Forestry and Irrigation. 



Vol. VIII. 



JUNE, 1902. 



No. 6. 



NEWS AND NOTES. 



Img;ation Bill The Irrigation Bill was 

 Passed* passed by the House of 



Representatives on Fri- 

 day, June 13, by a vote of 146 to 55. 

 As the bill had already passed the Sen- 

 ate, it is now only a matter of the agree- 

 ment of that body to the House amend- 

 ments, when the measure will be laid 

 before the President for his signature. 



The passage of this bill has been ac- 

 complished by the well-directed efforts 

 of its friends. It passed the Senate the 

 first of March without trouble, but the 

 outcome in the House was considered 

 doubtful. Various committee amend- 

 ments improved the bill in detail, and 

 in this way considerable opposition was 

 avoided. The opposition of the eastern 

 members to a measure that they felt 

 ' ' would bring competition to the farm- 

 ers of the east ' ' was to a great extent 

 overcome when the purposes of the bill 

 were more fully understood. That the 

 bill gained steadily in favor is readily 

 seen when it is considered that in the 

 beginning its fate in the House seemed 

 doubtful, while in the end it was passed 

 by a large majority. To the men who 

 handled the bill on the floor of the House 

 great credit is due. When the time for 

 action came, they were present and han- 

 dled the measure with skill. This was 

 in striking contrast to those members 

 in charge of the forest reserve transfer 

 bill, which was defeated on Tuesday, 

 June 10. These gentlemen, when their 

 measure had an excellent chance of pass- 

 ing, were found ' ' asleep at the switch. ' ' 



The passage of an irrigation bill has 

 long been needed. The country is to be 

 congratulated on the fact that the meas- 

 ure has been enacted at this session of 

 Congress. The full text of the Irriga- 

 tion Bill is printed in this number. 



The Summer 

 Meeting. 



Announcement was 

 made in the April 

 number of Forestry 

 AND Irrigation that the summer meet- 

 ing of the American Forestr}^ Associa- 

 tion will be held this year at I^ansing, 

 Michigan. The dates of the sessions 

 have now been decided upon, namely, 

 Wednesday and Thursday, August 27 

 and 28. At the close of the afternoon 

 session of Thursday, August 28, mem- 

 bers of the association who desire to at- 

 tend the excursion will take a special 

 train for Saginaw. From this point the 

 excursion will proceed to the Michigan 

 Forest Preserv^e, in Roscommon County. 

 After an inspection of this preserve, the 

 excursion party will be conveyed to 

 Grayling for an inspection of the large 

 lumber mills at that place. From there 

 the journey will be continued to the 

 hard- wood forests in Antrim County, 

 thence to Mackinac. 



At that point the party will disperse, 

 the option being given to the individual 

 members to return home by way of 

 I^ansing, or by lake steamers to Dulutb, 

 Detroit, Toledo, Erie, or Buffalo. A 

 circular of information will be sent out 

 in a few weeks to all members of the 

 association, outlining in detail the plans 

 for the meeting and subsequent excur- 

 sion. 



New Kind of An interesting experi- 

 Railroad Spike, ment is being tried in 

 Europe in the use of 

 hardwood spikes, or spike plugs, on sev- 

 eral railways in France to increase the 

 holding power of ordinary screw spikes 

 when driven in ties of Baltic Pine and 

 other soft woods. Holes about one and 

 three -eighths inches in diameter are 



