1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



335 



shafts and wagon rims, and the red gum 

 promises to take the place of cheaper 

 grades of hickory, oak, and ash for these 

 purposes. The principal objection is 

 that at the present time no satisfactory 

 process of drying has been devised to 

 overcome the warping and twisting of 

 red gum in the larger sizes, but plans are 

 now being made for a series of experi- 

 ments to determine the proper operation 

 of a kiln to this end. 



An important question for timber 

 owners in the region where red gum 

 abounds is, whether management for 

 future production will be a wise busi- 

 ness policy. This question the Bureau 

 of Forestry has been investigating dur- 

 ing the past winter with interesting re- 

 sults. 



Red gum forests are now beginning 

 to be lumbered on a very extensive 

 scale. The lands which they occupy 

 are usually more or less swampy allu- 

 vial bottoms. While often very fertile 

 they are apt to be subject to floods, and 

 the cost of drainage is often high. 

 Whether they will pay better if kept in 

 timber or whether they should be sold 

 for farming is a somewhat difficult ques- 

 tion. One great advantage for forest 

 management which they have over pine 

 lands, for example, is their comparative 

 immunity from fire. The owner of a 

 good forest of red gum is not in danger 

 of seeing his whole investment go up in 



smoke. The red gum is a swamp spe- 

 cies, and its rapid growth points to the 

 conclusion, at least in certain sections, 

 that the land can be profitably held for 

 a second crop. 



The field studies carried on by the 

 Bureau of Forestry during the last 

 winter were made on the lands of 

 the Himmelberger- Harrison Lumber 

 Company in Missouri, and on the 

 tract of the Santee River Lumber 

 Company in South Carolina. Figures 

 on rate of growth in height, diameter, 

 and volume were obtained, which will 

 be later embodied in tables showing the 

 rate of growth, age, and contents in 

 board feet of trees of various diameters. 

 A careful study of second growth and 

 stand per acre was also made, and on 

 these data it is hoped recommendations 

 can be made for the management of 

 these hardwood bottom lands so as to 

 obtain a continual supply of timber. 



Other studies have secured the data 

 for a discussion of the reproduction and 

 other characteristics of the red gum 

 and of lumbering methods employed 

 throughout its range. In addition, an 

 inquiry has been made into the subject 

 of market conditions and the uses and 

 manufacture of the wood. All these 

 phases of the investigation will be fully 

 discussed in a bulletin, in course of prepa- 

 ration, on the red gum as a commercial 

 timber tree. 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 



Homophonic Conversation Book. In English, 

 German, French, and Italian. Being a 

 natural aid to the memory in learning these 

 languages. By C. B. and C. V. WAITE. 

 Price, $1.00. C. V. Waite & Co., 479 

 Jackson Boulevard, Chicago. 



This little book is, as its title indicates, based 

 upon the similarity in sound and in significa- 

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The conversations are arranged under differ- 

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 various situations and emergencies in travel : 

 Before Sailing, On Board a Steamship, Land- 

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 and Supper, Interviews with a Tailor, Shoe- 



maker, Physician, Bookseller, etc. in all, 

 thirty-one headings ; also cardinal and ordinal 

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Nearly 500 homophonic words are used, an 

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This is a duodecimo volume of about 140 

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The Trail of Lewis and Clarke, 1804-1904. By 

 OLIN D. WHEELER. 2 vols. G. P. Put- 

 nam's Sons, New York. 



No study of the Northwest is complete, nor 

 can one understand as one should the imperial 

 dimensions of that vast domain or its real 

 present and future greatness without some 



