3 io 



THE FORESTER. 



December. 



this week, when railroad officials of the 

 Baltimore and Ohio system convened at 

 Cumberland and listened to lectures by 

 Dr. Herman von Schrenck, who is in 

 charge of the experimental work of the 

 United States forestry bureau at St. Louis. 

 Railroads use a large amount of lumber, 

 and the demand for cross ties is one of the 

 greatest drains upon the timber lands. A 

 diffusion of knowledge as to the advan- 

 tages of scientific methods of lumbering, 

 which the St. Louis expert explained, will 

 not only be of practical benefit to the rail- 

 road company, but will be a factor in 

 forest preservation. 



"The railroads of the country have a 

 pecuniary interest in taking up the sub- 

 jects pertaining to forestry, from two 

 standpoints. One is the immediate econ- 

 omy incident to the introduction of more 

 scientific methods in lumbering from the 

 standpoint of large consumers of forest 

 products. The other is the fostering of an 

 industry that contributes largely to their 

 traffic. If forests along the lines of large 

 railroads are allowed to disappear by reck- 

 less disregard of the future, the railroads 

 will be the losers as well as the communi- 

 ties devastated of a source of wealth." 



The Baltimore Sun says : 



" The gathering of officers of the Bati- 



more and Ohio railroad and of its branch 

 roads at Cumberland last week was an 

 event of greater significance than perhaps 

 appears to the causal observer. The 

 gathering was composed of over 200 offi- 

 cials, including the president of the com- 

 pany, to listen to lectures upon forestry, 

 by Government experts. A few years 

 ago the announcement of such a meeting 

 for such an object would have excited 

 nothing but amazement. Now it excites 

 general interest and general approbation." 

 It has only been a few weeks since the 

 Baltimore and Ohio officials requested the 

 Bureau of Forestrv to make a working- 

 plan for a tract of 125,000 acres of timber- 

 land, located in southeastern West Vir- 

 ginia. This meeting, coming so soon after, 

 is a splendid indication that their interest 

 in practical forestry is on the increase. 

 President Loree and his fellow officials 

 have set an excellent example to other rail- 

 road companies. No business is more 

 vitally affected by forest conditions than 

 railroads and if more of the leading: roads 

 will follow the example of the Baltimore 

 and Ohio the future welfare of our forests 

 will be practically assured. The Cumber- 

 land meeting is perhaps the most significant 

 sign yet shown that the conservative hand- 

 ling of forests is a wise business policy. 



FOREST FIRE RECORD. 



During Month of November there were Serious Fires 



in Twelve States. 



cinity of Plainfield, N. J., came near caus- 

 ing the total destruction of thousands of 



THE month of November furnishes 

 a long forest fire record, reports 

 reaching this office of serious con- 

 flagrations in twelve States. Not only 

 was there great loss in many cases to 

 farmers and owners of timberlands, but a 

 number of towns were threatened by forest 

 fires, and the residents compelled to turn 

 out and fight the flames. 



An unusual occurrence was the calling 

 out of the city fire departments at Wash- 

 ington, D. C, and McKeesport, Pa., in 

 order to fight forest fires that threatened 

 the safety of sections of these cities. 



New Jersey. Early in November forest A surface burning slowly against 



fires started by careless hunters in the vi- THE wind, southern new jersey. 



