1903 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



117 



study of the subject was of the utmost 

 importance to the prosperity of the 

 province, passed a resolution which 

 was sent to the Premier and the Minister 

 of Education, and which urged that 

 the government give effect to the state 

 provision authorizing a School of For- 

 estry at the earliest possible date. 



A[;Lesson 



from 



Algeria. 



Experts from the De- 

 partment of Agriculture 

 recently visited Biskra, 

 Algeria, on the north- 

 ern border of the Sahara Desert, in order 

 to investigate the possibilities of Date 

 Palm culture in the United States, to 



in the rainy season frosts are known 

 and it is cold and disagreeable. Wood 

 for fuel "is scarce and high-priced. 

 The limbs of trees are cut carefully and 

 twigs, leaves, and branches sedulously 

 preserved." 



& 



Pressed Asbes- Charles T. Yerkes, who 

 tos Instead of has recently returned 

 Wood. from London, where he 



is installing four under- 

 ground tube railways, tells of the 

 methods he will employ in making the 

 system fireproof. Apropos of this and 

 of the many suggested substitutes for 

 wood, he says : 



MEASURING SPRUCE I^OGS IN THE ADIRONDACK^. 



make soil analyses, to study irrigation 

 methods and alkali-resistant growths. 

 Now a member of the American Forestry 

 Association, writing from Biskra, points 

 a moral for the necessity of avoiding 

 waste in American forest harvesting, in 

 telling of the " immense efforts and ex- 

 pense to preserve the Palm trees and 

 a few Acacias. There are said to be 

 200,000 Palms in this oasis, and they 

 appear to be very flourishing, but the 

 growth is wholly due to irrigation." 

 In the hot months the thermometer 

 records 127 Fahrenheit at Biskra, but 



' ' I believe that no underground rail- 

 way should be run without fireproof 

 cars. All of our rolling stock will be 

 absolutely fireproof. The cars will be 

 constructed of steel, pressed asbestos, 

 and fireproof ed wood, but as little wood 

 as possible. The pressed asbestos will 

 very closely resemble wood. It may be 

 treated like wood, so that one may have 

 asbestos oak, mahogany, ebony, or what 

 not. The ties will be non-inflammable. 

 I do not intend to have any holocausts 

 on our roads. The tubes will all be of 

 wrought iron." 



