NEWS AND NOTES 



723 



"Do you realize that timber is quite as 

 valuable to the owner, and much more so 

 to the community and to you? 



"He can build a new house, but not a new 

 forest. As for your own interest, think 

 over the following facts : 



''California has 160,000,000,000 feet of 

 standing timber, even now worth $400,000,000 

 as a resource. If manufactured and sold 

 even at present lumber prices, it would 

 bring $2,500,000,000 into the state for labor 

 and supplies. 



"Cal.fornia sells over $20,000,000 worth 

 of lumber a year. Of this, $14,000,000 is 

 received by employees, who put it into local 

 circu ation. You share it. 



"About 1,000,000,000 feet is destroyed by 

 fire in California every year. If manufac- 

 tured, it would bring in $15,000,000. 



"On every 1,000 feet burned the stumpage 

 owner loses at least $3, but the community 

 loses $8 in wages. 



''Timber means pay checks to support all 

 industries, but burned timber pays no wages. 



"Care with small fires is the best way to 

 prevent big ones. 



"Don't toss away burning matches or 

 tobacco ! 



"Don't make a camp-fire in leaves, rotten 

 wood or against logs, where it may spread 

 or you can't be sure it is out ! 



"Always clear away all inflammable 

 material before building your camp-fire! 



"Never leave a fire until it is out! 



"Don't burn brush, grass or slashings 

 without a permit from a fire warden. 



"Don't operate an engine using fuel other 

 than oil without having it equipped with a 

 spark arrester. 



"Put out any fire you find if you can. If 

 you can't, notify a fire warden or other pub- 

 lic officer or the landowner. Remember 

 that any little fire may become a big one if 

 left alone." 



Similar folders might well be circulated 

 by forestry and conservation people through- 

 out the country. It is education that counts. 



Saving the Great Oak at Edgewood 



One of the finest oaks for many miles 

 around has been saved by the aid of the 

 tree surgeon, to be, it is hoped, for many 

 years to come a delight to the eye, a com- 

 fort and joy for old and young, for man 

 and beast and bird. 



The grand old tree in question stood in 

 the middle of one of the roads at Edge- 

 wood, W. Va., and, thanks to (he wisdom 

 of those who laid out that village, was not 

 then destroyed. Decay had set in, and each 

 year's rains and insects did their deadly 

 work, until it commenced to look as though 

 its years were numbered. The great hole 

 in the trunk became larger and larger; more 

 from thought'essness than any motive of 

 mischief, children nay, those of larger 

 growth, who knew better come to fill the 

 hollow trunk with rubbish motley and 

 offensive. Serenely the oak looked down 



upon them all, and with dignity and patience 

 strove to repair the undoing of insects, man 

 and weather. Hundreds of years had this 

 oak been growing in beauty and usefulness; 

 possibly when Columbus first saw the New 

 World it was a lusty young sap ing, shoul- 

 dering its way among elms and beeches. 

 Many an Indian has it sheltered; many gen- 

 erations of men has it seen come and go; 

 many thousands of birds has it sheltered in 

 its arms; many a song has it heard; many 

 a woodland tragedy has it known. Then 

 one brother after another fell before the 

 ax of the settler, until finally our friendly 

 tree stood forth alone, displaying all the 

 majesty of his girth and spread of limb. 

 Perhaps it was a lightning stroke started 

 the mischief of decay; perhaps the wanton 

 carelessness of man. A tree surgeon was 

 brought, who studied the situation, brought 

 his assistants, ladders, tar, cement, skill and 

 knowledge, and to-day our friend the tree 

 rejoices in healing wounds, recovered health 

 and a discharge certificate from the sur- 

 geon's hands, prepared to defy the storms 

 of many a year. 



The credit for this work is due to Mrs. 

 Virginia Kendall and Miss Nellie Hum- 

 phreys, of Edgewood. 



Exhaustion of Mineral Resources 



^ The report of the National Conservation 

 Commission of 1908, showing the reckless 

 manner in which our natural resources are 

 being wasted, finds an echo in a bul'etin 

 (No. 394) just issued by the United States 

 Geological Survey, in which are reprinted the 

 papers on mineral resources contributed by 

 members of the survey to the conservation 

 report. The data on which these papers are 

 based were not obtained especially for the 

 occasion, but were taken from the files of 

 the survey, where they had been accumulat- 

 ing for years. Taken together, they present 

 a state of affairs that may well awaken 

 reflection. 



COAL 



Coal is considered first, and it is shown 

 that waste in mining loses forever about one- 

 half as much as is marketed. This half is 

 either left in the ground in thin beds or in 

 the shape of pillars to support the roof. Coal 

 has been extensively mined in the United 

 States for not much more than half a cen- 

 tury, but the consumption is increasing so 

 enormously that if this increase should con- 

 tinue, all the easily accessible coal would be 

 exhausted by the year 2040, and all coal by 

 the middle of the twenty-first century. It 

 will, of course, not continue at such a rate, 

 for the increasing scarcity will raise prices 

 and check consumption. Water-power, too, 

 will undoubtedly largely take its place. 



PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS 



With regard to petro'eum the situation is 

 a good deal more serious. Petroleum has been 

 usedforlessthan fifty years, and it is estimated 

 that the supply will last only about twenty- 



