I90J 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



NEWS, NOTES, AND COMMENT. 



How Forestry The following defini- 

 Differs from tion of the difference be- 

 Lumbering. tween forestry and lum- 



bering is quoted from the 

 article by Mr. O. W. Price, of the Di- 

 vision of Forestry in the Report of the 

 New York Forest, Fish and Game Com- 

 mission : 



" A working plan is, first of all, a plan 

 for lumbering. It specifies the diameter 

 limit to which trees shall be taken, and 

 includes estimates of the yield. It fixes 

 the areas to be logged over, forecasts the 

 profits to be realized, and sums up the 

 whole situation from a business point of 

 view. In so far, it treats of what is to be 

 done in the forest entirely from the stand- 

 point of the lumberman, and it is based 

 upon the same study of local conditions 

 that any good lumberman makes before he 

 fells a tree. The lumberman's working 

 plan, however, generally considers only 

 the most profitable way of harvesting 

 the merchantable timber. The forester's 

 working plan is made with a view also to 

 the removal of the mature timber in such 

 a way as to hasten the production of a 

 second crop. In spite of much that has 

 been said to the contrary, there is no other 

 radical difference in purpose between the 

 two. Both wish to make the forest pay 

 as high an interest as possible upon the 

 capital which it represents. The lumber- 

 man is usually content to receive returns 

 only once from the same area. The for- 

 ester lumbers with a view to lumbering 

 again. Exactly the same study of the 

 quality and amount of merchantable tim- 

 ber, of the conditions for its transport, and 

 the market open to it for sale, is necessary 

 under lumbering and under forestry." 



Of the introduction of forestry on the 

 New York State Preserve, Mr. Price con- 

 cludes : 



" Systematic forest management should 

 show good results upon the New York 

 State Preserve. Practical forestry has 

 been proved in the Adirondacks and has 

 been found to pay. It will pay also upon 



the Preserve, both in money and in those 

 indirect returns which will result from the 

 maintenance of so large and important a 

 body of forest land and the production of 

 a steady supply of timber. 



" Until the repeal of the clause of the 

 1S94 amendment to the State Constitution 

 which prohibits all cutting in the New 

 York Forest Preserve, the application of 

 practical forestry will naturally be im- 

 possible. This clause entails an annual 

 loss to the State equal to the amount of 

 timber which goes to waste each year. It 

 cuts off entirely what might be made an 

 important resource, and it does not tend to 

 the improvement of the forest itself. 

 When it was passed there was some reason 

 to fear that if lumbering were once begun 

 upon the Preserve it might be difficult to 

 regulate it. The State is now in a posi- 

 tion, however, to base the management 

 upon conservative methods and to see that 

 they are carried out." 



Burning Brush "The most frequent 

 and Forest causes of woodland fires 



Fires. in our State (New York) 



are the small fires started 

 by farmers for the purpose of burning 

 brush, logs and stumps, in order to clear 

 some piece of land. These are known 

 locally as fallow fires, and the operation 

 is g-enerallv alluded to as burning a ' fol- 

 ler.' This work as a rule is carelessly 

 done, and as the farmer always selects a 

 dry time in order to get a good burn, as he 

 terms it, the fire escapes too frequently 

 into the adjoining forest. Having piled 

 the brush and logs into heaps for burning, 

 the farmer seldom employs any extra help 

 to guard against the escape of the fire, and 

 so when a breeze springs up, as is very apt 

 to be the case, he is unable to control the 

 flames or prevent them from being driven 

 into the adjoining woods. Too often he 

 is known to set tire to his brush heaps and 

 then go away to attend to other work, 

 leaving the fire unwatched. Nearly all 



