1903 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



329 



bottom lands, and that Osage Orange, 

 Russian Mulberry, and Box Elder are 

 best for higher locations. Native vari- 

 eties, he says, give more satisfactory 

 results than others. 



<* 



Government The Geological Survey 

 Investigations, will make during the 

 present year a series of 

 investigations of artesian and other un- 

 derground waters in the eastern United 

 States, and these will embrace areas in 

 all of the New England States. New 

 York will have two problems investi- 

 gated the waters of Long Island, and 

 this, in connection with the complete 

 soil survey of that area by the Bureau 

 of Soils of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, will give much useful information 

 to farmers and others ; the second relates 

 to the occurrence, composition, and 

 economic value of the spring waters of 

 the whole state. New Jersey will also 

 have a complete survey for underground 

 waters, and in the South, Georgia, Ala- 

 bama, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Ten- 

 nessee will have their water resources 

 of this nature examined. Arkansas, 

 Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, 

 Illinois, and Michigan will also have 

 certain areas investigated. 



> 



Racing for The San Francisco Chron- 

 Redwoods. idc is authority for the 

 statement that the Pacific 

 Coast railroads, including the Santa Fe 

 line and the Southern Pacific, are con- 

 templating extensive operations for en- 

 teringthe north coast counties of Cali- 

 fornia, which have heretof< re been 

 without railway connection with the rest 

 of the state. It is supposed that the 

 bone of contention is found in the Red- 

 wood forests, and that it will not be long 

 before these great tracts will be lum- 

 bered if railroad facilities are provided 

 for getting the product to lucrative 

 markets. This supposition is borne out 

 by the fact that the Santa Fe line has 

 recently acquired control of large areas 

 of Redwood forests. The transconti- 

 nental roads realize that they have in 

 these vast timbered areas a ready stock 

 of profitable freight available from the 

 date of the opening of any track pene- 



trating them, and that the business can- 

 not be exhausted for many years. Even 

 with complete deforestation, it is prob- 

 able that the country will still be valu- 

 able as an agricultural locality on ac- 

 count of its abundance of moisture. 



Largest Dam British engineers in 

 in the World. India propose to dam 

 the Tungrahbadra River, 

 which flows through the Madras Prov- 

 ince, for the purpose of irrigation, to 

 offset dry- season conditions. The dam 

 is to be built at Hospet, which is near 

 the center of the southern portion of the 

 Indian peninsula, and will be nearly a 

 mile long and 150 feet high. This will 

 form a lake 40 miles long, with an area 

 of 150 square miles, and impound 200, 

 000,000,000 cubic feet of water. As 

 compared to the great dam at A.ssuan, 

 Egypt, it can be seen that the Tungrah- 

 badra dam will be a quarter of a mile 

 shorter, but about twice as high, and 

 will impound six times the amount of 

 w r ater. However, if the Nile dam 

 should be raised to the height originally 

 planned, and for which the foundations 

 were built, this disparity would not be 

 so great. 



Uses for On account of decreas- 



Wood Waste, ing supplies it is becom- 

 ing more and more im- 

 portant that many mills manufacturing 

 lumber products should find ways to 

 utilize waste wherever possible. Saw- 

 dust, for example, can be easily con- 

 verted into wood meal, and one or two 

 mills for the process cost little and take 

 up but a small amount of room. This 

 meal can be used in a variety of ways, 

 and in German}', where a greater use of 

 waste products is made, there is con- 

 siderable industry in the manufacture of 

 pressed tiles, for use in the arts, and 

 particularly in compositions for insula- 

 tion in electrical work. Coarser waste 

 can be made into wood wool with the 

 proper machinery, which can be placed 

 in any odd corner, requires but little 

 power or attention, and gives good 

 profits. Wood wool is useful for pack- 

 ing material, and, being elastic and 

 clean, is much used for bedding in hos- 



