 



moters of this enterprise that at no distan 



day the state will maintain a nursery fror 



which New Hampshire land owners can ot 



tain stock at cost price for reforesting th 



lands of the state. The forestry cpmmis 



sioners conceived the idea of establishing thi 



nursery because, for a number of years pas 



they have received annually a great many ir 



quiries from residents of the state as to th 



best method of procuring seedlings and th 



nearest place from which they could be ot 



tained. It was felt that those who mad 



these requests should not have to be set 



outside the state, and after a tour of tt 



state to determine the most desirable site, ai 



rangements were made for establishing tt 



nursery on the farm in Pembroke. Alread 



about 80,000 seedlings had been successful! 



raised on the farm, and these were take 



over as a nucleus for the new work. 



members of the commission personally me< 



the expenses of the enterprise. There is r 



intention of making this a commercially pro 



itable enterprise. The object is to furnis 



seedling trees to residents of New Hampshii 



at the actual cost of production. The nursei 



contains at present between sixty and sixt 



five thousand trees, and it is the plan 



largely increase its production. 



In the town of Hins.dale, the Keene Fo 

 estry Association has about fifteen acres ui 

 der cultivation and is growing 400,000 yea 

 ling pine trees, while about 170,000 trees tw 

 years old were sold this year. There are al: 

 several acres of trees of this year's seedir 



