Murals for Forestry Hall 67 



WOODS AND FORESTRY* 

 Mary Cynthia Dickerson, Curator 



There has been installed on a pedestal near the great red- 

 wood section in the Forestry Hall the bronze bust of Professor 

 Charles Sprague Sargent, who brought together the Jesup Col- 

 lection of North American Woods exhibited in the hall. The 

 bust was executed by Mr. C. S. Pietro. 



The quarter-size sketch prepared by Mr. Hobart Nichols for 

 a mural decoration at the east end of the hall has been accepted. 

 It shows a sunny woodland interior opening out into a 

 distant view of forested hills and mountains, at the 

 season when the first hint of autumn coloring tinges the land- 

 scape. It promises to put into the hall what will be, first, a 

 satisfaction to the love of the beautiful in us all; second, an 

 invitation to visit the enchantment of the original woodland and 

 country-side ; and, third, an exemplification of the greatest for- 

 estry principle, namely, that all steep slopes of the highlands of 

 our country should be kept forested in order that the flow of 

 streams may be equalized and floods and droughts minimized. 



The work of the artist, Mr. Milton D. Copulos, has added 

 very beautiful leaf, flower and fruit sprays to the hall. Among 

 the new sprays are the laurel oak {Quercus imbri- 

 caria), black jack oak {Quercus Marilandica), post 

 oak {Quercus minor), gray birch {Betula populifolia), Bilt- 

 more ash {Fraxinus Biltmoreana) , black maple {Acer nigrum), 

 and the large-leaved cucumber-tree {Magnolia macrophylla). 

 This last specimen, a spray with flower and leaves of record 

 size, is so monumental a piece of work that it will be exhibited 

 in a special case. 



The large hopes at the beginning of the year that progress 

 might be made in the alcove forestry exhibits, planned to show 

 reforestation, forest fires, etc., have come to little because of 

 the demands of war. Mr. Barrington Moore, Associate Cura- 



Under the Department of Woods and Forestry (see also page il 



