1903 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



deposited in the orchards on the west 

 side of the valley. 



There have been few contentions 

 among the orchardists as to whom the 

 water belonged, and, in the main, the 

 differences have been settled by arbitra- 

 tion. The product of the orchards will 

 be greatly increased. 



Lumber The fourteenth annual 



Dealers En- meeting of the Michigan 

 dorse Forestry. Retail Lumber Dealers' 

 Association, held at De- 

 troit, Mich., February 3 and 4, devoted 

 considerable attention to forestry, ques- 

 tions of forest work and management 

 playing an important part in the pro- 

 ceedings. Charles W. Garfield, chair- 

 man of the Forestry Commission of Mich- 

 igan, addressed the delegates, calling 

 attention to the rapid diminution of tim- 

 ber supplies and pointing out the neces- 

 sity of conservation. He pointed out 

 that in Michigan there are large areas 

 belonging to the state which are now 

 unfit for agriculture and are a source of 

 expense to the state. These areas, he 

 said, could and should be planted to for- 

 est and they would then become a source 

 of income, and the forest growth would 

 make the adjoining land better fitted for 

 agriculture. R. T. Fisher, of the Bu- 

 reau of Forestry, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, gave a talk on reforestation 

 and the methods of treatment for stands 

 of timber. He made graphic diagrams 

 illustrating the measures used to get 

 best results from a given area and kind 

 of forest. 



Edwin A. Wildey, another member of 

 the Forestry Commission of Michigan, 

 spoke of the connection between forests 

 and the watersheds, making it plain that 

 the even and constant flow of streams 

 depended on trees at their headwaters 

 and along their courses, and that the 

 indiscriminate destruction of the woods 

 would seriously impair the volume and 

 value of water power, which is of great 

 importance to the material interests of 

 the state. 



At the close of the meeting the follow- 

 ing resolution was adopted: 



Whereas the Michigan Retail Lumber 

 Dealers' Association assembled in annual 



convention from year to year is more and 

 more deeply impressed with the fact that 

 our timber areas which give us our raw 

 material are being rapidly depleted, and 

 no attempt is being made either to hus- 

 band our resources or replace by any 

 method the rapidly diminishing forests, 

 we appreciate the difficulties attending 

 any attempt to interest private capital in 

 growing forests because of the long-de- 

 ferred dividends arising from such in- 

 vestments; we see greater promise in 

 awakening activity on the part of the 

 state in this tremendously important 

 enterprise: Therefore be it 



Resolved, That we extend to the Mich- 

 igan Forestry Commission our cordial 

 and active assistance in its worthy en- 

 deavor to secure the necessary legislation 

 which has for its object the development 

 of a rational and effective system of for- 

 estry on the vast areas of lands belonging^ 

 to the state which are not adapted to 

 successful agriculture, and pledge the 

 commission that we will bring to bear 

 all the influence we can control to im- 

 press our representatives at Lansing with 

 the importance of this matter and the 

 necessity of immediate action. 



Forestry Among the new and 



at the practical courses now 



University of being given at the Uni- 

 Michigan. versity of Michigan is 



that of forestry. The 

 course is technical in character, and 

 open only to graduate students. It 

 properly requires six years, including 

 the four years undergraduate work, al- 

 though it may be possible to complete 

 it in five. Thus far, some twenty-three 

 students have decided to take up the 

 work. Arrangements for a laboratory 

 are being made in West Hall. Mate- 

 rial for the practical study of the scien- 

 tific and commercial sides of forestry is 

 being gathered, and will be grown in 

 the university's new botanical gardens. 

 The H. M. Loud Sons Company has 

 kindly extended the privileges of its 

 lumber camps about Oscoda, Mich., 

 and permanent arrangements for field 

 work will soon be made. Charles A. 

 Davis, instructor in forestry, has been 

 working all summer in and about the 



