267 



Thousands of acres of valuable timber land were destroyed 

 by a forest fire in November in the region near Harper's Ferry. 

 The states affected were Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. 



Burned areas, the " natural " desert, and flooded districts have 

 all been the subject of government investigation and experimen- 

 tation ; this year Pikes Peak adds another regional type to the 

 list covered in experimenal forestry. 



The reforestation of burned lands is being studied by the 

 United States Forest Service in the Olympic National Forest in 

 Washington. This forest — the scene of three severe fires — is 

 one of those in which the burned area is so large that actual seed 

 planting is necessary. Douglass fir {Psetidotsiiga Douglasii Carr.), 

 a tree common elsewhere in the state, has been selected for the test. 



Pennsylvania, through the influence of the American Civic 

 Association, has passed an act permitting the cities of the state 

 to establish municipal forests. In many instances, cities may 

 thus conserve and protect the water supply, promote the well- 

 being of the citizens, and increase the municipal revenues. The 

 cities, by the nev/ law, are required to secure the approval of the 

 State Commissioner of Forestry before buying the land ; and the 

 commissioner is required to make rules for the administration of 

 such preserves. 



K. F. Kellerman and T. R. Robinson (Bureau of Plant Indus- 

 try) have recently conducted some experiments with nitrifying 

 bacteria in North Carolina soils, which lead them to state that 

 '' nitrification, nodule formation upon certain species of legumes, 

 and the litmus reaction are correlated." The results obtained, 

 however, sustain the point (previously noted in Torreya in the 

 abstract of similar work by Stevens and Withers) that nitrifica- 

 tion is at a rather low ebb in North Carolina soils ; yet nitrifying 

 bacteria are generally present, and if supplied with suitable food 

 would undoubtedly soon multiply sufficiently to cause a normal 

 rate of nitrification. 



