BUREAU OF FOEESTKY. 117 



tract of 72,000 acres, the property of E. P. Burton & Co., situated in 

 Berkeley County, S. C. The principal species are Loblolly and Long- 

 leaf Pine. Ease of lumbering and transportation and excellent repro- 

 duction render this tract one of the most promising with which the 

 Bureau has yet had to deal. 



A third tract for which an examination was made, a working plan 

 advised, and its preparation approved by the owners, is that of the 

 Linville Improvement Company, in Mitchell, Caldwell, and Watauga 

 counties, N. C. It has an area of 16,000 acres. The forest is com- 

 posed chiefly of broadleaf species, among which Yellow Poplar, Yel- 

 low Birch, and the oaks are the most important. It presents an 

 interesting silvicultural problem in addition to conditions exceedingly 

 favorable to conservative management upon a sound financial basis. 



A smaller but not less promising tract which has lieen examined, 

 and for which a working plan is now being made, lies on the west side 

 of the Susquehanna River, LS miles above Ilarrisburg, Pa., and has 

 an area of 2,300 acres. Tlie owner wishes to hold it as a permanent 

 investment and to manage it with this end in view. With the excep- 

 tion of about 200 acres the forest is composed entirely of sprout 

 growth of Chestnut, Rock Oak, White Oak, and Hickory, together 

 with excellent Scrub, White, Shortleaf , and Jack Pine. A strong 

 market exists for all kinds of forest produce, and transportation facili- 

 ties are good. 



PUBLIC LANDS. 



The preparation of working plans for the National forest reserves 

 is one of the urgent pieces of work before the Bureau. It has arisen 

 from the request upon the Secretary of Agriculture from the Secretary 

 of the Interior for advice as to the best management of the reserves, 

 which now comprise a total area of 58,850,925 acres. The study on 

 the ground necessary to a working plan was carried on during the 

 past year in the Prescott Forest Reserve, Arizona, which contains 

 423,680 acres, the Priest River Forest Reserve, in Idaho, with an area 

 of 645,120 acres, and the Big Horn Forest Reserve, in Montana, which 

 includes 1,216,900 acres. The field work in the Prescott Reserve 

 occupied a party of 11 men for three months. Measurements of the 

 stand were taken upon 1,648 acres, and 1,840 measurements were 

 made of volume and rate of growth ; the Bull Pine was carefully 

 studied, particularly with reference to the eifect of the present meth- 

 ods of lumbering upon the reproduction of the tree, and the data were 

 obtained for a comprehensive plan for the best management of the 

 reserve with due regard to its value in the production of timber and 

 in maintaining the water supply. The field work carried on in the 

 Big Horn Reserve occupied a party of 7 men a period of four months. 

 The stand was measured on 820 acres, and 1,299 measurements made 

 upon felled trees. In the Priest River Reserve a party of 6 men were 

 at work for three months. The stand was measured upon 879 acres, 

 and 720 measurements of volume and rate of growth were made. 



A thorough preliminary examination preparatory to a working plan 

 is now being made of the San Francisco Mountains Forest Reserve, 

 in Arizona. 



The field work necessary to a working plan for townships 5, 6, and 

 41, Hamilton County, N. Y., in the Adirondack Forest Reserve, was 

 begun and completed during the past fiscal year. It became possible 

 through an appropriation of $3,500 by the New York legislature to 



