FORESTRY. 



475 



State how, where, when and how long, and what 

 method you pursued. 



Can you readily follow old blazed lines? 



Can you run a compass course readily and 

 safely? 



Have you practice in pacing distances? 



Have you ever run and blazed lines in the 

 woods? 



Have you ever mapped out a piece of woods? 



Have you ever marked out timber for cutting? 



Do you know our common forest trees? 



Have you had experience in farming? 



Have you ever handled men as boss, foreman 

 or employer? State where, when and under what 

 circumstances. 



Have you ever carried on a business of your 

 own? State what, where and when. 



Can you keep books or have you had experi- 

 ence as a clerk? State where and how it was 

 obtained. 



Can you pack a horse and travel on snow- 

 shoes? 



Have you had experience in camping? 



Can you handle a boat and canoe? 



Are you safe in finding your way in the 

 woods? 



Have you had experience in fighting forest 

 fires? State where and when gained. 



^Have you had experience in handling range 

 cattle, sheep and horses? State where and when 

 gained. 



Give the name and address of 3 persons 

 for whom you have worked and who could testify 

 to your capacity in service. 



. There are so far only about 100 positions 

 which are permanent through the year; the 

 number is increased to a maximum of about 

 400 during the summer months. 



The 6 superintendents and 2 inspec- 

 tors at present employed receive $2,000 a 

 year, while the variable number of rangers 

 receive variable salaries of $60 to $90 a 

 month. 



The force is entirely inadequate to do 

 much good. 



TRAILS. 



The value of a system of properly con- 

 structed trails in a country such as the 

 Adirondacks can not be over estimated. 

 They are the cheapest means of rendering 

 places accessible in mountainous districts.. 

 They are of great use in the control of 

 forest fires. In this respect' they are equal 

 if not, all things considered, superior to 

 fire lanes. A fire lane is easily neglected 

 and soon grows up in bushes. Fire lanes 

 produce a draft through the woods, and let 

 in the light so that weeds start and spread. 

 Fire lanes also consume much space. At 

 best a fire lane is only a point of vantage. 

 in case of fire and this a trail is also if 

 properly located. I do not, of course, refer 

 to railroad fire lanes, which are essential. 

 A trail should be so well cut that a horse 

 can follow it easily, on easy ground winding 

 around hills ; following water courses with 

 lines of least resistance. There is little 

 gained by going directly over a hill when 

 one can go around it. People fail to realize 

 that the bale of a bucket is as long in a 

 vertical as in a horizontal position. These 

 trails will in time become roads. Already 



they are followed by many telephone lines.. 

 The trail is a great labor saver. We need, 

 however, better trails; that is, trails which 

 have been laid out with some care and not 

 by guess, so that pack horses may be used. 



SEEDLINGS. 

 A kind of fertilizer which is being used 

 more and more is wood ashes. All wood 

 ashes should be saved and kept in a dry 

 place until needed for the lawn or garden. 

 A coating of ashes around an old tree will 

 often revive it to a surprising degree. These 

 ashes are collected from house to house in 

 Canada where hard wood is burnt and are 

 shipped to all parts of this country. They 

 lack, of course, nitrogen, but other mineral 

 necessities of the plant are there in the 

 proper proportions. Wood ashes are Na- 

 ture's own formula. They contain no weed 

 seeds and have no disagreeable qualities. If 

 it is not unpractical to compost the leaves 

 which are falling so abundantly at this time 

 of the year it would pay farmers to have a 

 special place with a hard floor for the burn- 

 ing of leaves and brush so that the ashes 

 might be saved. 



A most interesting and valuable publica- 

 tion entitled "A History of the Lumber In- 

 dustry in the State of New York," by Col. 

 Wm. F. Fox, has recently appeared. It 

 is bulletin 34 of«the Bureau of Forestry, 

 Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. 

 C. Every person interested in the develop- 

 ment of the State of New York should own 

 a copy. A valuable feature of this publica- 

 tion 13 a map showing the progress of set- 

 tlement in the State. 



A magnificent report has just been issued 

 by our government, relating to the proposed 

 Appalachian park. Although reservations 

 are being frequently set aside in our West- 

 ern country the actual purchase of this vast 

 territory in our Southern mountains will 

 be an epoch-making event in the history of 

 forestry in this country. 



The forestry commission of Michigan is 

 exerting itself to accomplish something 

 definite in forestry in the near future. Both 

 the University of Michigan and the Michi- 

 gan Agricultural college have chairs of for- 

 estry and offer several courses in the sub- 

 ject. 



Mr. Gifford Pinchot, chief of the Bu- 

 reau of Forestry, is now visiting the Phil- 

 ippines on a forestry inspection tour, at the 

 request of President Roosevelt. 



The students of the forestry college of 

 Cornell university are preparing a journal 

 called Forestry Quarterly, which will soon 

 make its appearance. 





