Lumber Business of the Government 



533 



protected. Speculation in reserve timber 

 is made impossible by the provision that 

 the timber must be removed within a 

 specified time, and that when a contract 

 extends over several years a proportion- 

 ate amount of timber must be removed 

 each year. Five years is the extreme 

 limit of a sales contract. 



That these restrictions are not onerous 

 is shown by the numerous sales made 

 under them. A single sale of 50,000,000 

 feet of lodgepole pine for railroad ties is 

 pending on the Montana Division of the 

 Yellowstone Forest Reserve. It is esti- 

 mated that 165,000,000 feet B. M. of 

 lodgepole pine can be taken from one 

 watershed in the Medicine Bow Forest 

 Reserve, still leaving a large percentage 

 for future crops. Much timber is sold 

 in small lots ; fifty applications for such 

 sales are made to each single application 

 for 1,000,000 board feet or more; the 

 prompt, businesslike consideration ac- 

 corded such applications standing in 

 marked contrast with the slow methods 

 once prevailing, when all applications had 

 to be made through Washington. 



FORESTS AS REVENUE 



During the year 1905 the sales of tim- 

 ber from the national reserves were as 

 follows : 



The largest sales so far made are 

 71,466,537 board feet from South Da- 

 kota, 68,255,916 from Wyoming, and 

 5,327,443 from Utah. 



In sales of wood for fuel South Dakota 

 led with 29,84454 cords, Arizona fol- 

 lowed with 16,649, an d Colorado with 

 10,7953^. The total number of cords 

 sold was 74,120. 



In sales of posts and poles Montana 

 led with 119,500, followed by Wyoming 

 with 30,750, and Colorado with 13,988. 

 The total number sold was 188,740. 



The largest timber sales were made in 

 Wyoming, where they reached $143,- 

 894.81. South Dakota's sales ranked 

 second in value, amounting to $78,958.24, 

 and Colorado's to $23,937.07. The total 

 sales for 1905 reached $273,659.82. 



Xor are the receipts from these sales 



swallowed up by the cost of administra- 

 tion. The entire property of the forest 

 reserves, worth $250,000,000 in cash, is 

 now being administered at a cost of less 

 than one-third of 1 per cent of its value, 

 while increase in that value of not less 

 than 10 per cent a year is taking place. 

 As the use of the reserves increases, the 

 cost of administration must, of course, 

 increase also, but receipts will certainly 

 increase much more rapidly. The time 

 is not far distant when the forest reserves 

 will become self-sustaining. Later they 

 may confidently be expected to become 

 a source of public revenue. 



A POLAR MAP ~~ \ 



AMONG the features of early num- 

 bers of the National Geographic 

 Magazine are a six-colored map of the 

 regions around the North Pole, 30 x 36 

 inches, and an illustrated resume of the 

 United States Eclipse Expedition of 1905, 

 by Rear Admiral Colby M. Chester, U. S. 

 N., with a picture of the corona in four 

 colors. 



GEOGRAPHIC LITERATURE 



Elements of Geology. By Prof. William 

 Harmon Norton. Pp. 461. Many il- 

 lustrations and maps. $ l / 2 by 8 inches. 

 New York: Ginn & Co. 1905. 

 Professor Norton has summarized in a 

 compact form the principal facts of ge- 

 ology. The book is well illustrated and 

 the style comparatively simple, so that the 

 volume will prove eminently useful to 

 those who want a condensed work on 

 geological science. 



Italy. By W. Deecke. Translated by 



H. A. Nesbitt. Pp. 485. Illustrated. 



10 by 7 inches. New York: MacMil- 



lan Co. 1905. 



Professor Deecke gives us a studious 

 account of the country, people, and insti- 

 tutions of Italy, including Malta and 

 Sardinia. The translator has done his 

 work well and the book can be recom- 

 mended to those who are seeking a com- 

 prehensive description of the Italian Pe- 

 ninsula. 



