202 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



000 acres of land, the Government officials 

 and owners having agreed upon the price. 



This is just a beginning of purchases to 

 be made under the Weeks law in the South- 

 ern Appalachian and White Mountains. Two 

 hundred thousand more acres are_now being 

 examined by forestry experts with a view 

 of locating desirable lands for additional 

 purchases. 



The lands already purchased will cost the 

 Government about $1,000,000, the amount pro- 

 vided for purchases the first year. 



One Cent a Tree 



It costs 1 cent to plant a tree i:i Canada, 

 according to a report submitted to the In- 

 ternational Dry Farming congress by Nor- 

 man M. Ross, of Indian Head, Saskatchewan, 

 and just published in the annual congress 

 handbook. 



Mr. Ross is chief of the tree-planting 

 division of the Dominion forestry department. 

 He states that the Dominion forest nursery 

 station at Indian Head is annually distribut- 

 ing to settlers in western Canada, free of 

 charge, more than 2,250,000 seedlings and 

 cuttings and that, during the last 10 years, 

 the tree-planting division has furnished, 

 roughly, 18,500,000 trees and cuttings to 14,- 

 882 settlers, an average of 1,240 to each ap- 

 plicant. 



Low Prices for Trees 



Efficiency and increased production at the 

 New York State nurseries will enable the 

 Conservation Commission to offer trees 

 especially adapted to reforesting lands in 

 New York State, to private land owners this 

 spring at greatly reduced rates. 



These offers should apoeal to land owners 

 throughout the State which is so badlv in need 

 of reforesting. Careful investigations of the 

 Commission show that there are 2,300,000 

 acres in the State which are not producing 

 any valuable growth, practically all of which 

 could be profitably used in arowing trees. 



the demand. It is high time that individuals 

 consider the question of growing their own 

 trees. 



Chinese Forestry 



Large corporations even in China, where 

 the neglect of forestry has been notorious, 

 are now beginning to grow their own timber. 

 Chinese railroads have put considerable tracts 

 in young trees to furnish their lines with 

 ties and trestle timbers. The growth of 

 trees is slow, but it is also sure and the 

 market _ for forest products continues to in- 

 crease in proportion to the shrinkage of the 

 supply simultaneously with the expansion of 



Railway Ties 



Statistics prepared by the Forestry Service 

 of the United States show that of the 125,- 

 000,000 crossties bought by the railways last 

 year almost 80 per cent were hewed ties. 

 The sawed tie, while occasionally produced 

 by mills built pi ^ticularly for this purpose, is 

 more generally a by-product of general lum- 

 ber operations. 



A Wise Action 



A timber company which has purchased 

 250,000 acres of land in Western North 

 Carolina will place the entire tract under 

 the supervision of the United States For- 

 estry Bureau. This is a departure from the 

 methods usually employed by timber com- 

 panies. It is significant of the advance of 

 the conservation movement. 



Another feature of the enterprise wil be 

 the complete utilization of all the sawdust 

 and other waste from the several mills that 

 are to be operated. 



The Philippine Forests 



The most striking element of weath in the 

 Philippine Islands is the forests. They cover 

 an area of 50,000,000 acres and of that area 

 40,000,000 acres are untouched and waiting 

 for the American capitalist. In other words, 

 the forests of the Philippines would more 

 than cover the entire New England states. 

 New York and Pennsylvania. Much of the 

 wood is of the most valuable kind. Owing 

 to the remote position of the Pacific island 

 possession and the difficulties and great cost 

 of bringing the woods to this country little 

 has been done, however. 



A Laudable Effort 



Forest Service men who are blinded or 

 otherwise disabled and the dependants of 

 men killed in fighting forest fires can ex- 

 pect no compensation from the government. 

 To remedy this condition Senator Dixon 

 (Rep., Mont.), is making a sturdy effort to 

 have the Forest Service employes included 

 in the law which awards compensation to 

 victims of hazardous government employ- 

 ment. The law proposes amendments in 

 behalf of employes of the Bureau of Mines 

 and the Forest Service. 



