CHICO FORESTRY SUBSTATION, SACRAMENTO VALLEY. 329 



the station, it has been creditably maintained, and continues to furnish 

 new and valuable information respecting the forestry resources of 

 Northern California. 



The State Legislature in the winter of 1896-7, fully recognizing the 

 usefulness of the two forestry stations (one at Chico, the other at Santa 

 Monica, both under the charge of the University of California), made 

 an appropriation of $8,000 to carry on these stations for the two fiscal 

 years 1897-8 and 1898-9. This amount was based upon a very careful 

 Estimate made by the Agricultural Department of the University, 

 which itemized every proposed expenditure, and showed that with 

 $2,000 per annum for each of the two stations, they could be greatly 

 developed, upon extremely useful lines. The former appropriation of 

 $5,000, or $1,250 per annum for each of the two stations, was shown to 

 be inadequate to the full and proper growth of these important forestry 

 stations. This item was unexpectedly vetoed by the Governor. By 

 this veto, the Regents of the University were compelled to either seek 

 for some legal means for abandoning these two stations, or to make the 

 smallest possible appropriation necessary to keep them going until their 

 permanent status could be determined. The Agricultural Department 

 was, therefore, ordered to cut down all expenditures, and reduce the rank 

 -. I the stations. The appropriation made to sustain them both was $1,500 

 lor the fiscal year 1897-8. The appropriation for the fiscal year 1898-9 

 x* increased to $1,630. The appropriation for 1899-1900 was $1,230. 



To sum up this brief history: The two forestry stations, when receiving 

 $2,500 per annum from the State, were, in point of proportionate develop- 

 ment, not very far behind the four farm stations, on each of which the 

 University spends from $2,000 to $2,200 per annum (from the United 

 States Agricultural Experiment Station Fund). The appropriation 

 made by the Legislature of 1896-7 would have raised the forestry 

 stations to practically the same level as the farm stations, and so would 

 have greatly increased their permanent efficiency. 



The meager allowance for the station at Chico necessarily forced a 

 change in the method of managing the place. It was put under a 

 workman, instead of a foreman, and though always run economically, 

 a multitude of new, hard-time economies were put into practice. Mr. 

 A. B. Boland, long the active and efficient foreman here, was sent to 

 the Sierra Foothills substation for a short time, and was thence trans- 

 ferred to a vacancy at the Central Station. Mr. H. B. Allen, of Chico, 

 who had been for a year under Mr. Boland, was promoted in July, 1897, 

 to be "workman in charge," and was left, without assistance, to carry 

 on the station. 



A floor was laid in the wagonshed, and rooms made of rough mountain 

 lumber for Mr. Allen and his wife. They gradually improved the 

 surroundings of the building, and made a pleasant home out of this 

 frontier-like combination of barn, wagonshed, stable, and cottage. 



In July, 1897, Mr. Pennell resigned as Patron, being about to leave 

 Chico, and Mr. V. C. Richards, editor of the "Chico Record," was 

 appointed. He has taken much interest in the station, visiting it 

 often, helping and advising, so that its success under trying circum- 

 stances is largely due to his efficiency. 



The Lath House. A small lath-house, 12 feet by 40 feet, was built in 

 the spring of 1897, and has been extremely useful, enabling seedling 

 conifers to withstand the summer heat. It has been occupied ever since, 



