5 



THE FORESTER. 



March, 



Not long since the representative of a 

 Paget Sound lumber mill sold a small 

 bill of timber consisting of four pieces 

 1 8 by 1 8 inches by 6o feet long, and four 

 pieces 16 by 16, 55 feet long. The whole 

 bill amounted to about one carload, but 

 owing to their length the timbers had to 

 be shipped in two cars, making double 

 freight. The delivered price, therefore, 

 was very high for this class of material 

 almost prohibitory it would seem but 

 there is where the Pacific coast pro- 

 ducers have the advantage. 



culty, it is true, in seasoning Beech in 

 any thickness above one inch; but this 

 may prove only a temporary limitation, 

 and meantime it can be widely employed, 

 especially when the stock is cut quite 

 thin, making a satisfactory veneer. 

 When quarter-sawed, the wood equals 

 the Sycamore in the beauty of its grain. 

 In the hardwood section of the middle 

 South the tree attains a splendid size, 

 with long clear bole, and there are 

 many mixed forests in which it occurs in 

 abundance. 



Dr. S. A. Knapp, of Louisiana, who 

 recently returned from the Philippine 

 Islands, reports that he saw a section of 

 a mahogany tree that was purchased at 

 Manila by U. S. Consul Williams to be 

 sent to this country. It was between 

 seven and eight feet in diameter and of 

 most remarkable beauty. It is to be 

 made into tops for center tables. Dr. 

 Knapp visited China, Japan and the 

 Philippines as special agent of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture for the investi- 

 gation of the rice-growing industry. 



A White Oak tree was cut in Knox 

 county, Indiana, in January that is sup- 

 posed to have been one of the largest 

 of the kind ever cut in that section. It 

 measured eight feet four inches at the 

 butt, fifty-three inches at the small end, 

 scaled 7,867 feet, and made four twelve- 

 foot logs. The tree was cut and rolled 

 to White River and loaded on a barge, 

 taken to Mt. Carmel, 111., rolled to side 

 track and loaded two logs to a car. A 

 silver dollar would have covered the 

 heart of any one of the logs The tree 

 was bought by John S. Dickson, timber 

 buyer for A. B. Mickey & Sons, Prince- 

 ton. The logs will cut quartered oak 

 panels, 27 to 28 inches wide. 



Owners of timber lands in Pennsyl- 

 vania are interested in a law that was 

 enacted by the last Legislature which 

 provides that the owners of land in that 

 State having on it forest or timber trees 

 of not less than fifty trees to the acre 

 shall be entitled to receive annually 

 from the commissioners of their respec- 

 tive counties during the period that the 

 said trees are maintained in sound con- 

 dition upon the land, a sum equal to 

 eighty per centum of all the taxes an- 

 nually assessed and paid upon said land, 

 or so much of eighty per centum as 

 shall not exceed the sum of forty-five 

 cents per acre. No one property owner 

 shall be entitled to receive said abate- 

 ment on more than fifty acres, and proof 

 must be made that each of said trees 

 measures at least eight inches in diameter 

 at a height of six feet above the surface 

 of the ground, and that no portion of 

 said land is absolutely cleared of said 

 trees. 



Until very recently Beech has been 

 used for only a few purposes, such as 

 plane stocks and tool handles. It is 

 now recognized, however, that the wood 

 is admirably adapted for furniture and 

 interior finish. There is some dirfi- 



The following editorial paragraph ap- 

 peared in a recent issue of the Phila- 

 delphia Record: 



It is a pleasure to know that two misde- 

 meanants found guilty of kindling forest fires 

 are languishing in the Huntington County jail. 

 The news ought to be spread abroad in the 

 State as a deterrent to others who, out of willful 

 malice or a mere spirit of deviltry, are guilty 

 of this crime. The yearly destruction of grow- 

 ing timber in Pennsylvania by reason of 

 spreading fires inflicts heavy loss upon owners 

 of woodland property, and makes almost nu- 

 gatory the effort of the State for forest preser- 

 vation. 



