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AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



47 



forest-producing capability, no account 

 seems to have been taken. The fact 

 that a heavy growth of underbrush can- 

 not grow on a hillside which has been 

 denuded of its surface soil does not seem 

 to have been taken into consideration. 

 In regard to the "generally accepted 

 opinion that the destruction of timber 

 tends rather to diminish than to increase 

 rainfall," there is some question. There 

 is another opinion, also more or less 

 generally accepted, that forest destruction 

 tends to promote violent forms of precip- 

 itation and leads to the alternation of 

 excessively dry and wet periods, thus 

 producing the greatest extremes of varia- 

 tion in the flow of water in streams. 

 Although such an opinion is perhaps 

 well grounded it would be of doubtful 

 wisdom to base any particular line of 

 public policy upon any such popular 

 assumption, in the absence of scientific 

 data. 



The great question of the use and 

 abuse of water resources is demanding 

 more attention on the part of the people 

 of the United States each year, and it 

 would be well, in the earlier discussions 



upon this topic, to omit all mere guess- 

 work from calculations. Such a course 

 would in the end prove to be the most 

 economical and facilitate the earliest and 

 most complete development of national 

 resources. 



That the progress of forestry is often 

 seriously hindered by the personal aspira- 

 tions of politicians goes without saying. 

 In the Oregon legislature a bill was in- 

 troduced creating the office of commis- 

 sioner of forestry, game and fish, and 

 before it had time to pass either house 

 there were three avowed candidates for 

 the position. The Wisconsin plan of 

 creating an unsalaried commission would 

 probably result in the appointment of 

 more competent though less ambitious 

 men. Judging by results attained in 

 some other states it would be better to 

 have no legislation enacted upon this 

 subject at all than to have it end in the 

 selection of an official whose interest in 

 forestry and whose qualifications for the 

 work in hand were secondary to his desire 

 for preferment to a salaried position. 



Recent Publications. 



The Physical Geography of Worcester 

 Massachusetts, published by the Worcester 

 Natural History Society, is an admirable little de- 

 scriptive pamphlet which serves as a model for 

 works of the kind. The author, is Mr. H . Perry. 



game and fish, in which matters he has had a 

 free hand. 



Biennial Report of the State Forest, Game 

 and Fish Commissioner of the State of Colo- 

 rado. This report covers the years 1897 and 

 1898. Three pages are devoted to Forestry, 

 and the remaining sixty-three pages to game 

 and fish. The fact that Forestry makes no 

 greater showing is not due to the preference 

 of Commissioner Swan for the other interests, 

 but to an uncomfortable condition of the Colo- 

 rado law. The law so stands that there would 

 seem to be a conflict of authority between 

 Commissioner Swan and the State Land Board, 

 which has rendered his power inoperative 

 by going to both the "care of all woodlands 

 and forests." Commissioner Swan urges legis- 

 lation which shall elude this difficulty. It is to 

 be hoped that his suggestions will be carried 

 out. We should then have a report as inter- 

 esting and pertinent throughout as Commis- 

 sioner Swan has made this one concerning 



Forestry in Minnesota, prepared by Prof. 

 Samuel hJ. Green, and published by The Min- 

 nesota Forestry Association. This little vol- 

 ume is welcome. It is hard to see how a better 

 elementary hand-book adapted both for general 

 educational purposes and special local require- 

 ments could well be put together. The first 

 127 pages deal with "Elementary Forestry," 

 and serve as a good introduction to the study 

 in general. The second part deals with the 

 trees of Minnesota in their relation to forests 

 and planting. That Professor Green's book is 

 necessarily local in certain of its aspects, is 

 part of its very purpose. What is most needed 

 is a number of such local forest manuals. It is 

 by the aid of such writings as this that forestry 

 will become widely applied on the part of 

 individuals, and hence widely appreciated and 

 encouraged by the country at large. Copies of 

 this work will be sent to non-residents of Minne- 

 sota by the secretary of the Minnesota Forestry 

 Association, Geo. W. Strand, Taylor's Falls, 

 Minn., upon receipt of fifteen cents. 



