304 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



July 



planted last fail indicate by their de- 

 velopment that this method of refor- 

 estation is a success. 



The State owns three nurseries. 

 One is at Saranac Inn Station, an- 

 other as Wawbeek and the third at 

 Axton. 



There are' several private planta- 

 tions in the Adirondack^. One of 

 these, at Northville, is owned by Jas. 

 S. Cole and the Saranac Inn Associa- 

 tion owns another. The Delaware and 

 Hudson Company has an experimental 

 nursey at Wolf Pond. 



According to Mr. Her- 

 About the , T ?,t ,, , . 



Cotton Tree oert J- Webber, chief 

 of the plant-breeding 

 laboratory of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, cotton planters in the 

 United States need have no fear that 

 the tree discovered by J. R. Spence, of 

 Deesee, India, is going to put them out 

 of business. He says the new cotton 

 tree recurs as often as Christmas, and 

 with a proportionate amount of noise. 



Speaking of this latest "discovery," 

 Mr. Webber says: "So far as this 

 country is concerned, the Spence tree 

 is not worth 5 cents. In my opinion, 

 the whole thing is a farce. Whatever 

 value, if any, the tree may possess, will 

 be a purely local one, and of absolutely 

 no commercial value to peopleputside 

 of India. 



"Trees cf that kind are always be- 

 ing discovered. The last was in Aus- 

 tralia, and one was also recently found 

 in India ; neither of which, however, 

 revolutionized the cotton-growing in- 

 dustry. 



"For seven or eight years the de- 

 partment has been making experi- 

 ments with cotton trees, and none of 

 them has amounted to anything. The 

 trees will not stand the severe climate 

 in this country and always freeze. I 

 have seen them grow as high as this 

 room, but never have they put forth a 

 single boll. 



"We have tried hybrydizing these 



ign trees with out native plants, 



thinking that in this way we might 



secure a plant that did not require so 



long a time to reach the blooming age, 



but all of the efforts have been un- 

 availing. 



"It takes two years to bring a cot- 

 ton plant to the period when it will 

 bear, and several more to make it a 

 paying investment. Consequently, a 

 tree from a tropical country stands 

 no chance here. The only successful 

 result that has attended our endeavors 

 along this line of breeding is to have 

 increased the length of the plant's 

 staple. 



"Our agent in India has secured 

 some of the seed from this new tree 

 of Spence's, and we shall make ex- 

 periment with them. I am not at all 

 optimistic of the outcome. 



"These wonderful stories about the 

 crops to be raised from these so-called 

 new trees, are always based upon the 

 growth of one or two trees, and are 

 generally sent out in advance of some 

 business scheme. 



"It has been so time and again, and 

 will probably continue so long as cot- 

 ton is grown. 



Ch . The removal of the prin- 



Quarters cipal offices of the Re- 



clamation Service from 

 the Hooe Building to the Munsey 

 Building in Washington marks the 

 termination of the period of infancy 

 of the Reclamation Service and its 

 separation from the parent body, the 

 Geological Survey. 



On the passage of the Reclamation 

 Act on June 17, 1902, the Reclamation 

 Service was organized by the Secre- 

 tary of the Interior as a part of the 

 Hydrographic Branch of the Geo- 

 logical Survey, as the work to be per- 

 formed was a natural outgrowth of the 

 investigations which had been carried 

 on for many years by that bureau. 

 The principal engineers connected 

 with this work formed the nucleus of 

 the new organization, and other men 

 were obtained from time to time as 

 needed, from the eligible list of the 

 Civil Service Commission. 



On the fourth anniversary of the 

 formation of the Reclamation Service 

 it has definitely broken away by mov- 

 ing into new quarters. During these 



