142 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



April, 



by fire within the past four or five 

 years. After that time it would come 

 under the head of 'denuded.' IVi/d 

 meadows: Grass lands uncultivated, but 

 sometimes cut. The other terms need 

 no explanation. 



' ' The results of the examination were 

 as follows: 



state acres. Private. Totals. 



I.Forest 455-415 702,639 1,158,054 



2. Lumbered 592,6301,078,509 1,671,139 



3. Waste 10,275 38,376 48,551 



4. Burned 14,617 28,548 43,165 



5. Denuded 15,739 4o,943 56,682 



6. Wild meadows 9,961 12,568 22,529 



7. Improved 4,642 96,338 100,980 



8. Water 60,135 64,909 125,044 



Totals. ..1,163,414 2,062,730*3,226,144 



' ' In glancing over these figures one is 

 first struck with the enormous area of 

 lumbered land; 52 per cent of the entire 

 area contains no merchantable pine, 

 spruce, or hemlock; 1,670,000 acres, 

 with the present market and transpor- 

 tation conditions, have absolutely no eco- 

 nomic value. In composition the virgin 

 Adirondack woods contained from 60 to 

 65 per cent of hardwoods. The hard- 

 woods seed more abundantly than the 

 conifers; also the seeds of the hard- 

 woods germinate much more readily in 

 the heavy Adirondack duff. Given the 

 requisite light conditions by the removal 

 of the 35 to 40 per cent of the conifers 

 of the stand, the result is nearly a pure 

 hardwood growth. 



' ' The second noticeable fact is that 

 columns 3, 4, 5, and 6 represent abso- 

 lute waste lands, amounting to 171,000 

 acres, or 5^ per cent of the total area. 



"It is to be hoped that these figures 

 will bring strongly before the people of 

 the state the deplorable condition of the 

 Adirondack region, and that more at- 

 tention will be paid to the good work 

 being done by the Forest, Fish, and 

 Game Commission and others in re- 

 claiming waste lands. ' ' 



Summer The American Forestry As- 

 Meeting, sociation will hold a special 

 summer meeting this year, 

 during the latter part of August (the 

 exact date has not yet been settled), in 



*Area of park. 



Michigan, at the invitation of the Mich- 

 igan Forestry Association and of the 

 Michigan Agricultural College. The 

 meeting will take place at Lansing, and 

 will probably consume two days. It will 

 be followed by an excursion from Lan- 

 sing, by way of Saginaw, to the mills at 

 Crayling ; thence to the forest preserve 

 in Roscommon County ; through the 

 hardwood forests in northern Michigan, 

 and thence to Mackinaw. It is possible 

 that the trip will be extended to Mar- 

 quette and the northern peninsula. 



The program for the sessions at Lan- 

 sing will cover the following topics : 



1. A discussion of the farm wood- 

 lot its economic and aesthetic impor- 

 tance. 



2 . Facts and figures concerning wood , 

 posts, ties, hoop-poles, etc. 



3. A symposium on the duty of the 

 state in forest matters. 



4. A discussion on the jack pine 

 plains of Michigan. 



5. Methods of starting and handling 

 the farm woodlot. 



6. Forest botany of Michigan. 



7. Meteorological conditions. 



8. Soil and its relation to success in 

 forest culture. 



9. The fire problem. 



10. The trespass problem. 



1 1 . The question of titles. 



Proper Title Mr. Alfred Gaskill writes 

 for City us as follows concerning 



Foresters. the proper professional 



title for city foresters : 



' ' The misuse of the term ' forester ' 

 to designate a man who cares for the 

 park and shade trees of towns and cities 

 has occasioned some protest without 

 bringing out a better name. 



"The objection is not that ' forester' 

 is too good or not good enough, but 

 simply that it does not apply. A man 

 whose business it is to look after and 

 cultivate trees in the aggregate is a for- 

 ester, while one who plants and prunes 

 trees as individuals is something else. 



' ' Let me therefore suggest that we 

 have ' city arborators ' instead of ' city 

 foresters.' The word is good English, 

 and, though marked obsolete in all the 

 dictionaries, is capable of being revived 



