i8gg. 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



17 



adjacent to the line of road such timber 

 as may be necessary for the construction 

 of the road. This provision of the 

 statute was literally construed in a sub- 

 sequent ruling of the Interior Depart- 

 ment, thus permitting the use of timber 

 from public lands by railroad companies, 

 or their agents or contractors, for pur- 

 poses of constrttction only and not for re- 

 pairs. It would seem that the pro- 

 hibition in this case should be based, 

 not on the fact that the contracting tie- 

 cutter was a non-resident of the State in 

 which it was proposed to cut the timber, 

 but rather on the fact that the railroad, 

 for which the supplies were to be cut, 

 was not constructing a new line in the 

 meaning of the law, but proposed to use 

 the supplies so obtained as repairs. 

 Indeed, in the present instance, the con- 

 tracting railroad, the Oregon Short Line, 

 is not only not constructing a line of 

 road adjacent to the land from which 

 the timber is being cut, but it has no line, 

 either in existence or projection, in the 

 State of Wyoming ! 



Of the transactions of the lumber 

 company reported as operating at Alamo- 

 gordo, N. M., less is known, but it is 



certain that there is no law that author- 

 izes the cutting of timber to supply the 

 needs of railways beyond the national 

 boundary, and it is no less certain that 

 New Mexico has no timber to spare for 

 such purposes. Every day the neces- 

 sity for a further extension of the forest 

 reservation policy becomes more appar- 

 ent. So long as an adequate super- 

 vision of the public timber lands is 

 lacking, cupidity, dishonesty and law eva- 

 sion will be manifest. It has indeed been 

 well said that " No good reason can be 

 given for the maintenance of the present 

 reserves which does not also demand 

 the withdrawal and protection of all 

 similar lands held by the Government." 



Government officers say many men 

 throughout the mountains are illegally 

 cutting railway ties on Government land. 

 Recently a mountaineer called at one of 

 the Denver offices to sell ties. When 

 asked if they were broad or narrow gauge 

 ties, he replied that they were not cut 

 yet. Suspicious that everything was not 

 straight, the official dismissed him. 

 Denver Times. 



Arboriculture. 



Tree Planting on the Farm. 



I am glad to notice the interest mani- 

 fested by so many in the matter of pre- 

 serving our now almost depleted forests. 

 Those of us who have grown old in 

 Indiana have been familiar with a native 

 forest that was truly beautiful for its 

 grandeur and magnificence ; and we 

 have witnessed, too, its almost , entire 

 annihilation. In the early settlement of 

 the country trees were regarded as the 

 natural earnings of the farmer. Before 

 the pioneer built his cabin he indus- 

 triously cut away every tree within a 

 stone's throw of the site. Years after- 

 ward, discovering his mistake he planted 

 the same kind of trees about his home 

 that in an earlier day his hands had so 

 ruthlessly destroyed. I am now living 



on the farm upon which I was born- 

 At first the trees were all cut down that 

 were near the house. Many years ago 

 I commenced allowing sprouts of native 

 trees that voluntarily sprang up to grow, 

 and transplanted others. I now live in 

 a grove of native trees of second growth. 

 Ten or a dozen kinds are represented ; 

 some of the trees are quite large. I have 

 had to cut some down, one of which was 

 over two feet in diameter, and made a 

 good sawlog, which I sold to a timber- 

 man for several dollars. This is con- 

 clusive evidence to my mind that timber 

 culture is not a mere dream of a theorist, 

 but that it is practicable, and in my 

 judgment it may be made profitable. I 

 have also on my farm two or three Black 

 Locust groves that are, and have been for 



