1 903 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



327 



which the reproductive power is suffi- 

 cient to renew the stand as the trees 

 now standing are cut away. Broadly 

 speaking, this includes in the South the 

 hardwood region of the Southern Ap- 

 palachians and the pine belt from Vir- 

 ginia to Texas. In the northeast it 

 includes the spruce forests in New York, 

 Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. 

 It includes sections elsewhere, as in the 

 Alleghany Mountains. In the West it 

 includes the heavily timbered portions 

 of California, Oregon, and Washington, 

 and smaller sections elsewhere. In 

 other parts of the United States than 

 those mentioned above, there are sec- 

 tions in which the supply of timber is 

 wanting or is becoming insufficient to 

 meet the demand and in which the nat- 

 ural production is not sufficient to in- 

 sure a second crop. ' ' 



In an article on irrigation it is stated 

 that there are more than 7,000,000 acres 

 of irrigated land in the United States, 

 and the total cost of irrigating plants is 

 $64,289,601. The value of irrigated 

 crops for the single year of 1899 was 

 $84,433,438, or 30 per cent greater than 

 the total coast of the plants. The num- 

 ber of irrigatorsin that year was 102,819, 

 and the average size of irrigated farms 

 was 71 acres. 



Maine Forest A law passed by the leg- 

 Fire Law islature of Maine during 

 Defective. the past winter author- 

 izes the forest commis- 

 sioner to police the timber lands in 

 unorganized townships, in order to pro- 

 tect them from fire. Under the provis- 

 ions of that law wardens will be engaged 

 at $2 per day for such time as they may 

 be actually employed in fighting fire, 

 and assistants may be summoned at any 

 time, who shall be paid 15 cents an hour 

 for services rendered. Even where the 

 selections of wardens are made by actual 

 visits to the townships, and the charac- 

 ters of the individuals are looked into 

 as carefully as may be, it is still mani- 

 festly impossible to be assured that a 

 warden employed in this way will not 

 have his cupidity aroused over the pos- 

 sibility of a sure daily wage ; and even 

 if a man w r ould not actually set fire to 



a certain area for the sake of the emol- 

 ument from fighting the flames, he will 

 be apt to allow the fire to burn more 

 than it otherwise might if his amount 

 of pay did not depend on the length of 

 time he was needed. The consideration 

 of this contingency does not arise from 

 mere surmise, but from actual observa- 

 tions at the time of the recent forest 

 fires in the Adirondacks, where the set- 

 ting of fires by fighters hired under this 

 time system was a matter of common 

 comment. 



Forest 

 Building 

 at St. Louis. 



Contracts have been let 

 for the construction of 

 the Forest, Fish, and 

 Game building for the 

 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, to be 

 held at St. Louis next year. An elaborate 

 system of tanks and ponds, with appro- 

 priate spaces for the exhibition of fish 

 and game and all that pertains thereto, 

 will occupy the eastern half of the in- 

 terior. The entire western half will be 

 given up to the forest display contempla- 

 ted by theUnited States government, and 

 this will be supplemented by exhibits 

 demonstrating the forest policies and 

 operations of foreign governments. 

 The exterior of the building will be 

 severely simple, with no towering fea- 

 tures. Its general proportions will be 

 pleasing and much color will be em- 

 ployed in its decoration. 



Louisiana 

 Forestry at 

 St. Louis. 



The Southern Cypress 

 Company has agreed to 

 furnish a full cypress 

 exhibit for Louisiana at 

 the world's fair, and will present the 

 principal features of the cypress industry 

 from the tree to the various finished 

 products. This will also be done in the 

 case of pines and hardwoods by other 

 companies, each trying to eclipse the 

 other in the perfection and interest of 

 its exhibit. The Louisiana Spanish 

 moss will be shown as it grows and as 

 it finally appears in horse collars, mat- 

 tresses, saddlery work, and upholstery ; 

 in another space will be given an exposi- 

 tion of the turpentine industry, and in 

 another the making of paper from straw, 

 rice, wood pulp, and cane. 



