400 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



September 



to thrive under the conditions there 

 found, and to provide for obtaining 

 the necessary planting material in the 

 most advantageous way. When this 

 club shall have been successfully or- 

 ganized, the Forest Service promises 

 to send a man to the "Panhandle" to 

 help the tree planters to make the most 

 effective use of their land and planting 

 material. 



The study of railroad tie production 

 which the Forest Service is making in 

 co-operation with the Northern Pacific 

 Railway Company, in Minnesota, is 

 nearing completion. The field force is 

 now in Hubbard county, where figures 

 are being gathered to determine the 

 possible yield in ties of jack pine. 

 These figures, which were completed 

 September i, and show the yield of 

 aieas fully stocked with jack pine and 

 will so be of value also in estimating 

 the yield of planted areas. An esti- 

 mate of the whole standing supply, 

 and of the character of the lumber in 

 northern Minnesota, is well under 

 way. 



The study of forest conditions in 

 the southern part of New Hampshire, 

 which the Forest Service is making in 

 co-operation with the state, has pro- 

 gressed so well that the map work is 

 now completed. The mapping of the 

 northern part of the state was done in 

 a previous forest study, also co-opera- 

 tive, so that the present maps supple- 

 ment the former ones, with which they 

 show forest conditions over the whole 

 of New Hampshire. 



On the forest maps are indicated the 

 percentage of barren and abandoned 

 lands, the area of forest land, the per- 

 centage of virgin timber, and the char- 

 acter of the forest, together with the 

 area of burned land. 



The attention of the field force will 

 now be devoted to a study of second- 

 growth spruce, with a view to deter- 

 mining its value as a woodlot species. 



Application has been 



Black Hills , , 



Timber Sale made for tne purchase 



of 50,000,000 feet of 



astern yellow pine timber in the 



Black Hills Reserve, located princi- 



pally in South Dakota. This timber 

 is classed as dead and insect infested. 

 For the past five years a bark beetle 

 has been preying on the western yel- 

 low pine of that region, and has done 

 immense damage. The beetle bores 

 through the bark, and the larvae se- 

 riously affect the wood. It becomes 

 discolored to a depth of three or four 

 inches, its strength is destroyed, and 

 it thus becomes useless for timber. 

 Every year the condition of the in- 

 fested trees becomes worse. 



Under the law none of the timber 

 in this reserve can be exported from 

 the State. The local demand is lim- 

 ited, and covers chiefly railroad ties, 

 mine props, and general construction 

 purposes. During the early stages of 

 beetle attack the timber is good and 

 should be promptly cut. There is pos- 

 sibly a quarter of a billion feet of such 

 timber now in the reserve, very much 

 of which will be wasted, as home con- 

 sumption is not large enough to use it 

 before the beetles have rendered it 

 valueless. 



Fire For the protection of the 



Protection forest plantations recent- 

 for Nursery . j ^1 



ly made in the moun- 

 tains back of Pasadena, California, a 

 system of fire breaks is being con- 

 structed. They follow the sharp 

 "backbone" of the main ridges and 

 are strips on which the brush is grub- 

 bed out 'for a width of from 12 to 30 

 feet, with connecting trials or second- 

 ary lines where needed. This is the 

 first systematic and extensive work of 

 fire-line construction attempted in 

 these mountains and the cost thus far 

 has been very reasonable. Upon the 

 completion of these lines the nursery 

 at Henniger's Flats and the new plan- 

 tations will be well protected and the 

 extensive sweep of a fire prevented. 



Mr Shaw Ml "' A ' C ' Shaw ' chief 



WansfeTed of the Public Lands Di- 

 vision in the Land Of- 

 fice, has been transferred to the Bu- 

 reau of Forestry, where he will act as 

 examiner in matters of privileges, 

 claims, rights of way, etc., within the 

 National Forest Reserves. 





