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RECRKA TIOX. 



heavy forests, where no grass grew before, 

 the range will be no better after than be- 

 fore a fire. The ground will simply be 

 covered with an ash deposit, bearing little 

 vegetation. All who have gone through 

 such a place — among great piles of logs — 

 will agree that fire is, on the whole, a 

 detriment to good mountain travel, except 

 where the heat has been so fierce as to 

 sweep away everything. 



There are many arguments against the 

 ruthless destruction of our forests, but it 

 is not necessary to repeat them here. 

 Taken all in all, any slight individual ben- 

 efits that may arise from the setting out of 

 fires are as nothing compared to the awful 

 desolation that will follow the annihilation. 



What is to be done to stop this whole- 

 sale ruin? It is a fit subject for future 

 study and investigation. We must have 

 more stringent laws and rigid enforce- 

 ment. Let all who feel that we owe any 

 duty to the future take up the fight and 

 push it vigorously. Unless something is 

 done the coming generations will turn to 

 history and read with wonder and regret 

 of the forests that have been. 



agement of woodlands will be cheerfully 

 answered, if possible, by the editor of this 

 department. 



GAME AND THE FOREST. 



The preservation of game and the per- 

 petuation of the forest go hand in hand. 

 Many birds and mammals are dependent 

 on the forests for food and shelter, and 

 on the other hand forests are formed from 

 the seeds which are often carried from 

 place to place by animals. As the protector 

 and source of food to game the forest de- 

 serves more care from sportsmen than it 

 has ever yet received in this country. 

 Hunters are often guilty of negligence 

 which causes fires in the woods, thereby 

 destroying the game which gives them 

 pleasure. More game is destroyed by fire 

 than is killed by hunters. Fire not only 

 kills the animals of the woods and burns 

 the nest of birds, but at the same fime robs 

 them of their food supply. 



One can wander many miles in this 

 country over burned areas without seeing 

 a single thing except perhaps insects. On 

 all sides there is nothing but a sea of 

 snakes, rabbits, foxes and other animals, 

 friends and enemies alike, chased by the 

 heat and smoke of a forest fire. The work 

 of the game warden and fire warden should 

 be combined. 



The Indian of our West burns the under- 

 brush to facilitate hunting. This may help 

 for a time, but soon ruins all sport, and 

 brings both game and food supply to a fatal 

 termination. Game laws are practically 

 useless while fires are allowed to burn. 

 The forestry movement in this country 

 should be able to count the hunters among 

 its staunchest supporters. 



Any questions in reference to the man- 



BOTANIC GARDEN NEEDED. 

 The American government should not 

 fail to establish, somewhere in the tropical 

 islands to the South of us, a botanic garden 

 and laboratory where Northern students 

 may go for a time to study the peculiar 

 conditions which exist there. The Dutch 

 have such a place at Buitenzorg in Java, 

 which has been visited by the majority of 

 famous botanists in Europe. In the Island 

 of Jamaica there are beautiful gardens and 

 large plantations of cinchona and eucalyp- 

 tus trees. From the bark of the former 

 quinine is manufactured, while the other 

 yields a valuable medicinal oil and at the 

 same time reduces the chances of malaria 

 by drying the ground which is penetrated 

 by its roots. The Isle of Pines would be 

 a splendid location for such an institution, 

 owing to the healthfulness of its climate, 

 richness of flora, accessibility to the United 

 States and nearness to the famous sea- 

 gardens which teem with interesting forms 

 of marine life. 



SOME PECULIAR WORD DERIVATIONS. 

 The word "book" comes from the old 

 Germanic word for 'beech," because the 

 Anglo-Saxons and Germans wrote on 

 beechen boards before paper was manu- 

 factured. The word "library" comes from 

 the Latin "liber," the bark of a tree. The 

 word "lumber," it is said, comes from the 

 word "Lombard," because the Lombards 

 were the first pawnbrokers, and lumber 

 originally meant rubbish of any kind. The 

 Spanish word for forest is "monte," the 

 same as mountain, while the Italian word 

 "forestiere" means a stranger or a man 1 

 from a land of woods. The French and: 

 Italian words for woods are "bois" and: 

 "bosco," which come, no doubt, from the 

 old Germanic word "bush." The Dutch 

 for forest is "bosch," the same as bush, and 

 no doubt the term "sugar-bush" for a 

 forest of sugar maple trees is a relic of the 

 earlv Dutch in America. 



The red cedar, the most widely distrib- 

 uted tree of North America, is dissemi- 

 nated by birds — especially robins — which 

 are passionately fond of its aromatic ber- 

 ries. The seed, which is hard, passes 

 through their bodies uninjured, and is 

 dropped here and there over the country. 

 This cedar is one of our hardiest forest 

 trees, and is generally a pioneer in old 

 fields which have been exhausted of their 

 fertility after years of cultivation. It grows 

 in the wet swamps of Florida, in the shift- 

 ing sands of the Jersey coast, and on the 

 rocky mountain sides of the West and 

 North. 



