2 4 



THE FORESTER. 



January, 



The following is the text of the reso- 

 lutions above referred to : 



Resolved, That we, the lumber manufac- 

 turers of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, 

 Missouri, Arkansas, Indian Territory, Texas, 

 Louisiana and Mississippi, in convention as- 

 sembled at St. Louis, Mo., on the 15th day of 

 November, 1898, urge the establishment of a 

 Bureau of Timber and Lumber Statistics as a 

 part of the Division of Forestry, Department 

 of Agriculture, to be supported by adequate 

 annual appropriation, or that a special appro- 

 priation be made to cover the cost of the com- 

 pilation of these statistics in connection with 

 the Twelfth Census. 



A forest fire in Wright County, Mis- 

 souri ( in the Ozark region) , burned over 

 a tract of land fifteen miles long and 

 from two to six miles wide. A number 

 of farm houses and other buildings were 

 burned and a great deal of fencing was 

 destroyed, the owners in several in- 

 stances having to seek personal safety 

 in hast}' flight. The progress of the 

 fire was finally checked by timely occur- 

 rence of rain. 



Recent Publications. 



' ' The Timber Wealth of Pacific North 

 America" is the title of a very interesting 

 and instructive contribution to the Decem- 

 ber Engineering Magazine by Frank Haines 

 Lamb, of Leland Stanford University. 

 Besides discussing transportation in its 

 relation to the lumbering industry and 

 the growth and development of that in- 

 dustry within thirty years, the writer 

 enters into a brief description of the 

 economic value of the commercial tim- 

 bers of the Pacific Coast region, all of 

 them bejng conifers. In concluding Mr. 

 Lamb says : 



The Pacific Coast forests are not "inex- 

 haustible" far from it but, with proper use 

 and care, they should be equal to the future 

 needs of home and foreign consumption. The 

 forests now standing are mature and are not 

 bettered by not being cut. At least go per 

 cent of the cut-over lands are of absolutely no 

 value for agricultural purposes. They are 

 adapted only to timber growing. Moreover, 

 the native species, if protected from fire, are, 

 as a rule, readily and quickly reproduced. 

 Let land owners and loggers recognize these 

 facts, and treat their cut-over lands as growers 

 of another timber crop. Let a wise policy 

 protect the forests and cut-over lands from 

 fire and further the work of reforestation. 

 The lumber industry is legitimate and neces- 

 sary business, despite sentimentalists ; more- 

 over, if properly managed, its future has 

 more in store for the Pacific Coast than all her 

 gold mines have yielded. 



Bulletin No. 46, Maine Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, recently issued, treats of orna- 

 mental trees and plants for Maine. About 

 twenty species of trees, mostly indigenous, 

 are recommended as hardy. Strangely enough, 

 though it is published in the ' Pine Tree State," 

 no conifers are mentioned. 



Bulletin No. 33, New Hampshire Agricul- 

 tural Station, gives detailed account of a care- 

 ful observation of the feeding habits of the 

 chipping sparrow, proving the value of this 

 native bird as a destroyer of noxious insects. 

 Bulletin No. 36, of the same station, gives 

 results of analyses of the leaves of several 

 species of Wild Cherry, showing that they con- 

 tain poisonous principles which, when subjected 

 to digestive ferment, result in the formation 

 of prussic acid, thus causing the death of 

 browsing animals. 



The Park Commissioner's Report, Spring- 

 field, Massachusetts, a copy of which has been 

 received, is a publication of eighty pages with 

 a map. It is illustrated with half-tone en- 

 gravings and contains catalogues of the flora 

 and fauna of Forest Park, both indigenous 

 and exotic. 



The December number of Forest Leaves 

 contains the addresses of the officers at the 

 annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry 

 Association. Dr. J. T. Rothrock's dendrologi- 

 cal contribution, illustrated as usual by two 

 very handsome half-tones, is devoted to a de- 

 scription of the Honey Locust, which, it is 

 claimed, is gradually extending its habitat 

 eastward in Pennsylvania. 



