1901. 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



Si 



pear to have been kept as to the extent of that nearly one-tenth of the forests out- 

 the devastation caused by conflagrations side of the reserved areas have been burned 



1 _" ll . 1 _ JL _______ 1 _L*JL * I _ 51 



during the last season, but it is known over 



AMONG FOREIGN AND AMERICAN PERIODICALS. 



In The Swiss Forestry Journal for December, 

 1900, tuere is a noteworthy review by Dr. Frank- 

 hau-er of a recent brochure on the forest and 

 water question ("Zur Wald und Wasserfrage ") 

 by the renowned specialist, Dr. Ebermayer of 

 Munich. 



According to this brochure a large part of 

 the moisture which is precipitated in the form 

 of rain and snow is intercepted by the forest 

 crown. This varies according to the nature of 

 the crown and the intensity and duration of 

 the rainfall. The forest floor in consequence 

 receives less moisture than the open field. By 

 the process of transpiration much water is con- 

 sumed by the forest in the process of growth. 

 The amount trauspired by the leaves of the 

 forest is at times large and probably much more 

 than is conserved by the protection which the 

 canopy affords from evaporation by the sun and 

 wind. Owing to the fact that the rootage of 

 the forest is deep the level of the ground water 

 is lower than that of the open field ; were one 

 to argue the problem from these premises alone 

 he might very easily conclude that the forest 

 after all plays a very insignificant role in the 

 conservation of moisture. 



As Dr. Frankhauser points out, for a large 

 part of the year, in northern climates and 

 mountainous regions, transpiration does not 

 take place. It is probably also not very active 

 when the atmosphere is moist and at night. It 

 is therefore very easy to overstate the amount 

 of transpiration. A large proportion of the 

 moisture of northern regions and high altitudes 

 falls in the form of snow which lingers longer 

 in the shade of the forest than in the open. 

 (See illustrations in the latest report of the 

 Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station.) 

 It is easy to see how the influence of the forest 

 in this respect depends very largely upon alti- 

 tude and latitude. 



It is worth noting here that, even though it 

 may not be actually raining the leafage of forests 

 in high mountains collects moisture from the 

 saturated atmosphere. It congeals on the twigs 

 and leaves from a foggy or misty atmosphere. 

 There is a constant drip of water from the 

 branches to the ground. This must occur also 

 at times in lower regions. During such times 

 transpiration is practically nil. No definite con- 

 clusion can ever be reached in this matter 

 until the amount of transpiration is measured. 

 Owing to the fact that this varies with every 

 species, every hour of the day, every day of the 

 year, and with every locality and soil, it is simply 

 impossible to ever compute it with the slightest 

 degree of accuracy. Transpiration is not suffi- 



ciently understood to be properly rated as a 

 factor in forest influences although it is 110 

 doubt a very important one. The distinguished 

 botanist Hahcrlandt in his " Botanisch Tropen- 

 retse ' says : ' The numerous transpiration 

 experiments which I conducted on a great 

 variety of plants in the Buitenzorg Garden have 

 led to the conclusion that in the humid atmos- 

 phere of Java, in spite of the high temperature, 

 the amount of moisture transpired is from two 

 to three times less thnn in temperate regions." 

 He also concluded that the transpiration stream 

 and the process of nutrition are praiically inde- 

 pendent of one another and that although they 

 go on together, nutrition takes place by osmotic 

 action at a time, when owing to the extreme 

 humidity of the atmosphere, transpiration is 

 impossible. Indeed in spite of all sorts of con- 

 clusions lew di-ny that forests are great col- 

 lectors and conservators of moisture, especially 

 in mountainous districts. 



The Belgian Forestry Bulletin for December, 

 1900. contains an interesting article on the Forest 

 of Fontainebleau. It is a discription of the 

 excursion of the 100 foresters of the Interna- 

 tional Congress at Paris. It is of special interest 

 in that the author is a Belgian who is an un- 

 prejudiced observer. He criticizes the forest 

 administration to the effect that the Forest of 

 Fontainebleau is far from what it could or ought 

 to be. 



A veiy interesting announcement in the For- 

 estry Drpari men t of the Queensland Agricul- 

 tural Journal for Decern' er, 1900, relates that 

 at a conference of the saw mill owners, tim- 

 ber getters, timber merchants, sletptr gttters 

 squarers, log handlers, and others interested. 

 have unanimously agreed that i.ew legislation 

 in reference to the forest lands of New South 

 Wales is imperative. They have strongly ad- 

 vocated to the Minister of Lands the reserva- 

 tion of the whole public forest domain. Sim- 

 ilar action is likely to follow in other Australian 

 States and there are signs that these progres- 

 sive pe< pie are about to establish an up-to-date 

 forest policy. This sort of movement from the 

 lumbemien of the country speaks well for the 

 patriotism and common sense of its people. The 

 absolute governmental control of forests would 

 be in keeping with the sentiments of its people 

 and it is indeed a wonder that their forests have 

 been so long neglected. 



The first ardcle in The Indian Forester, for 

 December, relates to the manufacture of paper 

 from the paper mulberrv in Burmah. A sheet 

 of this paper, which resembles a light brown 

 manilla paper, accompanies the illustration of 



