1900. 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



2 53 



Another interesting publication entitled "Sta- 

 tistical Reports of Growth and Development of 

 Conifers at Schovenhorst, Fatten," by Dr. J. 

 H. Schober, has just appeared (published by Ju- 

 lius Springer, 1900, 48 p., 2 marks). Dr. Scho- 

 ber is the famous Hollander who, in order to 

 show the possibilities of the barren heath or 

 Geest-lands of Holland, established an enor- 

 mous pinetum at Schovenhorst where conifers 

 from almost every corner of the world may be 

 seen. 



Three members of" the Forestry Congress at 

 Paris spoke in favor of introducing a popular 

 festival similar to Arbor Day of the United 

 States to foster interest in forest preservation. 

 It is interesting to note that they were M. De- 

 lonele, of Paris ; M. Ruig y Nails, of Madrid, 

 and M. Samios, of Athens. 



A resolution was presented and adopted that 

 the International Forestry Congress, which met 

 in Paris, should be reconvened every two years 

 conjointly with the Agricultural Congress. 



D. E. Hutchins, Conservator of Forests at 

 Cape Town, sends an interesting communication 

 to the forest officers in India through the In- 

 dian Forester. In this letter he says : "There 

 must, I suppose, be between 300 and 400 white 

 forest officials in the Indian Forest Department, 

 all able to ride and most able to shoot well. 

 Some would be very welcome here now. In 

 France and Germany the forest officials are, I 

 believe, mobilized separately. It is a distinct 

 gain that they should be, both for their esprit de 

 corps and their special qualities as scouts. To 

 young Anglo-Indians, service in South Africa 

 just now must offer many inducements. Pa- 

 triotism is a very practical virtue amongst Eng- 

 lishmen to-day ; there is the excitement of serv- 

 ice ; the certainty of doing some good at least 

 once in one's lifetime." There is an interesting 

 footnote by the editor, however, which says that 

 none were allowed to go because all were 

 needed at home. 



American foresters should read the Indian 

 Forester carefully. It has the advantage of be- 

 ing in the English language and containing a 

 great deal of general information in addition to 

 many hints in reference to tropical growths 

 which may be of service to us some day in Porto 

 Rico and the Philippines. 



The Indian Forester for April contains a trans- 

 lation of a series of letters in the Revue des Cul- 

 tures Colon rales on " New Processes for Extract- 

 ing Rubber." By these methods, which are both 

 mechanical and chemical, rubber may be ex- 

 tracted from the smallest fragments of wood, 

 bark and twigs which contain it. It is easy to see 

 how, in case these methods are successful, tap- 

 ping may be abolished, and that the whole 

 tree may be utilized. This ma}^ also lead to the 

 growing of rubber trees as one would field crops, 

 reaping them while young and extracting from 

 the twigs every particle of rubber which they 

 contain. 



In the Indian Forester for June there is an ar- 



ticle on the "Camphor Industry for India," 

 copied from the Madras Mail. 'According to 

 this article the Camphor-Tree of Sumatra and 

 Borneo is not the Camphor-Tree of China, Japan 

 and Formosa. The Sumatra tree belongs to the 

 Dipteracete. It has been named Dryobalonops 

 aroinatica, and Shorea camphorifera by another. 

 The Japanese tree is Laurus caiuphora of the 

 order Lauraceae. He seems to think that 

 there would be little difficulty in growing it 

 in India and other regions of the tropics. 

 It is no doubt abundant in the Philippines. 

 He states that in Formosa the tree is reck- 

 lessly cut down by the natives for the cam- 

 phor and for boat timber. "Since the island 

 came into the possession of the Japanese, 

 the industry, instead of undergoing improve- 

 ment, has only been further threatened by its 

 conversion into a state monopoly so indiffer- 

 ently protected that any amount of illicit felling 

 and manufacture goes on unchecked." Al- 

 though, it is said, large quantities still exist, the 

 industry has paid well in Japan, Formosa, Su- 

 matra and Borneo. 



The government of India on the recommen- 

 dation of Mr. Ribbentrop, Inspector-General of 

 Forests, has sanctioned the establishment of a 

 plantation of Brazilian rubber trees in British 

 Burmah. The plantation will cover 10,000 acres. 



To the Indian Forester tor June there is an ap- 

 pendix of fifty pages on the Sandal-tree by P. 

 M. Lushington. The sweet-scented Sandal- 

 wood seems to be a very fastidious sort of tree. 

 It won't stand transplanting, and, although it 

 requires nurse-trees, it prefers to grow in the 

 scrub in hedges and bushes rather than in the 

 forest. It has peculiar tubercles on its roots, 

 and many believe that it is more or less parasitic 

 on the roots of other trees. The value of the 

 wood is apparently rated by its scent. 



In the Allgemeine Forst- und Jagd-zeitung 

 appears an interesting note on the name of the 

 White Pine. In Germany, in fact throughout 

 the whole of Europe, the White Pine is called 

 the " Weymouth's Kiefer," or Weymouth's 

 Pine. This is due to the fact that Lord Wey- 

 mouth introduced it into England. The peas- 

 ants in certain sections, especially the wood- 

 choppers, have twisted the word " Weymouth " 

 into "Weidmann," which means "huntsman.' 

 In the course of time this tree may be known 

 among the common people as the " Huntsman's 

 Pine." In other sections it is called " Seiden- 

 fohre " or " Sidefohre," which means Silk-tree, 

 because of the striking silky brilliancy of its 

 leaves. 



In the next issue of THE FORESTER I shall 

 give a list of all the important foreign forestry 

 periodicals and endeavor in the future to review 

 systematically any articles which may be of in- 

 terest to the readers of THE FOKESTI-R. Since 

 every good forestry journal should be a mirror 

 of what is happening in the line of forestry in 

 the country which it represents, there is no bet- 



