54 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



February 



cials of the Interior Department. The 

 total amount of the bids for this timber 

 was $1,432,772, of which $i_,2O5,ooo 

 was accepted from two companies of the 

 Weyerhaeuser Syndicate. 



At the second sale, on December 28, 

 there was a determined contest on the 

 part of nearly a dozen companies for 

 possession of the desired sections, and 

 1X3,000,000 feet were sold, which is 

 30,000,000 less than on the 5th; but 

 the stumpage brought about $25,000 

 more than the previous sale. The 

 highest bid made was by a branch of 

 the Weyerhaeuser Syndicate $12.35 

 for White Pine and $10.35 for Norway. 



In general, the increase was from 75 

 cents to $i per thousand over the bids 

 of the first sale. The highest bid was 

 35 cents more than the highest on De- 

 cember 5. 



The further progress and success of 

 the operations on these lands will be 

 a matter of interest to American for- 

 esters. 



Vermont January 6, at Burling- 



Forestry ton, Vermont; Mr. Pin- 



Association, chot met and addressed 

 a body of men inter- 

 ested in forestry, agriculture, and the 

 work of the State Experiment Station. 

 As a result of this meeting the Forestry 

 Association of Vermont was organized, 

 with the following officers : 



President, W. J. Van Patten, Bur- 

 lington ; Vice-Presidents, E. C. Smith, 

 St. Albans; George Aitkin, Woodstock ; 

 Secretary and Treasurer, Ernest Hitch- 

 cock, Pittsford. 



The following members, with the 

 above-named officers, form the Execu- 

 tive Committee : Charles H. Green, 

 White River Junction ; Joseph A. De 

 Boer, Montpelier ; Joseph Battell, Mid- 

 dlebury. 



January 19 the new association held 

 its first general meeting, audits interest 

 was quickened by an address by Prof. 

 Graves, of the Yale Forest School. 



The gathering was also addressed by 

 Mr. C. H. Green, of the International 

 Paper Company, a strong advocate of 

 conservative forest management, who 

 gave some points of practical experience. 



Eastern The Western land loot- 



Business Inter- ers are considerably dis- 

 ests Favor turbed over the action 

 Irrigation. of eastern commercial 



bodies on the irrigation 

 and land questions. They recognize 

 probably that the influence of the east- 

 ern factory and merchant was largely 

 felt in the passage of the National Irri- 

 gation Act, and that well-considered 

 resolutions such as were recently passed 

 by the National Board of Trade and 

 the Merchants' Association of New 

 York can not be without their effect. 

 This latter organization, comprising the 

 principal business houses of New York, 

 has made during the past six months a 

 special study of the questions of irriga- 

 tion and forestry and their relations to 

 manufacturing and the sales of factory 

 products. The report brought in at 

 their annual meeting by a special com- 

 mittee on irrigation and forestrj' de- 

 cided the association to lend its active 

 support to the movements, and as a 

 first measure to enter the campaign for 

 the repeal of the three land laws, the 

 Desert Land Law, the Timber and Stone 

 Law, and the commutation clause of the 

 Homestead Act, which are in conflict 

 with the National Irrigation Act. 



Mr. Charles B. Boothe, of The Na- 

 tional Irrigation Association, made the 

 New York merchants an interesting ad- 

 dress. He said in part : 



"The beginning of our civilization 

 was in irrigated countries, and the 

 scenes depicted in the Old and New 

 Testaments have their setting among 

 the wonders of irrigation. India, 

 China, Egypt, no less than Greece and 

 Rome, developed to their highest at- 

 tainments with irrigation as the basis of 

 their prosperity. 



"All the great kings and warriors in 

 ancient history ruled over irrigated 

 countries. Take irrigation from our his- 

 tory and we have left only the records of 

 barbarism. Out of irrigation have come 

 Christianity and the inspiration of today. 

 ' In our own land irrigation has put 

 into southern California nearly half a 

 million people, with less than 250,000 

 acres of land reclaimed, and in the Val- 

 ley of the Colorado, lying between Cal- 

 ifornia and Arizona, a million and a 



