388 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 39. 



trees are being set by the roadside and the 

 State has enacted legislation protecting 

 such trees. Spikes having the letter ' C ' 

 in the head are to be provided, and when 

 driven into one of the roadside or shade 

 trees this spike must not be removed even 

 bj^ the owner, and any destruction or injury 

 to the tree is punishable by heavy penalty. 

 The drought of the past year has destroyed 

 many trees, especially the chestnut, result- 

 ing in widespread injury to woodlands. 



Dr. B. G. Northrop, of Clinton, Connecti- 

 cut, described the interest shown in Arbor 

 Day in the Hawaiian Islands and in Japan, 

 at the time of his visit to those countries. 

 In Japan the Emperor's birthday has been 

 designated as Arbor Day, memorial trees 

 being planted in his honor. Great enthusi- 

 asm was expressed and interest shown in 

 the reclamation of sea coast and the plant- 

 ing of the sand dunes. 



A letter from the Hon. J. Sterling Mor- 

 ton, President of the Association, was read. 

 This called attention to the necessity of 

 urging upon the State legislation compelling 

 the proper care of waste from timber cut- 

 ting in order to prevent forest fires. Mr. 

 Morton also wrote of the necessity of bring- 

 ing about cooperation between the United 

 States Geological Survey and the Forestry 

 Division of the Agricultural Department, in 

 order that during the preparation of the topo- 

 graphic map the forest areas might be prop- 

 erlj^ represented. He showed that by slight 

 additional expense it would be possible for 

 an expert to classify the woodlands while 

 the map was being made, and obtain the 

 material for a report upon the condition and 

 value of the forests, and the steps to be 

 taken for the proper protection or treatment 

 of these resources. By this means the com- 

 pleted map would show not only the alti- 

 tude and slopes of the country, the roads, 

 trails and improvements, but also the char- 

 acter and extent of the timber. 



Mr. F. H. Newell, Secretary of the Asso- 



ciation, spoke of the progress of the great 

 map of the United States now being pre- 

 pared by the United States Geological Sur- 

 vey, and described the methods of repre- 

 senting wooded areas, dwelling upon the 

 benefits which would follow the more accu- 

 rate designation of timber lands. By suita- 

 ble cooperation of the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment, it might be possible to concentrate 

 efforts upon the areas covered by the na- 

 tional forest reservations and complete the 

 mapping and description of these within a 

 few years. Eemarks were made by Messrs. 

 Talbot, Moses, Elwyn, Pinchot, Smock and 

 others, showing the inaccuracy of the pres- 

 ent information concerning the forests and 

 the difficulties of obtaining exact facts 

 through local ofl&cials. 



Mr. George T. Powell, of Ghent, New 

 York, spoke upon the benefit to the farmers 

 of the preservation of forest areas. He 

 stated that too many unproductive acres 

 were now cultivated, and that in the East- 

 ern States often the cost of production ex- 

 ceeded the value received. By tdling a 

 smaller number of acres with greater care, 

 and devoting the poorer lands to the growth 

 of timber far larger results might be ob- 

 tained. 



At this point Mr. Appleton resigned the 

 chair to Hon. Warren Higley, Vice-Presi- 

 dent for New York. A discussion was en- 

 tered into as to the necessity and value to 

 this Association of a fores trj^ joui-nal. 

 This was participated in by Messrs. Fernow, 

 Newell, Talbot, Ward and Pinchot, the 

 general opinion being that such a journal 

 was highly desirable, pi-ovided the editorial 

 and business management could be under- 

 taken by any competent person. On mo- 

 tion of Dr. G. B. Northrop the matter was 

 referred to the Executive Committee, with 

 power to act. 



Mr. B. E. Fernow, Chief of the Forestry 

 Division, at the beginning of the afternoon 

 session made a statement as to the progress 



