200 



THE FORESTER. 



November, 



West Virginia. 



From all along the West Virginia Cen- 

 tral Railroad come reports of great dam- 

 age. Many farmers about Bayard, W. 

 Ya., have lost all their hay and corn, 

 others their barns and crops, having been 

 ignited by sparks from the surrounding 

 forest fire. The mountains around Bay- 

 ard are ablaze, and the town is without 

 fire protection. 



A train load of water was sent out by a 



lumber company, whose log and truck 

 men are fighting the flames. October 28. 



Maryland. 



Thousands of men are fighting forest 

 fires all through the Alleghenies. The 

 mountains are reported to be one mass of 

 flame all the way from Oakland to Graf- 

 ton. Timber in the Flintstone and Town 

 Creek section is reported burning, and the 

 loss will be heavy. October 27. 



Forest Protection. 



Protecting the Public Domain. 



President McKinley, on October 21, is- 

 sued a proclamation changing and enlarg- 

 ing: the boundaries of, the Prescott Forest 

 Reserve in the Territory of Arizona. The 

 reserve, which originally contained 10,240 

 acres, now embraces about 423,680 acres. 



The reserving of this additional area 

 has been necessitated by the reported 

 urgent need for withdrawing these for- 

 ested lands from the operation of the Act 

 of June 3, 1878, under which they were 

 being rapidly subjected to wholesale spolia- 

 tion in the interest of large mining corpor- 

 ations operating some distance therefrom. 



The Santa Ynez Forest Reserve, in the 

 State of California, has been created by a 

 proclamation dated October 2. The total 

 area is about 145,000 acres. 



The region set apart is traversed by 

 the Santa Yhez mountain range, and lies 

 north of the private land claims bordering 

 on the coast and south of the private land 

 claims bordering on the Pine Mountain 

 and Zaca Lake Forest Reserve. 



On Congressional Recognition. 



William J. Nisbet, of the Indian Forest 

 Service, one of the greatest authorities in 

 the world on sylviculture, declares the 

 United Kingdom could save the $50,000,- 

 000 now paid annually for foreign timber 

 by giving proper attention to the reforesta- 

 tion of absolutely waste lands in Great 

 Britain and Ireland. " Every pennv of 



that vast sum," he says, "could be saved, 

 besides giving healthy and remunerative 

 employment to thousands of people." If 

 this is possible in Great Britain, how much 

 greater are the possibilities of practical re- 

 sults in this country. Forestry is a subject 

 which should be no longer slighted by 



Congress. 



Phila. Item. 



A Fair Prophecy. 



Despite the official reports that the for- 

 ests of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minne- 

 sota are nearly exhausted, announcement 

 is made that an army of 35,000 men will 

 be engaged in cutting; down Pine trees in 

 that region during the coming winter. 



It is evident that the call for forest 

 preservation has been made none too soon. 

 Unless the lumbermen are speedily 

 checked, the water supply of the great 

 lakes may be endangered. Already navi- 

 gation is difficult in some of the connect- 

 ing channels and there is talk of building 

 a dam across the Niagara river at Buffalo 

 to raise the levels. 



When the forests have been laid waste 

 there will be loud lamentations in the lake 

 towns, though now they view the situation 

 with apparent complacency. Utica (A 7 ". 

 T.) Press. 



* ^ 



An Important Decision. 



A matter of very great interest to 

 citizens generally has been decided by 

 the Illinois Supreme Court, which has 



