NEWS AND NOTES 



65 



The forestry deparment has employed from 

 six to ten expert tree-trimmers during the 

 fall months, in trimming trees along the side- 

 walks, free of charge to the property owners. 

 The territory extending from High to Par- 

 sons Avenue and from Naghten to Deshler, 

 was covered. About 8,000 trees were trim- 

 med, 400 dead ones removed and about 700 

 wagon loads of trimmings and dead trees 

 hauled away. It is expected that the work 

 will be continued in the early spring. 



New England Trees in Winter 



Prof. Albert F. Blakeslee, of the Depart- 

 ment of Botany in the Connecticut Agricul- 

 ture College, together with C. D. Jarvis, has 

 just issued an extensive and profusely illus- 

 trated bulletin on New England Trees in 

 Winter. In the preface the bulletin says: 

 "At present there is no general work upon 

 American trees which combines illustrations 

 of the individual forms with keys for their 

 identification based upon winter characters. 

 The forester and lumberman, however, are 

 more called upon to distinguish trees in 

 winter when leaves and flowers are fallen 

 than in summer. Trees, as the most con- 

 spicuous elements in the winter landscape, 

 must also appeal to the student of out door 

 life. The interest shown by classes of school 

 teachers in the Summer School in identifying 

 specimens of twigs collected the previous 

 winter indicated that the winter study of 

 trees can be taken up with enthusiasm by 

 teachers in their schools. In our experience, 

 the winter identification of trees has proven 

 to students one of the most interesting sub- 

 jects of their course. It is of decided value 

 for its training in the power of accurate 

 observation. The work comes at a time when 

 material for natural history study seems 

 scanty and might therefore be used to bridge 

 over the period between fall and spring 

 which are unfortunately considered by many 

 the only seasons when study of out door life 

 is possible in the schools. A tree in winter 

 is far from being the characterless object 

 many believe. Freed from its covering of 

 leaves, the skeleton of the tree is revealed 

 and with the method of branching thus 

 clearly discernible, the species may generally 

 be more readily identified at a distance than 

 in its summer garb. There are many forms, 

 moreover, that are difficult to distinguish 

 from summer features alone but which in 

 winter have twig, bud or other characters 

 which make their separation comparatively 

 easy." 



A co-operative agreement entered into be- 

 tween the U. S. Department of Agriculture 

 and the State of Maryland provides for an 

 expenditure by the Government of not to ex- 

 ceed $600 during the year ending December 



31, 1911, this sum to go toward meeting the 

 expenses of forest fire protection in Mary- 

 land. The areas to be protected are in Alle- 

 gheny, Garrett, Washington, and Frederick 

 counties. The co-operative agreement is 

 made possible by the terms of the Weeks 

 Law, which Congress passed last winter. 



The funds of the Federal Government will 

 be used solely for paying patrolmen. The 

 State officials select these patrolmen, subject 

 to the approval of the Department of Agri- 

 culture. The maps submitted to the Federal 

 Government show where each of these patrol- 

 men will be located, the approximate routes 

 of patrol, and all matters necessary to a clear 

 understanding of the State's plan of fire con- 

 trol, including the location of lookout points, 

 telephone communications, railroad patrols, 

 location of State forest fire wardens and other 

 officials, and the like. 



Mr. J. J. Levison, Arborculturist for the 

 Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New 

 York City, has recently been appointed as 

 special lecturer at the Yale Forest School on 

 the planting and care of street and park 

 trees. His course of ten lectures, which form 

 part of the work in the fall term, covers a 

 wide and varied field. It is the first time 

 such a course has been given in any of our 

 forest schools ; it is a needed course and sev- 

 eral of the Yale graduates have already been 

 placed in charge of city tree work in New 

 Haven, Conn., and Milwaukee, Wis. Other 

 big cities are seeking professionally trained 

 foresters, and the prospects are that the de- 

 mand for especially equipped men is on the 

 increase. 



Lyford, Clark & Lyford, Forest Engi- 

 neers, is the new name under which the 

 well-known Montreal firm of C. A. Lyford 

 & Co. is now doing business- The members 

 of this firm are: Judson F. Clark, C. A. 

 Lyford, and P. L. Lyford. Mr. Clark and 

 C. A. Lyford are also members of the firm 

 of Clark & Lyford, Forest Engineers, of 

 Vancouver. These two firms are at present 

 conducting forest surveys aggregating over 

 500,000 acres. They report a rapidly in- 

 creasing demand for their services. 



For national forests in the Appalachian 

 and White mountains, Secretary Wilson says 

 no lands will be recommended for purchase 

 on which options have been obtained for 

 the purpose of selling to the government at a 

 profit. 



The Weeks law provided $2,000,000 a year 

 until 1915 for the purchase of Appalachian 

 and White mountain timber lands. More 

 than 1,800,000 acres have been offered, of 

 which more than 400,000 have been examined 

 and agreements have been reached with own- 

 ers of 100,000 acres. * 



