514 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



November 



of the entire system is estimated at 

 $7,200,000. The main item of cost 

 is the dam, which will require 300,000 

 barrels of cement, a large amount of 

 machinery, gates, etc., entailing a 

 heavy outlay for freight. It is esti- 

 mated that the dam will cost approxi- 

 mately $5,300,000. It will be 225 feet 

 high, 120 feet thick on the bottom, and 

 20 feet on top. It will be 1,150 feet 

 long on top of crest. The reservoir 

 thus created will have a capacity of 

 2,000,000 acre-feet, or twice that 

 created by the Assuan dam in Egypt, 

 and will be the largest artificial lake 

 in the world. 



Owing to the great demand made 



on the reclamation fund in other lo- 

 calities, the money for this entire pro- 

 ject is not yet available. Recognizing 

 the importance of early action in this 

 section, however, the Secretary of the 

 Interior, on December 2, 1905, allotted 

 the sum of $200,000 for the immediate 

 construction of that portion of the pro- 

 ject known as the Leasburg diversion. 

 It is this dam with a canal to connect 

 it with the old Las Cruces system for 

 which contract has just been let. Work 

 will be pushed repidly during the win- 

 ter, and it is hoped the water can be 

 supplied to 15,000 acres in Mesilla 

 Valley during the irrigating season 

 of 1907. 



THE RED PINE* (Pinus Resinosa) 



XII Notes on Forest Trees Suitable 

 for Planting in the United States 



'"P HE RED, or Norway, pine gen- 

 erally attains a height of be- 

 tween 70 and 90 feet, and a diameter 

 of 2 or rarely 3 feet. When grown in 

 the open, the tree is relatively short, 

 and branched close to the ground. In 

 the forest the stem is commonly clear 

 for 40 to 60 feet, and the crown is 

 short and open, but broad-spreading. 

 The distinguishing features of red 

 pine are its thin, scaly, reddish-brown 

 bark, and its slender and flexible 

 leaves 5 to 6 inches long in clusters 

 of two. 



RANGE. 



The natural range of the red pine 

 is along the northern border of the 

 United State as far west as Minnesota. 

 and southward through the Northern 

 States to eastern Massachusetts, the 

 mountains of Pennsylvania and north- 

 eastern Ohio. It reaches its best de- 

 velopment in the northern portion of 

 Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. 



The red pine is adapted for plant- 

 ing throughout most of the northeast- 

 ern part of the United States. It will 

 not do well where droughts are fre- 

 quent or severe. 



' Data furnished by Forest Service. 



SIIvVICAI, QUALITIES. 



The red pine grows best on sandy 

 loam soil, well drained and of mod- 

 erate fertility, but it also thrives on 

 poor sands when other conditions are 

 favorable. The tree is very intoler- 

 ant of shade at all ages and therefore 

 suitable for pure plantations only, or 

 for mixtures in which the other species 

 are distinctly slower growing. Its 

 rate of growth is fairly rapid. Meas- 

 urements made in several New Eng- 

 land plantations show an average 

 height of 35 feet and diameter of 6 

 inches at 30 years of age. 



Red pine suffers little from insects 

 or disease. It is moderately fire-re- 

 sistant and quite free from destructive 

 fungi. When young, the tree is some- 

 times injured by a white grub which 

 feeds on the tender roots, but the ma- 

 ture tree has few enemies. 



ECONOMIC USES. 



The wood is somewhat like white 

 pine, though a little heavier, harder, 

 and stronger. It is only moderately 

 durable. It is distinctly valuable for 

 all kinds of house lumber, and when 



