580 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



December 



natural reproduction should be sup- 

 plemented by planting or sowing in 

 order that the future stand may be 

 fully stocked and produce a high yield 

 of timber. The farmer will in the end 

 be abundantly repaid if he uses his 

 spare time in the improvement of his 

 woodlot. 



Timber brings a good price in this 

 section because of its scarcity, especi- 

 ally such species as chestnut, oak, 

 walnut, and hickory. The growing 

 of chestnut for poles and ties is an 

 especially good proposition, as shown 

 by the bulletin of the United States 

 Forest Service on the subject. 



2. The Appalachian Region. As 

 previously stated, the outlook for pri- 

 vate forest management in this section 

 is not promising, due to the intensive 

 form of lumbering practiced, the prev- 

 alence of fires, damaging young 

 growth, and the general slowness of 

 tree growth. No owners of large 

 timber tracts in this part of the state 

 have as yet taken up the idea of con- 

 servative treatment of their wood 

 lands. Forest management in this re- 

 gion could best be carried on by the 

 state, rather than by private owners, 

 owing to the long rotation required 

 here to mature timber. There is an 

 increasing amount of cut-over land in 

 this section, non-agricultural and suit- 

 able only for growing trees, which 

 will not have a second valuable crop 

 of timber for fifty to seventy-five 

 years, and then only if properly man- 

 aged. There is no very great induce- 

 ment for the individual to properly 



care for such forest land, with the 

 harvest so far off ; while, if managed 

 by the state, the welfare of the next 

 generation would be considered and 

 the forest carefully handled accord- 

 ingly. 



There are some woodlots in this 

 region, adjacent to farms, and for 

 such small tracts private forest man- 

 agement will be advisable. At pres- 

 ent, however, not such intensive for- 

 estry will be practicable for these 

 woodlots as for those in the Piedmont 

 section, where the land is more valu- 

 able and timber much scarcer. But 

 the farmers here should try to keep 

 out fire and improve their wood lots 

 by thinning out worthless and hinder- 

 ing material, so far as it can be done 

 without financial outlay. 



3. The Coastal Plain. The rapid- 

 growing loblolly and scrub pines in 

 this section, which attain merchant- 

 able size in thirty to sixty years, are 

 good propositions for private forest 

 management, especially the loblolly. 

 Most of the land on which this pine 

 occurs is of little value for agriculture, 

 and will often bring better returns 

 from growing timber on short rota- 

 tions than from crops. In thirty years 

 the scrub pine is valuable for pulp- 

 wood or charcoal. The loblolly it is 

 best to cut for lumber as it is suffi- 

 ciently large in thirty-five to forty-five 

 years. 



The outlook for forestry on wood 

 lots in this section is nearly as good as 

 for the Piedmont Region, though 

 timber prices are not as a rule so high. 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS 



Forestry and Forest Products of Japan. 

 , Bulletin of Bureau of Forestry, Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture and Commerce, To- 

 kyo, Japan. Published for distribution at 

 the Universal Exposition, St. Louis, 1904. 

 Pp. 118, with diagrams. Tokyo, 1904. 

 ^ The forest administration of the Japanese 

 Empire is 'regulated by the Forest Law of 

 1897, nroviding rules regarding the working 

 of the "Available Forests," as well as the 



restriction of felling in the "Reserve For- 

 ests." At the present date the reserve for- 

 ests of the Empire include 699,148 cho, or 

 some 269 sciuare miles, and the government 

 has a well-defined forest policy, whose 

 range of activity is remarkable. In results 

 accomplished, explained in this book in a 

 very interesting manner, the Japanese forest 

 service will rank high with that of other 

 nations. This volume is full of informa- 



