THE FORESTER. 



March, 



"Above all, we would especially call 

 your attention to the difficulty of enforc- 

 ing the law in regard to the pollution of 

 streams. This is a matter of vital im- 

 portance and not to be dismissed as affect- 

 ing only the lives of some fishes, the 

 pleasure of some anglers or the dividends 

 of some pulp mills. We are a water 

 drinking people, and we are allowing 

 every brook to be defiled. Nature pro- 

 vides that they should be kept pure by 

 animals which feed on the dead matters 

 which fall into them, but the chemicals 



with which they are polluted can destroy 

 all forms of life, so that every beast which 

 dies in the mountains will soon roll down 

 into our reservoirs, pickled in acids which 

 no fish or bacteria can touch and live. It 

 is not necessary to destroy or hamper any 

 industry in order to prevent the pollution 

 of water courses. What is really needed 

 is to check the criminal selfishness of 

 those who would rather poison their fel- 

 low citizens with their offal than to spend 

 a few dollars to take care of it." 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 



The Lumber Trade of the United States. By 

 O. P. Austin. From the Monthly Summary 

 and Finance for November, 

 of Statistics, U. S. Treasury 



of Commerce 

 1900. Bureau 

 Department. 



This publication meets a want which has been 

 strongly felt by persons desiring information 

 about the lumber trade, and it should be wel- 

 comed by every student of economics, as well as 

 by lumbermen and foresters. The author has 

 brought together in a well arranged form all the 

 available facts and figures about the lumber 

 trade, presenting his conclusions in a straight- 

 forward, business-like way. Uniform statistics 

 of the lumber business are difficult to secure 

 except for the large centers of production. In 

 other regions estimates of the annual output, of 

 the number of mills in operation, of the capital 

 invested, etc., are in most cases available only for 

 certain years or are altogether wanting. How- 

 ever, the formation of lumbermen's associations, 

 whose reports are published in the various lum- 

 ber journals, is tending to simplify the collection 

 of such statistics. Mr. Austin has drawn largely 

 upon these sources for the facts concerning 

 production of timber in various parts of the 

 country. His tables, comparing the output of 

 lumber for home and foreign consumption, are 

 exceedingly instructive and are most valuable 

 because this information has hitherto been too 

 scattered to be readily available to the average 

 economist. 



General conclusions regarding supplies of 

 standing timber are extremely difficult to make. 

 Xo accurate information exists regarding the 

 amount of timber over extensive areas aud esti- 

 mates for whole States or for the entire country 

 must be broad guesses. Still more unsatisfactory 

 are any attempts to predict future supplies, for 

 there is an almost total lack of knowledge of the 

 amount and condition of young timber in the 



United States and of the growth of the various 

 trees under different conditions. Mr. Austin is 

 wisely conservative in his statements respecting 

 these points. For the total stand of merchantable 

 timber he quotes Dr. B. E. Fernow, who places 

 the amount at 2,300 billion feet. The total an- 

 nual output of lumber is quoted from the Lum- 

 ber Trade Journal of New Orleans as 40 billion 

 feet. In discussing future supplies the author 

 quotes from the reports of Mr. Henry Gannett. 

 It is hoped that this valuable publication may 

 be followed from year to year by others of the 

 same character. H. S. G. 



The Fourth Annual Report of the Commis- 

 sioners of Fisheries, Game and Forests of 

 New York State 1897. 



This is the fourth of the large and profusely 

 illustrated annual reports of the New York 

 Forest and Game Commission. The articles 

 which refer more or less directly to the for- 

 ests or wood industries are nine in number. 

 Of these the report of the Superintendent of 

 State Forests is naturally the first, and is fol- 

 lowed by the regular reports on the production 

 of timber in Northern New York, and on Forest 

 Fires in 1898, both also by Col. Wm. F. Fox. 

 The last two are much like those which ap- 

 peared a year ago ; the most interesting part of 

 the "State Superintendent's Report' ' are the rec- 

 ommendations, and of these perhaps the most 

 important concerns the State's title to lands in 

 forest preserve. It seetr s that there are still the 

 many parcels of land in the reserve which are 

 occupied by farmers, and according to the pres- 

 ent requirements of law, the occupants pay the 

 taxes. But of these lands a good part are 

 forested aud should belong to the State reserve. 

 Experience has shown that to have these lands 

 assessed to the occupants makes it difficult under 

 certain circumstances for the State to secure an 

 unclouded title to them. It is therefore urged 



