322 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



July 



terest at 5 per cent. Sufficient capital 

 has already been interested to insure 

 subscription for all of the stock. After 

 paying the old company for its plant, 

 this will leave enough for the construc- 

 tion of a dam at " the narrows " with a 

 storage capacity sufficient to furnish 

 600 inches during the irrigating season. 

 In addition to this, a new 90- foot dam 

 can be built in Bear Valley, increasing 

 the storage capacity there fourfold. 

 Stock in the new company will be issued 

 to all users who have acquired rights, 

 and in proportion to the amount of water 

 used. They will pay a fixed charge per 

 inch, sufficient to pay interest on the 

 bonds, maintenance of plant, and other 

 expenses, estimated at 20 cents per inch. 

 If this is carried through, the Bear 

 Valley irrigation system, the largest in 

 California, will be removed from the in- 

 terests of capitalists and placed in the 

 hands of those to whom the water is a 

 direct rather than an indirect benefit. 

 The analogy between this plan and that 

 adopted by the National Government in 

 its irrigation projects is apparent. 



The Passing- The accompanying pho- 

 of the Three tographs show various 

 Sisters. stages in the lumbering 



of three Redwood trees 

 reputed to be the biggest lumbered in 

 California at one time. They grew 

 close together on less than one-half an 

 acre of ground, and prior to their fell- 

 ing were known as the ' ' Three Sisters. ' ' 

 Although much of the lumber is lost in 

 the crashing fall of such monster trees, 

 the three made more than 350,000 feet 

 of good lumber, the largest making 

 150,000 feet. In the accompanying 

 photographs, number i shows three 

 men standing in the undercut of one of 

 the trees, which was 19 feet 4 inches in 

 diameter. Number 2 shows a smaller 

 tree in the act of falling." Some idea of 

 its size may be gained from a compari- 

 son with the size of the house near its 

 base. Number 3 is the butt of a tree 

 19 feet 4 inches in diameter, the ladder 

 and men on it giving an impression of 

 its size. The stump shown in number 

 4 is that of the largest of the Sisters, 

 and measured 24 feet 6 inches across. 



The falling tree shown in the second 

 photograph is not one of the Three 

 Sisters, but is interpolated in this series 

 as showing graphically the operation of 

 felling the Redwoods, from the under- 

 cut to the bare stump. While it is to 

 be regretted, from some points of view, 

 that the Redwoods are being cut so 

 rapidly, it has been demonstrated that 

 with care to prevent the destruction of 

 young growth and a sufficient protection 

 from fire, the forests will renew them- 

 selves through sprouts, and cut-over 

 lands can be profitably lumbered in 45 

 years. Mr. E. S. Mainwaring, Forest 

 Ranger in the Sierra Forest Reserve, to 

 whom we are indebted for the accom- 

 panying pictures, suggests the gathering 

 of Redwood seeds for distribution over 

 the United States, as there are few sec- 

 tions with plenty of moisture and good 

 soil where the Redwood will not grow. 

 It has been tried in a number of local- 

 ities and with some success as an orna- 

 mental or shade tree, and its growth is 

 rapid. 



^ 



Irrigation Australia, with an area 

 Wells in nearly equal to that of 



Australia. the United States proper, 

 has a large arid interior. 

 In fact, Andrew Carnegie, in a recent 

 speech, referred to this great island as 

 a mere shell of civilization around an 

 empty interior. Nevertheless, much is 

 being done toward the reclamation of 

 parts of this arid area, and some irriga- 

 tion is being done with deep artesian 

 wells. One of these extends to a depth 

 of 5 , 040 feet . The largest flow obtained 

 was 6,000,000 gallons daily. The arte- 

 sian area is said to be estimated at 264, 

 600 square miles, or approximately one- 

 tenth of the total area of the island. 



White Pine in 

 New England. 



In most of the New 

 England States there 

 are large areas of waste 

 land coming up in White Pine, which, 

 if protected and encouraged, will soon 

 become valuable timber. A stud}- of 

 these areas in southeast Maine, south- 

 ern New Hampshire, parts of Vermont, 

 the north tier of counties in Massachu- 

 setts and part of Plymouth county, and 



