298 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



July 



been a decennial census of the lumber 

 industry, but the intenion now is to 

 publish, in cooperaion with the Na- 

 tional Lumber Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation, an annual statement of the 

 amount of lumber cut and marketed. 

 The movement of lumber will be fol- 

 lowed from the forests through the 

 great commercial centers until it 

 reaches the consumers. 



Special uses of wood as for cooper- 

 age and boxes, vehicles and imple- 

 ments, and for paving blocks will be 

 carefully considered. The study will 

 include an investigation of the quali- 

 ties of the woods at present used ; an 

 estimate of the supply of timber of 

 these kinds available ; an investigation 

 of the properties of other and more 

 abundant woods which may be sub- 

 stituted for the species now employed ; 

 and a study of methods of manufac- 

 ture with a view to recommending im- 

 provements which will increase the 

 output and lessen the waste from the 

 raw material. 



Timber Sta- 

 tistics 



Vermont 

 Forest 



The Reading Pond 

 Trout Club, which was 

 organized in March, will 

 do business on a large scale. The 

 capital stock of the corporation, origi- 

 nally $3,000, has been increased to 

 $50,000, which is held by men deeply 

 interested in the development of Ver- 

 mont. The club has acquired 5,500 

 acres of woodland, meadow, pasture, 

 and tillage land in the vicinity of 

 Reading Pond, near Woodstock. In 

 pursuit of the propagation of game 

 fish, 30,000 brook trout have already 

 been deposited in the brooks and pond ; 

 but the larger plans of the club, and 

 those in which the public is directly 

 interested are, however, along the 

 lines of scientific forestry and farm- 

 ing. 



Tt is not designed that these lands, 

 which include some of the best and 

 some of the worst in Vermont, shall 

 lie idle. On the contrary, the forests, 

 in the first place, are to be managed 

 on the most economic principles. In- 

 stead of stripping the woodlands and 

 reducing them to a nominal value in 



a seaso nor two, it is expected that 

 they will be lumbered so that they 

 will increase in value from year to 

 year. Only such timber will be cut 

 as is mature, and there will be plant- 

 ing to replace those trees that are 

 felled. Wastes, slopes, elevations, 

 and localities will be carefully stud- 

 ied ; large areas will be planted with 

 German and Colorado spruce, white 

 and black ash, cherry and various 

 other hard and soft woods, and re- 

 sults watched with a view to deter- 

 mining what timber trees are most 

 profitable in the different locations. 



Competent men will be in charge of 

 the lands and the working out of the 

 forest problem will be watched with 

 considerable interest. 



Steps have just been 

 taken to determine the 

 total annual cut and con- 

 sumption of lumber in the United 

 States. The National Lumber Man- 

 ufacturers' Association, at its last 

 meeting in Chicago, favored the get- 

 ting of such statistics, and the Bureau 

 of Forestry for some time has been 

 considering similar work ; the two 

 have now combined forces to this end. 

 Mr. George K. Smith, the secretary 

 of the association, recently visited 

 Washington to confer with the Bu- 

 reau, and a definite plan has been de- 

 cided upon. Near the close of each 

 calendar year blanks will be sent the 

 secretaries of all lumber associations, 

 who will forward them to all saw- 

 mills in their jurisdiction. When filled 

 in these cards will show the total cut 

 of each mill, the total shipments, and 

 the stock left on hand ; they will then 

 be mailed direct to Washington. The 

 Department of Commerce and Labor 

 will assist in the work in the way of 

 furnishing names of lumbermen, and 

 in computing the results. The plan 

 will be put into effect at the close of 

 this year, and as early as possible after 

 January i a statement of results will 

 be published. The proposed work will 

 be of great practical value in deter- 

 mining the rate at which the forest 

 resources of the country are actually 

 being used up. 



