1899- 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



245 



The Almighty Dollar. 



The need of eternal vigilance in pro- 

 tecting the forest reserves of the Na- 

 tional Government is emphasized by the 

 conduct of certain logging and milling 

 companies in Western Washington. 

 When the reserves were set apart under 

 the Cleveland Administration, it was pro- 

 vided that the owners of timber lands 

 within the limits could deed them to the 

 Government and receive in return an 

 equal acreage of good standing timber 

 elsewhere. Officials who have been in- 

 vestigating the matter find that the com- 

 panies have practically denuded the land, 

 which they now wish to exchange for well- 

 wooded tracts. As there was nothing 

 said in the law about cutting off the 

 growth before the transfer, it appears 

 that the lumbermen have succeeded in 



their sharp practice as far as they have 

 gone. The prevention of further despoil- 

 ment is the least the Government can 



do. Buffalo (A r . Y.) Express. 



In Enlightened Africa. 



The Congo Free State has issued a 

 decree intended to prevent the extinc- 

 tion of the india-rubber tree in that 

 country. The law provides that not less 

 than 150 trees shall be planted for every 

 ton of rubber yielded annually. The 

 gathering of rubber, except through in- 

 cisions in the bark, has been prohibited 

 for some time past, but the law has not 

 been strictly enforced. Hereafter viola- 

 tions will be subject to the infliction of 

 a fine not exceeding $2,000, or by a term 

 of imprisonment. 



Recent Publications. 



For more than a year the Division of For- 

 estry has been engaged in giving practical 

 advice and assistance to private owners in 

 conservative methods of handling their wood- 

 lands. An account of the first important 

 work along this line is about to be published 

 in Bulletin No. 26, entitled " Practical Fores- 

 try in the Adirondacks," by Henry S. Graves. 

 The publication is important as containing a 

 description of the first successful attempt at 

 systematic forest management on a large scale 

 in the Adirondacks. The work described con- 

 sisted in the preparation and the actual carry- 

 ing out of a forest working-plan in Nehasane 

 Park, of 40,000 acres in Hamilton and Herki- 

 mer counties, New York, owned by Dr. W. 

 Seward Webb, and on an adjoining tract of 68,- 

 000 acres, owned by Hon. William C. Whitney. 



Mr. Graves discusses at length the problem 

 of Forestry in the Adirondacks, and shows 

 what lines of work are practicable at the pres- 

 ent time on the above mentioned tracts, as 

 well as what could be done in the way of For- 

 estry by the State of New York, were the cut- 

 ting of timber on State land not prohibited. 



In considering the problem of forest man- 

 agement by the State, Mr. Graves says : " The 

 chief purpose of the State in maintaining large 

 preserves is to protect the important water- 



sheds and to provide a future supply of tim 

 ber. The revenue which could be derived 

 from the sale of lumber is a secondary consid- 

 eration. The State can go further than the 

 individual in the direction of systematic for- 

 estry, for it can afford to make investments 

 with the expectation of but small profits, or it 

 can wait many years before realizing anything 

 at all. Moreover it may be satisfied with indi- 

 rect returns in the general benefit to the com- 

 munity. The New York State holdings in the 

 Adirondacks now exceed 1,000,000 acres, and 

 are being increased as fast as appropriations 

 can be obtained for the purpose. 



"At present the constitution of New York 

 prohibits the cutting of timber on State land, 

 so that its management consists only in pro- 

 tecting the forest from fire and theft. But un- 

 doubtedly the constitution will in time be 

 changed so as to permit conservative lumber- 

 ing on the State preserve. Were this possible, 

 the system of management which would be 

 practical at the present time would necessarily 

 be very simple, and would not differ to any 

 great degree from that which can now be used 

 by lumbermen and other private owners. The 

 general plan for cutting Spruce should be the 

 same as that presented in the working plan 

 given in this report, namely, to remove the old 

 timber above a certain diameter and, where 

 necessary, to leave selected trees above this 

 size for seed. In this working-plan ten inches 

 at three feet from the ground has been made 

 the average minimum limit for cutting. The 

 State of New York, however, could afford to 



