330 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



July 



pitals or barracks. The finest kinds of 

 the wool are also used for antiseptic 

 bandaging. Almost any waste can be 

 converted into oxalic or acetic acid, and 

 by distillation wood alcohol and other 

 products may be obtained. At present 

 the United States does not make as much 

 use of waste as it should in any of its 

 industries, but finds it a matter of ex- 

 pense instead of income. The lesson 

 learned in the cotton industry, whereby 

 the vexatious problem of disposing of 

 the seeds was solved by making them 

 an extremely valuable part of the crop, 

 can be profitably pondered by many of 

 the lumber-manufacturing interests. 



destruction. The possibilities of straw, 

 corn stalks, and waste from sugar cane, 

 have not yet been exhausted, and the 

 prevention of waste has never had suf- 

 ficient attention. Spruce has so far es- 

 tablished itself as the pulp material par 

 excellence, that most manufacturers will 

 hear of no other. Nevertheless Poplar, 

 Cottonwood, Hemlock, and even " Old- 

 field " Pine are being used, and for the 

 best paper a blend of other woods is 

 used in connection with Spruce. In 

 spite of the present prejudice in favor of 

 Spruce pulp, there are signs which point 

 toward the use of other pulps with no 

 admixture of Spruce at all. 



Artesian The United States Geo- 



Basins in logical Survey has pub- 



Idaho and lished a preliminary re- 



Oregon. port of the survey made 



by Israel C. Russell of 

 the artesian basins in southwestern 

 Idaho and southeastern Oregon. This 

 report bears directly on the question of 

 irrigation in those states, and the re- 

 sults shown are more favorable for arte- 

 sian wells than had at first been antici- 

 pated. It was discovered that the geo- 

 logical conditions in the Snake River 

 Canyon from the vicinity of Glenn's 

 Ferry westward to the boundary be- 

 tween Elmore and Ada counties and in 

 the Bruneau and Little Valleys are such 

 that a surface flow may be expected. 

 This was named the Lewis artesian 

 basin. In southeastern Oregon the re- 

 connoissance in Oregon showed that a 

 surface flow may be expected in at least 

 three valleys in addition to that of the 

 Snake River. These are the broad val- 

 ley in which Malheur and Harney 

 Lakes lie, Otis Valley, and the valleys 

 of the north and middle forks of the 

 Malheur River. 



Other Woods 

 Wanted. 



It is becoming more and 

 more necessary that a 

 substitute shall be found 

 for Spruce in the paper-making indus- 

 try, and it is probable that experiments 

 will show many trees which can be 

 profitably utilized, and thus serve the 

 double purpose of keeping the industry 

 alive and saving the Spruce from total 



New Wells Near Exeter, Tulare 

 for Irrigation, county, California, wells 

 are being driven and 

 pumps installed for a system of orchard 

 irrigation. The lifts are high ones, and 

 the pumps are run by electric power. 

 Almost all the land is side-hill property, 

 and the amount of water required is not 

 large. The same contractor has set up 

 fourteen plants in the neighborhood 

 since last summer, and four more are 

 contemplated. 



^ 



To Prolong News of what is an- 

 Life of Wood, nounced as an important 

 and valuable discovery 

 comes from Liverpool, England, where 

 Mr. R. A. Powell is said to have per- 

 fected a process which vulcanizes, pre- 

 serves, and seasons wood, and makes it 

 extremely hard without brittleness or a 

 tendency to split or crack. It is also 

 claimed that the wood treated is imper- 

 vious to water, and that the treatment 

 is equally efficacious for all kinds of 

 wood. The process may be applied to 

 either hard or soft woods, and in the 

 case of the latter it renders them tough 

 and hard. It includes a boiling in sac- 

 charine substance until the pores are 

 filled with solid matter, after which the 

 moisture is evaporated at a high tem- 

 perature. The treatment takes but little 

 time, and considerable material may be 

 completed and ready for use daily. It 

 is believed that the experiment will help 

 solve the question of the preservation of 

 railway ties. 



