34 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



January 



means of reducing the immense losses 

 due to this cause. The year covered 

 by the present report was characterized 

 liy fires of extraordinary severity both 

 in the East and in the West. The great 

 forest fires of September, 1902, in Wash- 

 ington and Oregon were the subject of 

 a special investigation by the Bureau, 

 which discovered a total loss estimated 

 at $12,767,100. In the Adirondacks a 

 systematic canvass was made of the 

 causes which brought on the extraordi- 

 nary fires of May, 1903, and the dam- 

 age resulting therefrom. The Bureau's 

 investigation showed that most of the 

 destruction was due to carelessness and 

 might easily have been avoided. For- 

 est fires were studied also in Georgia, 

 Florida, and the L,ake States, with a 

 view to discovering their causes, meth- 

 ods of prevention, and the total amount 

 of damage they do. 



Examinations of the Atlantic Coast 

 and Columbia River sand dunes were 

 made in order that methods of tree 

 planting might be discovered to restrain 

 the encroachments of the shifting sands. 

 Tree-planting plans for sand-dune re- 

 gions on the Atlantic coast are in prep- 

 aration, and a strip of sand-dune land 

 in Oregon has been withdrawn for ex- 

 periment. 



Work for the ensuing year will in- 

 clude a continuation of cooperative work 

 in tree planting among private owners; 

 tree planting on Pikes Peak, Wichita, 

 Prescott, and San Bernardino forest re- 

 serves; improvement of natural repro- 

 duction on Pikes Peak Reserve and on 

 lands in northern New Mexico; exten- 

 sion of the timber belts of Kansas; a 

 study of the methods of restocking cut- 

 over pine lands in southern Michigan; 

 a continuation of the study of second- 

 growth White Pine in New England; 

 a cooperative study with the State of 

 California in improving the stands of 

 timber ; a study of the Eucalypts. 



The suppression of forest fires and the 

 reclamation of shifting sands will con- 

 tinue to receive the attention of the 

 Bureau. 



FOREST PRODUCTS. 



A work of great scope and importance 

 undertaken by the Bureau is the deter- 



mination of the strength and durability 

 of the merchantable timbers of the 

 United States. The investigation con- 

 sists of tests of timbers performed in 

 cooperation with the Bureau of Chem- 

 istry. The work is directed toward the 

 solution of practical problems of interest 

 to engineers, and has been approved by 

 many prominent engineers, manufact- 

 urers, and lumbermen. These tests 

 are being conducted in laboratories at 

 Washington, New Haven, Conn., and 

 Berkeley, Cal., on Red Fir, Western 

 Hemlock, and Longleaf and Loblolly 

 Pine. 



Wood preservation forms a most valu- 

 able feature of the work of the Bureau. 

 Railroad companies have eagerly fol- 

 lowed the results of this work, since it 

 has so important a bearing on their in- 

 terests. The work consists in experi- 

 ments in methods of seasoning and pre- 

 serving construction, railroad, and other 

 timbers so as to increase their strength 

 and their lasting powers. A special 

 feature of the work which gives great 

 promise of success is the experiments 

 with cheap substitutes for valuable 

 woods used for railroad ties. Such work 

 has been done with the lyodgepole Pine 

 in Montana, with gums, birches, and 

 inferior oaks in Pennsylvania, Ken- 

 tucky, Arkansas, and Mississippi, and 

 with Loblolly and Shortleaf Pine in 

 Texas. Methods of seasoning Chestnut 

 poles were studied in cooperation with 

 the American Telegraph and Telephone 

 Company. 



Examinations and reports dealing 

 with technical problems in the manage- 

 ment of forest reserves have been made 

 for reserves in Utah, California, Oregon, 

 and New Mexico. Twenty-nine agents 

 of the Bureau this summer examined 

 more than 20,000,000 acres proposed as 

 forest reserves in the Rocky Mountain 

 and Pacific Coast states. 



FOREST RECORDS. 



Extensive improvements have been 

 made in the equipment of the forest 

 library. Many books, pamphlets, and 

 clippings have been added, and the 

 whole library has been completely classi- 

 fied and indexed. The collection of 

 photographs has been increased by 3,417 



