436 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



November, 



guishing and marking the infested tim- 

 ber. 



C. M. Day has been appointed super- 

 visor of the northern half of the Bitter 

 Root Forest Reserve, in Idaho. 



Tree Plantingf The people of north- 

 in Northwestern western Texas are be- 

 Texas. ginning to realize the 



importance of forest- 

 tree planting. At the request of the 

 Fort Worth and Denver Cit}" Railway 

 Company, an agent of the Bureau of 

 Forestry recently made a trip from Fort 

 Worth to Texline with a view of secur- 

 ing the cooperation of farmers along its 

 line in forest-tree planting. Mr. George 

 L,. Clothier was detailed by the Bureau 

 of Forestry to cooperate with the rail- 

 road in encouraging planting in that 

 section. As a result of his work six- 

 teen planting plans have already been 

 made for property-owners there. In- 

 structions regarding planting were given 

 to about twenty- five others who expect 

 to plant extensively in the near future. 



No section of the United States is 

 more in need of forest trees than north- 

 western Texas, for the high prairies of 

 this region are exposed to the prevalent 

 south winds, which are frequently very 

 hot and dry. The rainfall, which would 

 be ample in a cooler climate, is rapidly 

 dissipated by evaporation ; agriculture 

 is thus exposed to severe injury b}' cli- 

 matic conditions. The winds in ex- 

 posed situations have the power to take 

 up by means of evaporation more than 

 six feet of water during the 5xar. This 

 great demand for moisture would con- 

 sume one and a half times the rainfall 

 of humid New England. Experiments 

 have shown that the reduction of the 

 velocity of the wind from 25 miles per 

 hour to zero, reduces its power of evapo- 

 ration to one-sixth. In other words, if 

 the average velocity of the wind at the 

 surfaceof the ground for one year should 

 be found to be 25 miles per hour and the 

 evaporation for the same period should 

 be found to be 72 inches, a reduction of 

 the velocity of the wind at the same 

 place to a dead calm would result in a re- 

 duction of the evaporation to 12 inches. 



The importance of forest belts for 



wind breaks in an arid or semi-arid 

 country can scarcely be overestimated. 

 The great question which concerns the 

 welfare of Texas farmers is the conser- 

 vation of the natural rainfall of the 

 region. The records of the Weather 

 Bureau for the past ten years show an 

 average annual rainfall of 21.55 inches 

 at Amarillo. Large areas in Russia 

 famous for the production of wheat 

 have less than 15 inches annual rainfall, 

 and the celebrated Red River Valley of 

 the North receives only about 20 inches. 

 Western Texas receives sufficient rain- 

 fall for the growth of ordinary agricul- 

 tural crops if all of it could be utilized. 

 The planting of trees will be one of the 

 influences that will very materially as- 

 sist in the much-needed conservation of 

 the moisture. 



From the information derived by an 

 agent of the Bureau of Forestry it is safe 

 to say that there is quite a list of forest 

 trees that may be grown successfully 

 along the line of the Fort Worth and 

 Denver Cit}' Railway. As far west as 

 Clarendon, the Black Walnut and Pecan 

 may be planted with fair prospects of 

 success. The Black Eocust will thrive 

 from Fort Worth to Texline, while the 

 Russian Mulberry, Osage Orange, and 

 Red Cedar can be grown from Fort 

 Worth to Amarillo. Where moisture is 

 abundant the Cottonwood can be grown 

 successfully throughout this region. 

 Other good trees for the locality are 

 White Elm, Hackberry, and Honey 

 Locust. 



Hartford An interesting piece of 



Takes up forest work has been 



Forestry. begun on the water- 



shed of the city of Hart- 

 ford, Conn., under the direction of Mr. 

 Henry S. Graves. The watershed is 

 owned by the city, and covers an area of 

 over two thousand acres. During the 

 past summer Mr. Graves prepared a de- 

 tailed working plan, which is now being 

 put into execution. The plan includes 

 the necessary thinnings in the forest, 

 which covers about one thousand acres, 

 and the planting of over six hundred 

 acres of open fields and pasture land. 

 A resident forest ranger, Mr. E. E. 



