Febbuaet 11, 1910] 



SCIENCE ■ 



217 



1896-1900, or something more than one fifth 

 the corresponding exports of corn or of wheat, 

 including flour. Exports of packing-house 

 products, a third leading group, have in- 

 creased much more rapidly in the last half 

 century than cotton or cereals. The average 

 value of packing-house products exported in 

 1851-5 was 10 million dollars a year, and in 

 1901-5 it was 183 million dollars, while in 

 1908 the value was 196 million dollars. 



A STATEMENT received at the Department 

 of Agriculture from the Forest Service office 

 at Portland, Oregon, shows that the timber 

 sales on national forests in the Pacific north- 

 west is increasing rapidly. This increase is 

 regarded as an index of the revival of business 

 in the lumber industry generally, and shows 

 also the growing use of national forest re- 

 sources by the public. The contrast between 

 the amount and value of timber sold during 

 the last six months of 1909 and that sold dur- 

 ing the corresponding period in 1908 is 

 marked. The figures are for most of the 

 national forests in Oregon and Washington, 

 and show timber sales of over 53 million feet, 

 for nearly $114,000, during the last six months 

 of 1909. This compares with sales of about 

 lY million feet, for a total of $2Y,000, during 

 the same period in 1908. The prospects for 

 the coming six months are regarded as prom- 

 ising even better than what has been realized 

 in the period just past. This increasing tim- 

 ber sale opens the way to management of the 

 national forests along the best lines by per- 

 mitting the removal of over-mature and de- 

 cadent timber which has practically come to a 

 standstill in point of growth, and allowing 

 replacement of these trees with a fully stocked 

 stand of rapidly growing young trees. 



The topographic survey of the Mount Baker 

 quadrangle, in the state of Washington, was 

 completed last fall by members of the United 

 States Geological Survey and the resulting 

 map is being prepared for engraving. The 

 party that made this survey was under the 

 direction of J. E. Blackburn and in the course 

 of the work Mr. Blackburn, with E. H. Jones, 

 T. L. Duncan and C. V. Guerin, climbed 



Mount Baker, from whose slopes and summit 

 observations were made and mapping was 

 done. The whole mountain is an almost un- 

 broken glacier, only narrow rocky dikes pro- 

 truding here and there through the vast ice 

 mass. This glacial ice, constantly augmented 

 by snowfall, accumulates in a number of huge 

 gorges, forming glaciers that move down the 

 mountain's sides for several miles before melt- 

 ing. Thus the ends or lower boundaries of the 

 glaciers are about 3,700 feet above sea level, 

 whereas the altitude of the dome of Mount 

 Baker is 10,745 feet. The climb to this sum- 

 mit was made in four hours by the topographic 

 party from its last camp, which was pitched 

 at an elevation of 5,200 feet. Mount Baker 

 was long ago one of the active volcanoes of 

 the Cascade Range, and the steam issuing 

 from the sulphur-lipped vents of its crater to- 

 day show that its internal fires are not yet 

 entirely dead. The crater is about 1,000 feet 

 below the main dome of the mountain. The- 

 summit is a table having an area of about 

 sixty acres. Besides Mount Baker, this quad- 

 rangle contains many other majestic moun- 

 tains. Notable among them is Mount Shuk- 

 san which rises abruptly from the canyon of 

 the North Nooksak and terminates in a spire 

 9,038 feet above the sea. This mountain, al- 

 though only a few miles distant from Mount 

 Baker, is isolated, and its peculiar structure 

 causes difficulties in making an ascent. Be- 

 sides these two conspicuous mountains, other 

 peaks along the summit of the Cascade, on 

 the eastern edge of this quadrangle, rise to 

 elevations above 6,000 feet, and, when seen 

 from a distance, the panorama of the Cascade 

 Range presents many views of extreme beauty 

 and rugged grandeur. The mountains in this 

 region are snow-capped throughout the sum- 

 mer, and the snows of the early fall and winter 

 form reservoirs that feed Skagit River, which 

 is probably the largest stream in northwestern 

 Washington. Last December several days of 

 rain and snow followed by ehinook winds pro- 

 duced a flood in the Skagit that submerged the 

 plains in its delta region and caused damage 

 amounting to more than a million dollars. 



