American Forestry Association 



355 



THE JACK PINE PLAINS OF MICHIGAN 

 BY PROF. FILIBERT ROTH, 



GENERAL LAND OFFICE 



Professor Roth's paper was an inter- 

 esting discussion of the important func- 

 tion of the jack pine in covering up and 

 restoring the waste lands and sand plains 

 of the Lake States area. He described 

 the barrenness and desolation of much 

 of the land found to be too poor for agri- 

 culture and abandoned by the farmer, 

 who waits for the forest to heal up the 

 manj' scars he has inflicted on the land. 

 ' ' Fortunately for the Lake States, ' ' said 

 Professor Roth, "there is a climate and 

 there is a tree which make this possible 

 and which in time will heal and cover 

 up the dreariest sands. This tree is the 



pretty jack pine, that frugal scrub 

 among the stately race of northern ever- 

 greens. A fertile seeder, with long, 

 closed, resistent cones, a rapid grower, 

 with abundance of crown and foliage, 

 this tree spreads over these barren lands, 

 whether abandoned by other forest trees, 

 ruined by fire, or left to waste by the 

 farmer. ' ' The peculiarities of the spe- 

 cies were described and its usefulness 

 shown in furnishing- a substitute for 

 Norway and white pine, while preparing 

 the way for the return of better species, 

 securing the land against impoverish- 

 ment, and protecting it when reclaimed. 



THE CHIPPEWA FOREST RESERVATION IN MINNESOTA 

 BY HERMAN H. CHAPMAN, 



SUPERINTENDENT STATE EXPERIMENT FARM, GRAND RAPIDS, MINNESOTA 



Mr Chapman outlined the forest con- ' 

 ditions existing in Minnesota which led 

 to the recent action of Congress in es- 

 tablishing the Chippewa Forest Reserve. 

 One-third of the State of Minnesota is 

 pine land, which has been cut over. A 

 great portion of it is unfit for farming, 

 and the problem for determination is, 

 What shall be done with it ? The diffi- 

 culties in the way of forest reproduction 

 on lands long cut over and abandoned 

 to fires and brush were set forth. Mr 

 Chapman held that practical steps 

 should be taken at the time of cutting 



the pine. Reforesting should be directed 

 either by state or national authority, and 

 in Minnesota the best opportunity lay in 

 the direction of national control. The 

 recent bill provides for a forest reserve 

 of 200,000 acres, to be under the con- 

 trol of the Chief of the Bureau of For- 

 estry in the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, who shall regulate the 

 cutting of the timber, save seed trees, 

 and protect from fire. Mr Chapman ex- 

 pressed the belief that under wise admin- 

 istration of this measure the pine may 

 be perpetually renewed on this tract. 



THE CLIMATE OF THE WHITE PINE BELT 

 BY PROF. ALFRED J. HENRY, 



U. S. WEATHER BUREAU 



"The Climate of the White Pine D. C. Professor Henry pointed out 



Belt " was the subject of a paper by that the white pine reaches its greatest 



Prof. Alfred J. Henry, of the United development in that part of the United 



States Weather Bureau, Washington, States which is also the great highway 



