300 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



July, 



the acreage of hay irrigated was 758, 

 and the vahie of the crop was $17,920, 

 or $23.64 per acre. 



The value of irrigation in truck farm- 

 ing as an assurance against loss bj^ 

 drought has been demonstrated in sev- 

 eral counties, and the reports from the 

 irrigators show a very large income per 

 acre. The methods of irrigation on 

 these farms var)^ greatly, and the cost 

 is mvich higher than on farms where 

 hay is the only crop irrigated. 



The water is generally pumped from 

 driven wells by steam-power or wind- 

 mills. In the vicinity of large cities 

 the farmers occasionally use city water. 

 Notwithstanding the heavy original cost 

 of engines, pumps, pipes, etc., in nearly 

 every instance the value of the irrigated 

 crop reported was equal or exceeded the 

 first cost. In 1899 the average value 

 per acre of the products derived from 

 irrigated land devoted to truck farming 

 was $330.43. 



A WORKING PLAN FOR ARKANSAS FOREST LANDS. 



THE latest bulletin * issued by the 

 Bureau of Forestry contains a 

 working plan for the timber tract of the 

 Sawj^er & Austin Lumber Company, 

 near Pine Bluff, Arkansas. This work- 

 ing plan, which is already in operation, 

 is the outcome of an application to the 

 Bureau of Forestry by this firm for as- 

 sistance in the management of their 

 forest lands. The field-work necessar}' 

 to the preparation of this working plan 

 was conducted by Mr. Frederick E. 

 Olmstead, field assistant in the Bureau. 



This working plan includes a careful 

 study of the problems of markets, taxes, 

 and transportation; also the effects of 

 fire and grazing. There are tables 

 showing the stand per acre of the most 

 important timber trees, and diagrams 

 illustrating the rates of height and diam- 

 eter growths of the leading species. The 

 report is well illustrated with a number 

 of half-tone plates. 



The preparation of this working plan 

 for the Sawyer & Austin tract is fur- 

 ther proof of the striking manner in 

 which practical forest methods are 

 commending themselves to lumbermen 

 throughout the country. Nowhere is 

 the tendency more marked than in the 

 southern states, from which the Bureau 

 of Forestry has been asked for assist- 

 ance in the management of more than 

 1,500,000 acres of private forest lands. 

 Already several working plans in that 



*A Working Plan for Forest Lands Near 

 Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Bj- Frederick E. Olm- 

 stead, field assistant, being Bulletin No. 32, 

 Bureau of Forestry. 



region have been completed and are 

 now in operation. 



The forest lands of the South are 

 among the most extensive in the United 

 States to-day, and the development of 

 the lumber industry in that region dur- 

 ing recent years has been remarkable. 

 The tendency of southern lumbermen 

 to exploit their holdings along conserv- 

 ative lines is an encouraging sign, and 

 it may reasonably be expected that this 

 early acknowledgment of the value of 

 practical forest methods in lumbering 

 will in many cases prevent a repetition of 

 the wasteful methods that have in great 

 measure crippled the lumber industry 

 in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, 

 and other regions formerly well tim- 

 bered. 



The information contained in this 

 bulletin should interest lumbermen gen- 

 erally, but it is of special value to south- 

 ern lumbermen, for many holdings of 

 timber lands in that region are likely ta 

 present many of the same problems en- 

 countered on the Sawyer & Austin 

 tract. 



The timber lands of the Sawyer & 

 Austin Lumber Company are situated 

 in portions of Grant, Jefferson, and Sa- 

 line Counties, Arkansas, and lie south 

 of the Arkansas River, about 100 miles 

 from where it empties into the Mis- 

 sissippi. They comprise 105,000 acres, 

 about 5 per cent of which is bare of 

 merchantable timber, and the property 

 is ver}^ much cut up by farm lands and 

 other private holdings. 



On the tract of the Sawyer & Austin 



