6 



THE FORESTER. 



January, 



"The administrative force which under 

 the direction of the General Land Office, 

 has charge of the National Forest Reserves, 

 has been better organized than heretofore. 

 This branch of the Government forest 

 service is, however, like the others, much 

 handicapped by lack of funds. 



The work of the Division of Forestry of 

 the Department of Agriculture has con- 

 tinued to grow rapidly in extent and use- 



m, -n* x fulness. The Division's 

 The Division of . .. 



appropriation was prac- 

 *orestry. dca , ly doubled for the 



fiscal year beginning on July ist. It is now 

 $88,520 instead of $48,520, as during the 

 previous year. This means that the Divi- 

 sion has been able to meet much more ef- 

 ficiently than before the demands which 

 have been made on it. The request for 

 working plans for conservative lumbering 

 now cover more than 5 I ? 00 i 000 acres; 

 and on 175,000 acres working plans have 

 already gone into operation. The ad- 

 vance in the practical application of for- 

 estry to American conditions thus indica- 

 ted is a matter of congratulation for two 

 reasons. It means that object lessons in 

 forest management, which will appeal 

 more strongly than could anything else to 

 lumbermen, owners of wood-lots, and 

 State governments, are being established 

 in different parts of the country. It also 

 signifies that forestry is being fitted to 

 American conditions, and that those who 

 practice it in this country are gaining the 

 experience which will enable them to 

 solve more and more of our difficulties, 

 and to get down to the terms which ap- 

 peal to practical land owners. The Divi- 

 sion of Forestry has also been carrying on 

 many lines of work which are more in the 

 character of investigation, but of the re- 

 sults of which it will soon be possible to 

 make practical use. Such are the ex- 

 amination of the effects of forest cover 

 on the flow of streams which has begun 

 on the watershed of the Arrowhead Irri- 

 gation Company of Southern California, 

 and the investigations of the habits of re- 

 production and growth of such important 

 lumber trees as the Red Fir of Washing- 

 ton and Oregon, and the Redwood of 

 California. 



Working Plans 

 for the Adiron- 

 dack^ . 



One of the most important pieces of 

 work which has been undertaken by the 

 Division of Forestry during the year, is 

 the preparation of work- 

 ing plans for the New 

 York State Forest Pre- 

 serve. The part for which 

 the first working plan is being made 

 is Township 40, in Hamilton Co., con- 

 taining the well known Racquette Lake. 

 Before this working plan goes into opera- 

 tion however, the constitutional provi- 

 sion which forbids any cutting whatso- 

 ever on the State lands, will have to be 

 repealed. It would be hard to measure the 

 good results which would follow the frank 

 introduction of scientific forestry on New 

 York's public lands. In the Adirondacks 

 the Division has also been engaged in 

 making working plans for Townships 16 

 and 17 in Franklin County, belonging to 

 Mr. William Rockefeller, and has con- 

 tinued to supervise the work of practical 

 forestry on the Webb and Whitney Pre- 

 serves and on the Brandeth Park. 



In March, Governor Roosevelt appointed 

 a new Forest, Fish and Game Commission 

 with Mr. W. Austin Wadsworth at its 

 head. Colonel William F. Fox was re- 

 appointed as Superintendent of Forests. 

 The Commission has added about eighty 

 thousand acres, both to the Adirondack 

 Park and to the State Forest Preserve. 



The woi"k of the Cornell School of For- 

 estry on its 30,000 acre experimental tract 

 has progressed rapidly. An arrangement 

 was made according to which everything 

 down to sticks three feet in length can be 

 marketed for cooperage stock or wood 

 alcohol. This greatly facilitates the utiliza- 

 tion of the hard woods. Several burnt over 

 tracts have already been cleaned up and 

 planted. 



The progress which has been made in 

 Pennsylvania may be summarized in a 

 quotation from Dr. Rothrock's last report : 

 "Up to the commence- 

 ment of 1900 much of 

 the work done has per- 

 tained to what might be called the period 

 of agitation of the cause of forestry. It 

 was necessary before our people could be 

 induced to enter upon a new work that 



Progress in 

 Pennsylvania. 



