1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



377 



will examine as to the existence of any 

 natural reproduction of the original for- 

 est. Since the worst fires were only a 

 year ago, little in the way of reproduc- 

 tion may be expected in the areas b,urned 

 over ; but what does appear will be care- 

 fully noted, and areas in the same dis- 

 trict, burned over two, three, four, five, 

 and more years ago, will be compared 

 with each other and with the one-year- 

 old burns. This work is done by taking 

 sample strip acres, laying them off so as 

 to get the best general average of the 

 territory, and then counting all the 

 seedlings and measuring all the trees 

 on these strips. The different kinds of 

 trees encountered and the varying forest 

 conditions, as of soil, etc., are also re- 

 corded. In this way an estimate can 

 be formed of how fast natural reproduc- 

 tion takes place. 



When this work has been finished 

 the problem remains how to get back 

 a good, dense, normal-growing forest. 

 This is accomplished in one of two ways. 

 The first plan is adopted when the stand 

 of trees is found to be open, scraggy, and 

 in bunches, and consists in helping na- 

 ture by protecting against fire and stock 

 as perfectly as possible. In addition, 

 the soil may be stirred to aid natural 

 seeding, and, finally, seeds may be scat- 

 tered on bare spots. The second plan is 



used where the ground has been swept 

 clean by fire and natural reproduction is 

 almost out of the question. In that case 

 the only resource is tree planting. This 

 is a special branch of the work of the 

 Bureau, and one in which great success 

 has been achieved. 



Since nearly all of the timberland of 

 Maine is under private ownership, the 

 results of the study must find their prin- 

 cipal application in recommendations to 

 individual landowners. But as the Bu- 

 reau and the state are cooperating in the 

 study, whatever recommendations are 

 made will have added to their scientific 

 value the weight of state interest and 

 approval. 



Unless burned-over areas are thus pro- 

 tected and encouraged, forest deteriora- 

 tion is inevitable. An inferior species of 

 tree will usurp the ground and postpone 

 for years, if not forever, a reproduction 

 of the original forest. So that forest 

 fires not only mean immediate and pres- 

 ent financial loss in the destruction of 

 timber and young growth, but they also 

 so alter conditions that inferior grades 

 of forest take the place of better growth. 

 It is to escape this double evil that 

 Maine has secured the assistance of the 

 Bureau of Forestry in the cooperative 

 fire study which is now about to begin 

 in earnest. 



THE BILTMORE MEASURING STICK. 



BY 



T. F. PEVEAR. 



THERE has recently been brought 

 into use at Biltmore a rather in- 

 genious contrivance for the purpose of 

 measuring the diameters of trees. It 

 consists of a straight stick or ordinary 

 walking cane, upon which are marked 

 off certain ratios corresponding to dif- 

 ferent diameters, so that by holding the 

 stick horizontally at arm's length against 

 the tree, and sighting toward either side 

 of the tree one can read the diameter 

 directly from the stick. The invention 

 is due to Dr. C. A. Schenck, forester to 



the Biltmore estate, and the stick has 

 been given a thorough trial, with very 

 good practical results, by the students of 

 the Biltmore Forest School. 



One of the simplest explanations of 

 the mathematical principles involved in 

 the application of the measuring stick 

 is as follows : 



In the following figure, suppose A F 

 and A E to be the lines of vision when 

 sighting to either side of the tree, which 

 is represented by the circle whose center 

 is O. B D represent the measuring 



