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AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



J 53 



ber, 700 cords of wood besides burning 

 over many acres of young timber. 



New York. On Long Island south of 

 Wading River, a recent forest fire burned 

 over 2,000 acres of oak and chestnut tim- 

 ber. Dr. M. B. Baldwin of Wardencliffe, 

 was caught in the path of the flames and 

 burned to death. 



Nebraska. At Hyannis a recent furi- 

 ous fire swept the forest ranges of that 

 section forthree days. The flames entered 



"During his term of office as Secretary 

 of State he appointed J. Orton Kerl 

 an electncal expert, as well as a n. 

 paper correspondent, as consul to Para, 

 Brazil, charging him to make an examina- 

 tion of the source of supply of rubber 

 along the banks of the Amazon River, 

 from which the main part of the rubber 

 used in the United States came. Mr. 

 Kerbey has twice crossed equatorial 

 America by the Amazon and the Andes 



the best cattle district of the State, and a ln . a search for new rubber lands, and 



while he has been successful in finding 

 what he was in quest of, the forests in 

 which the rubber trees are located are 

 practically inaccessible. This, coupled 

 with the scarcity of labor, and the unre- 

 liability of the concessions made by the 

 governments in the South American coun- 

 tries, renders the prospects for an increase 

 in the supply from this source extremely 

 precarious. 



"Mr. Kerbey looks to the Philippines 

 to supply the deficiency that threatens, as 

 a result of the enormous consumption of 

 this product. The climatic conditions in 

 the Philippines, he says, are favorable to 

 the rubber tree, while the fact that the 

 transportation of the product can be made 

 from the source of supply to this country 

 in ships, instead of having to be packed 

 over long distances, as is the case in South 

 America, will make the Philippines the 

 sourse of supply in the future. The freight 

 will not be so- high, notwithstanding the 

 longer distance, and there will he no export 

 duties to pay, as the islands are under the 

 United States government. 



"In view of the fact that Milwaukee 



space of about 100 miles in length and 

 from 10 to 40 miles in width was totally 

 swept of hay and dry prairie grass that 

 was needed for cattle feed. In conse- 

 quence many ranchmen have no feed left 

 for their cattle and there is likely to be a 

 heavy loss of stock. 



Maine. A fire which damaged timber 

 to the extent of $1,000 was reported in 

 Enfield on May 9th. 



Wisconsin. Forest fires in Wisconsin 

 at this season are unusual but a recent 

 series of conflagrations have resulted in 

 serious losses to lumbermen. At Marinette 

 500,000 feet of logs belonging to the Bay 

 Shore Co., were burned. Near Mellen 

 another lumber company has suffered a 

 loss of 1,200,000 feet of logs. The Wis- 

 consin Central trains could not pass 

 through the burning territory. A three- 

 span bridge over Trout River was de- 

 stroyed. 



New Fields 

 For Rubber. 



"In these times of elec- 

 trical development the 

 world's supply of India 



rubber becomes a serious question, which capitalists are becoming interested in rub- 

 is in no wise lessened by the fact that ber culture in Mexico, the statement made 

 large cpiantities of this product are being by Mr. Kerbey, is of peculiar interest 



used in the manufacture of tubing for the 

 air brakes, with which all first class rail- 

 ways are equipping their rolling stock, 

 and by the immense demand caused by 

 the manfacturers of rubber tires for car- 

 riages and bicycles. The late James G. 

 Blaine, in his day, when these industries 



here. ' A rubber forest is more valuable 

 than a gold mine,' he says. k Gold grows 

 in the trees of a rubber forest; all thai is 

 necessary being for the native gatherer, 

 with his little hatchet for a wand, to enter 

 the jungles, to tap the tree, and the liquid 

 <rold flows into his coffers. A gallon of 



were in their infancy, so to speak, was milk or sap coagulates into a pond of crude 



able to peer far enough into the future to rubber, worth $1 in gold coin in any 



see that the supply then in sight would market in the world. 

 not be sufficient to meet the demand. "'This increasing demand for rubber 



