222 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



May 



Walnut, Pecan, Green Ash, Basswood, 

 Horse Chestnut, White Elm, and Syca- 

 more. 



There is no timber in this part of New 

 Mexico except the Cottonwoods that 

 have been planted there. Fence posts 

 of Sabine Cedar from the canyons of 

 western Texas are shipped in, and cost 

 1 5 to 20 cents apiece. 



While in New Mexico Mr. Hall made 

 a preliminary examination of 200,000 

 acres of cut-over timber land owned by 

 William H. Bartlett, of Chicago. The 

 land lies on the east slope of the Rocky 

 Mountains, in New Mexico, about 50 

 miles southwest of Trinidad , and touches 

 the Colorado line. The land once bore 

 a good growth of Yellow Pine, but the 

 timber has been or soon will be nearly 

 all cut. Mr. Bartlett wants to grow 

 timber on it again, not only for the pro- 

 duction of lumber, but that it may serve 

 as a private forest and game preserve. 



Forest Fires* Already the reports of 

 forest fires are begin- 

 ning to appear in the daily press of the 

 country, and it seems that the deep 

 snows of winter are hardly melted be- 

 fore fires gain headway in the woods 

 and begin their careers of damage and 

 disaster. Michigan and Pennsylvania 

 have suffered severe loss, and a town in 

 Wisconsin has been destroyed. 



Pennsylvania. The worst forest fires 

 in the history of western Pennsylvania 

 were reported as burning fiercely April 

 30, as we go to press. They are in the 

 vicinity of Bradford, and more than 

 $1,000,000 worth of property is re- 

 ported as destroyed. At Watson ville 

 the town was hemmed in on all sides, 

 and the last message from there before 

 the telephone wires came down was 

 that there was no avenue of escape, and 

 that the people and place were doomed. 

 The people of Simpson were rescued 

 by a special train, but lost everything. 

 The oil wells in the neighborhood added 

 to the fierceness of the flames, and it is 

 feared that there was some loss of life. 

 The town of Mount Jewett was saved 

 by heroic efforts, though some buildings 

 were lost, and a number of lumber 

 camps and chemical factories are in 



ashes. It is not known how the fire 

 started, but the woods have been burn- 

 ing for a week, being kept under con- 

 trol by fire- fighters until a southeast 

 gale fanned the embers into a torrent 

 "of flame that carried everything before 

 it. 



Michigan. News received at Hough- 

 ton, April 28, reported that serious dan- 

 ger was threatened by forest fires on 

 the Michigan peninsula, in the neigh- 

 borhood of Ontonagon and Mass City. 

 The woods are dry, as there has been 

 but little rain, and at the time the 

 magazine goes to press a more serious 

 fire than that which destroyed Ontona- 

 gon in 1896 is threatened. The flames 

 started from bush fires. 



Wisconsin. Dispatches from Ash- 

 land, dated April 28, report the de- 

 struction of the little town of Kimball, 

 rendering most of the inhabitants home- 

 less and destitute. Bayfield was se- 

 riously threatened, and forest fires, 

 fanned by a gale, are raging in the vi- 

 cinity of Ashland. 



& 



Prizes for By the generosity of 



Essays on friends, the Iowa Park 



Iowa Trees* and Forestry Associa- 

 tion makes the follow- 

 ing announcement of prizes offered to 

 residents of Iowa who may be interested 

 in the work which it is the purpose of 

 the organization to promote : 



1. The Robert Douglas prize of $25, 

 to be paid to the person presenting the 

 best account of the native forest trees 

 of the state, their present distribution 

 and condition. 



2. A not-yet-named prize of $25, to 

 be paid for the best essay on ' ' Trees 

 for Iowa Farms." 



3. A similar prize of $25, to be paid 

 for the best paper on the subject," The 

 Ornamentation of School Grounds, both 

 in City and Country." 



4. A prize of two years' member- 

 ship in the Iowa Park and Forestry 

 Association to each high school in 

 Iowa, to be awarded to the member of 

 the senior class presenting at commence- 

 ment the best essay on the theme, 



' What Can We Do to Make More 

 Beautiful Our Own Town ? ' ' 



