1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



59 



productive vast areas of the public do- 

 main now worthless, and at the same 

 time cutting down the appropriation 

 for work on our national waterways. 



Apparently the fact has been over- 

 looked that Congress has never made 

 an appropriation of any specific sum 

 for reclamation. On June 17, 1902, a 

 law was passed setting aside the pro- 

 ceeds from the sales of public lands in 

 certain western states and territories 

 for the construction of irrigation 

 works within their borders. The law 

 at the same time provided that every 

 dollar so expended should be returned 

 to the government by the settlers who 

 take up the lands reclaimed. In other 

 words, the nation made an advance of 

 the receipts from the sales of certain 

 public property to make marketable 

 other public property. Out of the many 

 millions expended by the government 

 in river and harbor improvements, not 

 a cent has ever been returned directly 

 to the Treasury, nor was it expected 

 that any return would be made. 



The difference in the two kinds of 

 appropriations here mentioned is so 

 obvious, however, that comparisons 

 for the purpose of criticism are unfair. 

 The western beneficiaries under the 

 Reclamation act are suggesting that if 

 the sections so strenuously demanding 

 appropriations for river and harbor 

 improvements would indicate a wil- 

 lingness to reimburse the government 

 for these expenditures, Congress might 

 be more inclined to favor their de- 

 mands. 



Testing 

 Red Fir 



The mechanical tests of 

 red fir, which the Forest 

 Service has undertaken 

 in co-operation with the University of 

 Oregon, are now under way. Mr. J. 

 F. Knapp, of the service, reports from 

 Eugene, Ore., that the necessary ma- 

 chinery and accessories needed for the 

 tests have been installed in the labora- 

 tory. The object of the experiments 

 will be to determine accurately the ef- 

 fect of knots and other defects upon 

 the strength of large sticks of red fir. 

 with a view to furnishing data which 



may be used for the inspection and 

 improvement of specifications. 



The material for the tests is to be 

 selected from the mills of a lumber 

 company near Eugene, and will con- 

 sist of sticks 8 by 16 inches and 5 by 8 

 inches in cross section. The sticks will 

 be mainly merchantable and seconds, 

 according to the Pacific coast standard 

 rule for grading, but will include a few 

 "selects" of a rate of growth corre- 

 sponding to the sticks containing de- 

 fects. Most of them will be tests 

 green, but an occasional specimen will 

 first be air-dried. 



Forest Cover That the value of forest 



on Water cover on watersheds 



Sheds , r 1 



used for power and irri- 

 gation is now realized and fully appre- 

 ciated is strikingly shown in southern 

 California, where the Pacific Electric 

 Company has asked the Forest Service 

 to make a preliminary examination of 

 the watershed of the San Luis Rev 

 River in San Diego county, which they 

 plan to develop. The waters of the 

 San Luis Rev River now run to waste ; 

 but by constructing flood and storage 

 reservoirs and reforesting the denuded 

 slopes, enough water can be developed 

 to furnish electric power for a new 

 system of suburban trolley lines in the 

 vicinity of San Diego and connecting 

 that city with Los Angeles. Besides 

 furnishing this electric power, the 

 water, after it passes through the tur- 

 bines, will be used for the reclamation 

 of the lower valley of the San Luis 

 Rey River. The preliminary work of 

 the Forest Service will be to examine 

 this watershed and ascertain the por- 

 tions in need of reforestation, and to 

 outline the general procedure in pre- 

 paring a definite plan for forest plant- 

 ing on these areas. Mr. G. B. Lull, 

 who is now stationed at Los Angeles, 

 will do this preliminary work. 



Land The attorney general of 



Withdrawals thc Department of the 

 Effective interior has decided that 



the lands within the former Ft. Buford 

 Military Reservation, which are in- 

 cluded in the area withdrawn for the 

 Lower Yellowstone project, are not 



