1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



103 



should belong to the nation and be 

 vaunted as its chief pride and glory. 

 Yet with them in peril we sit idly by 

 awaiting the trend of events. 



What is to be the fate of the Cala- 

 veras groves? What is the wish of 

 the people concerning their destiny? 

 There must be some way to acquire 

 the groves for posterity. 



If the one million and a half of 

 people who signed a petition in 1904 

 sent by the Outdoor Art League of 

 San Francisco to President Roosevelt 

 urging him to request Congress to 

 pass the Big Tree bill had accompa- 

 nied their names with a dollar each 

 the trees could easily have been pur- 

 chased, and also the magnificent forest 

 tracts immediatelv surrounding; the 

 groves. But this was not asked, be- 



cause the league believed that Con- 

 gress would pass a bill so generally 

 demanded by the people and indorsed 

 by President Roosevelt, who sent a 

 special message to Congress on receipt 

 of the huge petition, urging it to pass 

 the bill. 



In view of the monetary condition 

 of the United States government, and 

 the many demands to be made upon 

 the common Treasury, but little hope 

 can be entertained for favorable legis- 

 latoin for the groves at the present 

 session of Congress. What, then, is 

 the next step to be taken? Will you 

 abandon the big trees to an ignoble 

 fate, or will all patriotic Americans 

 unite in some feasible plan to preserve 

 to the world the greatest living mar- 

 vels now extant in the universe? 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS 



Evergreens; How to Grow Them. By 

 C. S. Harrison. Pp. 95, illustrated. Webb 

 Publishing Co., St. Paul, Minn., igo6. 

 Cloth, 50 cents net ; paper, 25 cents net. 



This little volume is, above all, a practical 

 work. The text is in simple, untechnical 

 language, combining a guide to the selec- 

 tion and growth of the better known coni- 

 fers, with full and explicit descriptions of 

 various species and their peculiarities. Mr. 

 Harrison is president of the Nebraska Park 

 and Forestry Association, and the deep in- 

 terest that be feels in forestry is manifested 

 throughout the book, notably the first chap- 

 ter, where the effects of forest denudation 

 are r orcibly and succinctly brought out. Mr. 

 Harrison has had more than thirty years' 

 experience in nursery work and forest 

 planting in Nebraska, and this book is the 

 result of his experience and observations. 

 It should prove especially valuable to the 

 farmers and land owners of the West and 

 Northwest. 



plans to further increase its activities. The 

 introductory part of the bulletin is an ex- 

 cellent exposition of the forest situation in 

 Massachusetts, and of the importance of 

 - conservative forest management. 



Forestry in Massachusetts. Second Edi- 

 tion. Bulletin No. 1, Forest Service of 

 Massachusetts. By Alfred Akernrin. 

 State Forester. Pp. 19. Wright and 

 Potter Co., State Printers, Boston, 1905. 



This is an interesting little pamphlet de- 

 signed to create an interest in forestry in 

 Massachusetts and to set forth the aims of 

 the State Forest Service and its work. The 

 Forest Service of Massachusetts was only 

 established in 1904, but already it lias ac- 

 complished considerable, and in the future, 

 when it secures even more general support. 



The First Country Park System. A 

 History of the Development ot the Essex 

 County Park of New Jersey. By Fred 

 W. Kelsey. J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Co., 

 New York. Price, $1.25. 



It is quite true, as the author states in 

 his opening paragraph, that the interest in 

 parks and park development is constantly 

 growing. One, therefore, turns to this pub- 

 lication with the desire to know just what 

 the community, of which the city of Newark 

 is the center, has done. He is disappointed, 

 however, 'to find that there is very little 

 information about the parks themselves, 

 and that he must go through over 200 pages 

 of uninteresting matter to learn a few facts. 

 It is apparent that Essex county has ac- 

 quired a valuable park system; but the 

 trials and tribulations through which the 

 organizers went is of little importance to 

 the outsidef. The essential fact seems to 

 be that for an expenditure of about $5,- 

 000,000 Newark and the Oranges have ac- 

 quired a tine park system. This outlay is 

 apparently excessive, though no doubt the 

 future will count the money well spent. 

 The book cannot be recommended as valu- 

 able to anyone but those who care to know 

 what difficulties r.re encountered in a work 

 of this kind. 



