494 



Canadian Forestry Journal, April, ipi6. 



proper use of these extensive peat 

 bogs is one that should early occupy 

 the attention both of the Forestry 

 Branch and the Agricultural De- 

 partment, for there is hidden in 

 them a great resource that it has so 

 far not been given to us to fully 

 realize. 



Fallen Timber Problem. 

 In the Rocky Mountain Reserves 

 fires have killed large areas of ma- 

 ture growth, and as a result there 

 are thousands of acres of windfalls 

 covering the ground with a labyrin- 

 thian maze of down trees, which 

 make the areas almost inaccessible 

 and unmanageable for cropping. 

 What can be done with this unfor- 

 tunate condition? After some time 

 this material rots, disintegrates and 

 becomes a part of the soil, but in 

 the alpine climate this process takes 

 a long time. 



Meanwhile, these areas form also 

 dangerous fire traps. 



Here again, the Forest Products 

 Laboratories may be able to work 

 out a solution, devising means of 

 utilizing such material. 



Altogether, the problem of finding 

 use for minor wood materials is one 

 that would often make it economi- 

 cally possible to solve the silvicul- 

 tural problems. 



There are, then, a host of prob- 

 lems which it takes time to solve. 

 Their solution should be attempted 

 at an early date. This is possible 

 by experiment on a small scale be- 

 fore the necessity of solving them 

 on a large scale arrives. But it 

 should be realized that the answers 

 to these inquiries by experiment 

 come as slow almost as the crop it- 

 self for which they are made. 



Therefore, the time to inaugurate 

 them is now. Fortunately, the ex- 

 periments outside of requiring care- 

 ful and judicious planning can be 

 made with very small expense, and 

 considerations of economy, due to 

 the exigencies of the war, need, per- 

 haps, not delay them. 



"HARM ME NOT!" 



Following is an interesting pla- 

 card which, says the British Journal 

 of Forestry, is a copy of that affixed 

 to the trees in Spanish forests most 

 frequented by the people. The 

 translation is as follows : 



"To the Wayfarer,— 



Ye who pass by and would raise 

 your hands against me, hearken ere 

 you harm me. 



I am the heat of your hearth on 

 cold winter nights, the friendly 

 shade screening you from the mid- 

 summer sun, and my fruits are re- 

 freshing draughts quenching your 

 thirst as you journey on. 



I am the beam that holds your 

 house, the board of your table, the 

 bed in which you lie, and the timber 

 that builds your boat. 



I am the handle of your hoe, the 

 door of your homestead, the wood 

 of your cradle, and the shell of your 

 coffin. 



I am the bread of kindness and 

 the flower of beauty. 



Ye who pass by, hear my prayer : 

 harm me not." 



Tree on Tree 



A singular tree in Cuba is called 

 the yaguey-tree. It begins to grow 

 at the top of another tree. The seed 

 is carried by a bird, or wafted by 

 the wind, and, falling into some 

 moist, branching part, takes root 

 and speedily begins to grow. It 

 sends a kind of thin, stringlike root 

 down the body of the tree, which is 

 soon followed by others. In course 

 of time these roofings strike the 

 ground, and growth immediately 

 commences upwards. New roof- 

 ings continue ,to be formed and get 

 strength until the one tree grows as 

 a net round the other. The outside 

 one surrounds and presses the inner, 

 strangling its life and augmenting 

 its own power. At length the tree 

 within is killed, and the parasite 

 that has taken possession becomes 

 itself the tree. 



