SANTA MONICA FORESTRY SUBSTATION HISTORY. 89 



SANTA MONICA FORESTRY SUBSTATION. 



(Near the mouth of Santa Monica Canon, two miles west of Santa Monica.) 



This forestry substation was established in the winter of 1887-8 by 

 the State Board of Forestry, and was transferred by the State to the 

 University of California, July 1, 1893. The forestry plantation of 29 

 acres near Chico came under the control of the University in the same 

 way. The State Board of Forestry was abolished by the same Act 

 which made the transfer. 



For the first two years the sum of $2,000 per annum was granted by 

 the State for forestry purposes, and this was raised to $2,500 per 

 annum in 1895-6, but all direct State aid ceased at the close of 1896-7, 

 since which time the University has made small annual appropriations, 

 at no time equal to those formerly made by the State. The progress of 

 the substation has therefore been slow, as lack of means prevents many 

 needed improvements. The policy has been to spend the larger share 

 of the appropriation at Santa Monica, and to keep a foreman there. 



While the Santa Monica substation is in some respects the most 

 attractive of all the substations, as it possesses a practically frostless 

 climate, it is better suited for a botanical garden than for pure forestry, 

 for which, indeed, the area is too limited. It affords an excellent loca- 

 tion for tests, on a small scale, of acacias, eucalypts, pines, and a few 

 other classes of trees, and now that the water-supply is ample, its unique 

 value, possessed by few places in the United States, lies in the direction 

 of a botanic garden, in which a great variety of plants from all parts of 

 the world could be grown. 



Changes and Improvements. The substation has had four foremen 

 since 1893 Mr. W. J. Strachan, Mr. John H. Barber, Mr. Charles A. 

 Colmore, and Mr. William Shutt. The latter took charge on September 

 1, 1900. Mr. Roy Jones, son of Senator J. P. Jones of Nevada, continues 

 to serve as Patron. 



The most important improvement since the issuance of the report of 

 1*897-8 consists of an unexpected development of the water-supply, made 

 by Mr. Shutt, as foreman, in the winter of 1900-1901. The daily flow 

 from the new springs, cut by drifting farther into the bank, is about 

 16,000 gallons, and this enables more land to be irrigated on the lower 

 flat. The hydraulic ram is again used to lift water to the house, and 

 the windmill is no longer needed, except when repairs are being made 

 to the other systems. 



Some desirable changes in the roads and grades have been lately 

 made, and about three acres of brush-covered land has been cleared. A 

 good deal of this has been planted with acacias and eucalypts. This is 

 excellent soil, although so steep as to be unfit for anything but trees. 



