2<>2 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



April 



old they form a complete cover and are 

 very dense. At this time the stand is 

 cleaned, the bad specimens topped, dead 

 ones taken out, and the birches removed. 

 From this period the oaks have com- 

 plete possession of the ground and com- 

 mence a vigorous struggle for light 

 (Fig. 3.) They are thus forced very 

 rapidly in height growth, but as they 

 show a tendency to branch and fork 

 even under such circumstances, some 

 artificial means must be resorted to if 

 straight boles are to be produced. This 

 is accomplished by continually pruning 

 off the side limbs and forcing the lead- 

 ing shoot into supremacy (Fig. 4). As 

 the forest rangers pass through their 



territory they prune a tree here and 

 there with never ceasing vigilance. 

 This is often done when going to and 

 from other work or in the mere duty of 

 patrolling their beats. The results are 

 extremely good, and large stands of 

 young poles may be seen, each as straight 

 as a young fir. Figures 5 and 6 illus- 

 trate the results of such a heavy stand 

 and continual pruning. 



The trees in Fig. 6 are ready for the 

 first thinning, and when the stand reaches 

 the age of about fifty years the whole 

 will be underplanted with beech or 

 spruce to protect the soil, as the oak 

 alone after that age becomes open- 

 crowned and lets in the sunlight. 



LUMBERMEN FAVOR FORESTRY. 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FORESTRY AT THE 

 ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE NATIONAL 

 WHOLESALE LUMBER DEALERS' ASSOCIATION. 



THAT there is a deep and growing 

 interest in forestry among the 

 lumbermen of the United States is ap- 

 parent to any one who has followed the 

 trend of affairs during the past five 

 years. This was shown in a striking 

 manner at the recent convention of the 

 National Wholesale Lumber Dealers' 

 Association, held in Washington, D. C. 

 The reading of the report of the Com- 

 mittee on Forestry was received with a 

 generous amount of applause, and strong 

 endorsements of its recommendations 

 were made by prominent members of 

 the association who addressed the con- 

 vention. 



This report shows such careful study 

 of leading forest problems and contains 

 such timely recommendations that it is 

 reprinted here in full. 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FORESTRY. 



To THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS : 

 The Committee on Forestry has given 

 close attention during the year past to 

 the relations between the United States 

 Government in its several branches and 

 the interests which are peculiarly the 

 concern of our association, and, after 



long and careful consideration, it ven- 

 tures to make the following report and 

 recommendations : 



The committee was struck at the out- 

 set with the confusion in dealing with 

 forest matters, due to the distribution 

 of forest work among three different de- 

 partments cf the government, namely, 

 the General Land Office, which admin- 

 isters the national forest reserves ; the 

 United States Geological Survey, which 

 is charged with the duty of making the 

 maps, describing the forests, suggesting 

 changes in boundaries, and establishing 

 permanent boundaries, and the Bureau 

 of Forestry of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, which is charged with all mat- 

 ters of professional forestry. One of 

 the main interests of the latter has been 

 the promotion of practical forestry among 

 private owners, and some of the mem- 

 bers of this association and outside lum- 

 bermen, owning in the aggregate more 

 than 5,000,000 acres of land, have, as 

 a personal matter, sought the coopera- 

 tion of the Bureau of Forestry in the 

 management and development of their 

 tracts. It is not the desire of your 

 committee to criticise the work that is 

 done under any of these three depart- 



