272 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



July, 



Northern Paper Company, which was 

 begun last field season, is being con- 

 tinued now, and will be finished this 

 year. It is being carried on by two fully 

 equipped parties, each consisting of 15 

 men. A working plan is being made 

 for the tract of hardwoods of the Lin- 

 ville Improvement Company, lying 

 around Grandfather Mountain , in west- 

 ern North Carolina. The Bureau is also 

 making a careful study of the forest re- 

 sources of Otsego county, New York, 

 with the purpose of drawing up a simple 

 and direct manual of instructions for 

 the management of the private forest 

 lands in that county. The expenses of 

 the field work are being borne wholly 

 by Mrs. Alfred Corning Clark, who is 

 greatly interested in forestry and desir- 

 ous that the forests of the county shall 

 be treated in a practical manner. 



Through the cooperation of Mr. Ring, 

 Forest Commissioner of Maine, a study 

 has been undertaken of the forest con- 

 ditions of that state. This is to include 

 an investigation of the behavior of the 

 spruce after lumbering, in order to draw 

 up simple and practical rules for hasten- 

 ing the production of a second crop 

 upon lumbered areas. It entails also a 

 careful study of the fire problem and of 

 the best means of fighting fire in this 

 region. This investigation further in- 

 cludes a consideration of local log scales. 



Much attention will be given during 

 the present season to the examination 

 of woodlots, in the management of 

 which the assistance of the Bureau has 

 been requested. Two skilled men will 

 be detailed for this work, and it is the 

 intention of the Bureau that its agents 

 shall visit all woodlots for which appli- 

 cations have been made. 



One of the most important and inter- 

 esting undertakings by the Bureau of 

 Forestry during the present field season 

 is a careful study of a number of the 

 most valuable American commercial 

 trees. This will include, among others, 

 a study of the Adirondack Balsam, in 

 Franklin county, New York. Incident 

 to the Work of the Bureau in connection 

 with the Chippewa Indian Reservation 

 in Minnesota, a careful study of the Red 

 Pine is in progress. 



The study of the rate of growth of 



the Sugar Pine in California, which was 

 begun last season, is being continued. 

 Last year's work began in the northern 

 part of the state and in southern Ore- 

 gon, and this season the examination 

 will be continued southward with the 

 idea of covering the full commercial 

 range of this important timber tree. 



The southern hardwoods will be 

 studied in Kentucky, North Carolina, 

 and West Virginia. This work will be 

 mainly devoted to a consideration of the 

 oaks and the Yellow Poplar, the idea 

 being to study them in their commer- 

 cial ranges, along with other trees which 

 occur in mixture with them. 



The work by the Bureau of Forestry 

 during the present field season will also 

 include an investigation of the distribu- 

 tion of forests, their character, extent, 

 and the available supplies of timber. 



The study of the forest resources of 

 the best timbered counties of Maryland 

 is being continued ; this work was begun 

 in 1900, and has been going on through 

 each field season since. Examinations 

 of the forest conditions and resources 

 of Vermont, and also of portions of the 

 northern peninsula of Michigan, are 

 being made. 



Investigations have begun in the col- 

 lection of published and unpublished 

 data showing the past and present yields 

 of wood of various kinds, including im- 

 ports and exports, and consumption for 

 all purposes. This investigation also 

 includes a consideration of American 

 woods in foreign markets and foreign 

 woods in home markets. Attention is 

 being given to the collection of data 

 showing the production and value of 

 by-products of American forests. This 

 will include commercial gums, resins, 

 turpentine, and tan extracts. 



Forest 

 Extension. 



On July istthe Division 

 of Forest Extension was 

 established in the Bu- 

 reau of Forestry, to take charge of the 

 work heretofore done by the Section of 

 Tree Planting. The work of the new 

 division will be to devise plans for in- 

 creasing the forest area where it is 

 deficient. This it will do by the en- 

 couragement of planting where that is 



