234 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



May 



vice is already in possession of very 

 complete data on tree growing for pro- 

 tection and timber supply, and this in- 

 formation is gladly supplied upon re- 

 quest. There are many questions, 

 however, regarding new species, nur- 

 sery methods, mixtures, spacing, and 

 cultivation which can not be satisfac- 

 torily settled by studies of existing 

 plantations. These matters will be in- 

 vestigated by a long series of system- 

 atic experiments, now under way at 

 the new stations. 



Arrangements have been made for 

 experimental forest planting in co- 

 operation with the New York State 

 Forest, Fish and Game Commission, at 

 Saranac Inn in the Adirondacks ; with 

 the Michigan Forestry Commission, at 

 Roscommon; with the University of 

 Michigan, at Ann Arbor; with Berea 

 College, Kentucky ; with the State Ag- 

 ricultural Colleges at Ames, Iowa, 

 Fargo, N. Dak., and Agricultural Col- 

 lege, Miss., and with the sub-station 

 of the University of Nebraska, at 

 North Platte. The work contemplated 

 needs constant expert supervision, and 

 great care has been exercised to limit 

 the stations to regions where addi- 

 tional data on forest planting are need- 

 ed. Most of the stations are at insti- 

 tutions where regular courses in for- 

 estry are given, and the work is di- 

 rected by the forester in charge. 



The co-operating institutions in most 

 cases contribute the necessary land, 

 and share all expenses for material 

 and labor equally with the Forest Ser- 

 vice. The Service passes upon all 

 plans and directs the general opera- 

 tions. The results are the joint prop- 

 erty of the co-operating parties. 



Production 

 of Tight 

 Cooperage 



The following prelimi- 

 nary statistics of the pro- 

 duction of tight-cooper- 

 age stock in 1905 are compiled from 

 the reports of 124 firms to the Forest 

 Service. The number of staves re- 

 ported is 158,988,000, and the number 

 of sets of heading, 8,030,000. 



The importance of white oak to the 

 tight-cooperage industry is shown by 

 the fact that over 92 per cent of the 



staves and 88 per cent of the heading 

 were manufactured from it. It is also 

 important that over one-third of the 

 staves and heading reported were 

 manufactured for alcoholic packages, 

 which require the highest grade of 

 white oak, and that 31 per cent of these 

 staves were bucked and split or hewed. 



Sawed staves Alcoholic slock. 



Bucked and split or hewed staves 

 Alcoholic stock. 



Sawed stares Oil, packimg-house , and 

 sirup slock. 



Heading. 



Figures on 

 Pulpwood 



The work of the Forest 

 Service in gathering sta- 

 tics of forest products 

 for the past year has furnished the 

 basis for a provisional statement of the 



