442 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



October 



members of the Forest Service from 

 the office at Washington have attended 

 the conference. At the meeting at 

 Boise, Idaho, for instance, there were 

 present, in addition to a dozen super- 

 visors from Idaho, Montana and Wyo- 

 ming, the Forester, Mr. Gifford Pin- 

 chot, Messrs. Sherrard, Potter, Ster- 

 ling, Hall, and others from the Wash- 

 ington office of the Forest Service. 



First of all, these meetings offer an 

 excellent opportunity for reaching a 

 common understanding of the regu- 

 lations under which the reserves are 

 managed. Second, they bring into 

 evidence the weaknesses of the present 

 system, so that such can be readily 

 remedied. Third, and one of the most 

 important of all, they improve the 

 solidarity of the Service, in that they 

 bring together the office and field force 

 for a common discussion of common 

 questions. 



Undoubtedly, by pursuing this 

 policy of getting its men together, the 

 Forest Service will greatly improve its 

 efficiency. 



New Massa- Prof. F. William Rane, 

 chusetts formerly professor of 



Forester . 



horticulture and forestry 

 at the New Hampshire State Agricul- 

 tural College, has recently been ap- 

 pointed State Forester of Massa- 

 chusetts, vice Mr. Alfred Akermann, 

 whp resigned some months ago to ac- 

 cept the chairof forestry at the Uni- 

 versity of Georgia, endowed by George 

 Foster Peabody. , Prof. Rane has been 

 prominent *in the forest movement for 

 a number of years, and is particularly 

 conversant with conditions in New 

 England. 



Fewer Fires 

 in California 



According to Pacific 

 Coast Iron and Wood 

 forest fires in California 

 this summer have been few and far 

 between. If this state of affairs con- 

 tinues during the next few months, 

 1906 will be a record-breaker. Last 

 year was an exceptionally good year 

 in this regard, and did much to prove 

 the benefits of forest reserves. 



One of the most important factors 

 that substantiate the good of the re- 

 serves is the prevention and controlling 

 of forest fires by those employed by 

 the Forest Service, a number of whom 

 have been appointed from California. 

 Every year the forests in many coun- 

 ties are destroyed by fire to the extent 

 of many millions of dollars, and 

 coupled to this is an indirect loss, not 

 to the community, but to the nation at 

 large, which cannot be estimated. 



Up to within the past few years, 

 little if anything was done to prevent 

 this wholesale destruction ; but since 

 the Forest Service has been created 

 and the forest reserves have been man- 

 aged and cared for by appropriations 

 from Congress, there has been a great 

 decrease in forest fires and the des- 

 truction of much valuable timber. 



Canadian The meeting of the 



Association Canadian Forestry As- 

 sociation, held at Van- 

 couver, B. C, September 25 to 27, was 

 largely attended and proved to be one 

 of the most successful of the many 

 interesting meetings of that organiza- 

 tion. His Excellency, Earl Grey, Gov- 

 ernor-General of Canada, gave signifi- 

 cant proof of his interest in forestry 

 by his attendance at all sessions on 

 the opening day, and in addition a 

 large representation of mountain 

 manufacturers were present. Mr. 

 Overton W. Price, Associate Forester, 

 U. S. Forest Service, was present as 

 the representative of President Roose- 

 velt, and addressed the convention on 

 the subject of forest work in the 

 United States. Other speakers at the 

 sessions on September 25 were Lieut. 

 Governor Dunsmuir, and Premier 

 McBride, both of whom spoke upon 

 the necessity for forest education for 

 the people in general. Two papers, by 

 Mr. Judson F. Clark and Mr. Roland 

 D. Craig, respectively, "Forest Reve- 

 nues and Forest Conservation," and 

 "The Management of Forest Re- 

 serves," were read at the Thursday 

 morning session, and evoked much in- 

 teresting discussion. The resolutions 



