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93 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



February 



trees be sent to the Forest Service, to- 

 gether with a rough sample plat show- 

 ing their location, the plat and speci- 

 men being numbered to correspond. 



For such identification a full set of 

 specimens, illustrating mature foliage, 

 and, if possible, specimens of the flow- 

 ers and of the fruit (as the botanist 

 call the seeds) should be sent. Fruit 

 specimens are very essential, but flow- 

 ers may be omitted if they cannot be 

 readily secured. Two or three speci- 

 mens of branches in leaf, 10 or 12 

 inches long, taken from different parts 

 of the crown, so as to exhibit all of the 

 leaf forms common to the species, will 

 answer for the foliage. One or two 

 specimens of the foliage, flowers, and 

 fruit may be placed between sheets of 

 ordinary newspaper or blotting paper 

 about 12 by 16 inches in size. Thirty 



to fifty specimens and sheets may thus 

 be piled one on top of another, and the 

 whole bundle placed between two stiff 

 pieces of mill board, pasteboard, or 

 thin picture backing, a little larger 

 than the sheets of paper carrying the 

 specimens. The package must then 

 be well tied and wrapped, when it may 

 be sent by mail if under 4 pounds in 

 weight. If, before sending, the speci- 

 mens are changed to dry sheets of pa- 

 per once in twenty-four hours, keeping 

 them constantly under a weight of 

 from 40 to 50 pounds, they can be 

 thoroughly dried within two or three 

 weeks, when they will not be so heavy 

 and will still be in excellent condition 

 for identification. 



Suggestions as to labels and their 

 use are also made by the Service when 

 requested. 



HUGE CONSUMPTION OF WOODEN 



FENCE POSTS 



In the Middle West, Where Trees are 

 Scarce, It Will Pay to Grow a Supply. 



'~P HE difficulty of obtaining fence 

 posts at reasonable prices has 

 given an impetus scarcely realized to 

 forest planting in the Middle West. 

 Newspapers, farmers' institutes, wo- 

 men's clubs, and boards of trade 

 throughout the region are pointing 

 out the need of such material and 

 dwelling on the profit realized by the 

 few men who planted trees years ago 

 and whose plantations have been suc- 

 cessful. The local supply of all forest 

 products is insignificant, and timber, 

 if not grown at home, must be import- 

 ed. With the continuous retreat of the 

 sources of supply under the attack of 

 the vigorous demand, the length of the 

 haul increases and the cost of trans- 

 portation rises higher and higher. Yet 

 the fields and pastures must be fenced. 

 The posts must be had. 



The annual production of fence 

 posts in the regular logging camps of 



the country, as reported by the last 

 Census, is 8,715,661. How many times 

 greater than this is the annual cut 

 from the home woodlot no figures ex- 

 ist to show ; but by taking the total 

 number of farms and their acreage 

 and making a conservative allowance 

 for posts for the fences inclosing each 

 farm, it has been estimated that up- 

 wards of 1,000,000,000 posts are set 

 each year. Such figures are too vast 

 to mean anything. Even the nine mil- 

 lion posts of the Census, a mere drop 

 in the bucket as compared with the un- 

 reported production, would, if set 15 

 feet apart, girdle the earth, or would 

 build a solid pile 55 feet wide, 40 feet 

 high, and a mile long. 



Durability and at least moderate 

 strength are the desirable qualities for 

 fence posts. The use of species which 

 are not durable is expensive, both on 

 account of the more frequent renewal 



