n8 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



March 



Vallombrosa A 1 news dispatch via 

 Forest Fire. Florence and London 

 tells of a destructive fire 

 in the forest of Vallombrosa, Italy. 

 This forest is world-famed not as the 

 seat of the Royal Italian Forestry Insti- 

 tute, but from an oft-quoted line of Mil- 

 ton, " as thick as autumnal leaves that 

 strew the brooks in Vallombrosa." 

 This statement has caused much critical 

 comment among poetasters, as the trees 

 are mainly Silver Fir and Spruce, which 

 have not a deciduous autumnal fall. A 

 fire here so serious as to destroy the 

 Villa Medici, as reported, is a severe 

 blow to Italy, whose denuded mountain 

 tops are a source of poverty. The im- 

 pairment of such a fine example as this 

 forest, planted in mediaeval ages by the 

 Benedictine monks, is greatly to be re- 

 gretted. 



* 



Popularity of New uses are being found 

 Redwood. for California Redwood, 

 which is more and more 

 proving itself a remarkably useful tree. 

 The Niagara Falls Power Company re- 

 cently decided to employ it as a sheath- 

 ing for its tunnels, thus displacing the 

 steel sheathing at present in use. Rust 

 and the grit contained in the muddy 

 water passing through these tunnels are 

 playing havoc with the steel casing, 

 grinding it away rapidly. It has been 

 discovered by experiment that Redwood 

 is of more permanent value in the tun- 

 nels, as it is soon covered with slime 

 which protects it from the wearing 

 action of the muddy water. On the 

 strength of this discovery an order for 

 3,000,000 feet of Redwood lumber has 

 been given by an agent of the Niagara 

 Company in San Francisco. 



Redwood has been found useful in 

 the construction of the big pipes used 

 for the conveyance of water to many of 

 the electric power-houses in the northern 

 part of California, and in the construc- 

 tion of siphons for irrigation waters. 

 These pipes are built up and banded. 

 They cost no more than metal pipes, are 

 more durable, and are more easily carried 

 around the sharp curves sometimes 

 followed by these great water lines. 



Redwood will outlive other woods when 

 kept constantly moist. While it is not 

 non-combustible, which quality some 

 enthusiasts have erroneously ascribed 

 to it, it burns much more slowly than 

 other timbers used for building pur- 

 poses, as it contains no highly inflam- 

 mable oil or resin. The discarded 

 stumps of Redwoods felled for their 

 lumber many years since have lately 

 come into favor for the manufacture of 

 furniture and the interior decorations 

 of buildings, the curled grain and burls 

 making beautiful figures, and the wood 

 itself taking on a fine polish. Just at 

 present California Redwood is coming^ 

 into increasing demand in the eastern 

 states, because of the variety of uses 

 to which it can be profitably put. 



* 



A Great Contracts have just been 



Canal for awarded at Salt Lake 



Idaho. City, Utah, for the con- 



struction of two-thirds 

 of the 6 1 -mile irrigation canal of the 

 Twin Falls Land and Water Company 

 of Idaho. When completed this canal 

 should irrigate 270,000 acres of land, 

 now of little value, in the Snake River 

 Valley. In connection with the pro- 

 ject it is proposed to construct a dam 

 900 feet long and 60 feet high across 

 the Snake River at Twin Falls, which 

 backs the river up about three miles. It 

 is stated that work will be under way 

 within a month, and an attempt will be 

 made to have some irrigation in connec- 

 tion with the enterprise in operation for 

 the beginning of the growing season of 

 1904. The amount involved in the en- 

 terprise will approximate $1,000,000. 



> 



A Giant Pine A Pine tree recently fell- 

 Tree, ed in Ontonagon county, 

 Michigan, on the upper 

 peninsula, excels in size any cut there 

 in a number of years. It was seven 

 feet in diameter at the butt, sound clear 

 through, and over 150 feet tall. Seven 

 sixteen-foot logs have been cut from it, 

 the small end of the last log measuring 

 twenty-six inches in diameter. The 

 tree scales about 11,000 feet and is 

 worth about $150. 



