1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



21 



SO do forest distribution in Nebraska, 

 Colorado, and Montana; forest fires in 

 a number of different places; the whole 

 grazing question, especially in the West; 

 the study of forest products in coopera- 

 tion with the Bureau of Chemistry 

 work which is just beginning and of 

 which I expect most important results, 

 particularly- for the Philippines; and 

 the immenseh- important work with the 

 railroads. 



Finally, I want to speak about the 

 work in tree-planting. I have become 

 intenseh" interested in that side of the 

 Bureau's activity during the last year, 

 and I am looking forward to results of 

 very great importance from the study 

 that has been made this summer of the 

 possibilities of unoccupied lands in Ne- 

 braska. My feeling is that ver>' great 

 stretches of the arid middle West are 

 capable of producing trees and sustain- 

 ing a tree growth after the first restora- 

 tive step has been taken by man. As 

 ^ou all know, artificial plantations a 

 little farther east have constantly as- 

 sumed the characters of natural forest, 

 have reproduced themselves on the 

 ground, have made a forest floor, 

 brought a forest fauna and flora to- 

 gether, and have begun to spread. 

 That means that the.se forests are per- 

 fectly capable of sustaining themselves 

 indefinitely after they have once been 



started. I want to see that sort of thing 

 tested on a large scale still farther west. 

 I believe there are inunen.se tracts tliere 

 which are capalile of ])roducing under 

 fore.st immensely more than they can in 

 any other way, and I believe our re- 

 sults in that direction are going to be 

 exceedingly useful. The tree-planting 

 work, not only there, but in connection 

 with the railroads, too, is, I think, 

 going to demand more and more atten- 

 tion. The field in that direction is 

 largely unexplored as yet, and the work 

 must go ahead. 



This is an exceedingly hasty and im- 

 perfect glance at the field, but it is 

 enough to give us all a realizing sense 

 of a va.st opportunit>' and an enormous 

 ta.sk. A few years ago, when the fight 

 for the forest reser\'es was on, it often 

 seemed as if we were going to lo.se not 

 only the reserves we had, but any op- 

 portunity to make new ones. Now the 

 outlook is as attractive as it was gloomy 

 then. The lesson of the vast and varied 

 field seems to me to be that we must 

 all work together as a unit, whatever 

 our particular affiliations may chance 

 to be. 



All of us who are occupied in forest 

 work must understand that the progress 

 of forestry is the conunon aim, and not 

 the prosperit}- of any particular organi- 

 zation, and that I think we do. 



THE BOUNDARY LINK BETWEEN THE DESERT 



AND THE FOREST. 



By S. J. HoivSINGER, 

 General Land Office. 



POSSIBIvY there is no portion of the 

 United States where the necessity 

 for forest preserv'ation is more keenly felt 

 than in Arizona. I know of no section 

 of the country, except it may be southern 

 California, where it is of such vital im- 

 portance. There has been an almost 

 unanimous demand by the citizens for the 

 preservation of their forests, and about 

 5,000,000 acres in this territory have 

 been set aside by the President's orders 

 for forest reserves. 



Private ownership of the forested 

 lands of the territory has very much 

 complicated matters, but the people real- 

 ize all the more the necessity for the 

 .speedy application and enforcement of 

 practical forest regulations, as opposed 

 to wasteful methods of lumbering and 

 the outright vandalism heretofore prac- 

 ticed. 



It is gratifying to know that the for- 

 e.st reserves are already bearing fruit. 

 Necessarilv their organization and en- 



