FORESTRY. 



319 



ping at a little hotel in Rothenbuch, in the 

 Spessart, in Germany, I was awakened 

 very early in the morning by peculiar 

 noises in the streets. They were due to 

 hundreds of swine which were being driven 

 by the swineherds into the forest to feed 

 on the mast. 



The Italian farmer practises a peculiar 

 combination of agriculture and arboricul- 

 ture. His fields are divided into narrow 

 strips by rows of trees and vines. These 

 strips he sows in grain, while the trees 

 yield him fuel wood, olives, nuts, leaves 

 for silk worms and leaves for fodder for 

 his donkeys; and when they become so 

 large that they interfere too much with his 

 crops between the rows he digs them and 

 and saws them into boards by hand. His 

 field yields a great variety of materials, 

 and, although there are few forests, the 

 country is covered with orchard trees in 

 the agricultural districts. 



The Italian knows well the value of the 

 chestnut. From it he makes bread, be- 

 sides other delicious forms of food. Chest- 

 nuts are shipped from Italy in immense 

 quantities to all parts of Europe. Besides 

 yielding an excellent food material, which, 

 if properly prepared, is equal to any of our 

 vegetables, the wood of the chestnut is 

 much more valuable than we have hereto- 

 fore supposed. A few years ago it was 

 extensively and almost exclusively used 

 for fence posts and rails. Farmers spent 

 most of their winters working out chest- 

 nut fence materials. To-day it is consid- 

 ered one of our finest woods for interior 

 finish, furniture, etc. It is quite as beau- 

 tiful as oak, but lighter and easier to work. 

 It grows rapidly, produces a rank, healthy 

 coppice, and is easily propagated. It 

 would be difficult to find another tree with 

 so many virtues. 



Another excellent nut tree, which is 

 quite equal to the chestnut in many re- 

 spects, although slower in its develop- 

 ment, is the black walnut. An excellent 

 place for this tree and the shellbark hick- 

 ory is in pastures on river bottoms. Here 

 they furnish shade to the cattle and horses 

 and yield excellent nuts, which, if of good 

 quality, may be always sold to good ad- 

 vantage. 



Many Eastern persons in California, 

 where almonds and English walnuts grow, 

 send to the Eastern States for black waK 

 nuts arid shellbarks. The wood of both of 

 these trees is excellent in quality. They 

 are easily propagated and grow in good 

 soil much faster than most people think. 

 The seeds of these nuts should be kept 

 mixed with earth throughout the winter, 

 so they will not dry out. They may be 

 planted in a well-drained place in the fall, 

 provided there are no squirrels to molest 

 them. 



It is interesting to note how the pecan 

 industry of our South has grown. Many 

 pecan trees have, of course, been planted, 

 but still a large part of the crop comes 

 from the natural growth in Texas and 

 Louisiana. 



I am convinced that it is much better to 

 encourage the propagation of such trees 

 as the chestnut, walnut, tulip tree, sugar 

 maple, etc., on farms throughout the East- 

 ern United States than conifers. They 

 suffer less from the effects of injurious 

 insects and fire, are better suited to 

 the needs of the ordinary farmer and exert 

 a much better influence on the soil. 



WASHINGTON'S NEED OF FORESTRY. 



Your forestry department is a good one. 

 We in the West, who have viewed with 

 alarm the wanton destruction of the tim- 

 ber all about us, appreciate this depart- 

 ment highly. 



The destruction of the forests in Wash- 

 ington is a disgrace to the people of the 

 State. With their usual apathy they let 

 the waste go on unheeded, unchecked, and 

 scoff at the idea of the total destruction 

 of the timber. Many do not realize the 

 situation. Others know and don't care, 

 being satisfied if the coal, the timber, the 

 game and the fish last during their life- 

 time. In the land of the cork, gum and 

 cinchona trees the people and government 

 fully realize the priceless value of their 

 forests, and carefully protect them. With 

 us it is different; the tree is destroyed and 

 no one dreams of replacing it. The world, 

 at a pinch, could do without the products 

 of Southern forests. We could stopper 

 our jugs with corncobs, live without tutti- 

 frutti, and take the faith cure, instead of 

 quinine, for our malaria; but what possi- 

 ble substitutes could be found for fir, cedar 

 and pine? Yet here we are, burning, blast- 

 ing and dest oying our trees, with no 

 thought for the morrow. 



The forest on the lowlands and valleys 

 could be replaced; but a start has not been 

 made yet, and it takes hundreds of years to 

 mature pine, fir or cedar. 



On the mountains it is different. The 

 forest once destroyed can not be replaced. 

 The conditions required for the formation 

 of soil are not present. Then, with the 

 disappearance of the forest, the climate 

 changes, the precipitation of moisture from 

 the clouds is checked, the streams run 

 dry, and in place of a fertile, wealthy land 

 the sand dune and the desert will appear. 



Agitation will do much with our law- 

 makers; they will respond to public sen- 

 timent. Therefore, let each sportsman and 

 patriot become an agitator for the preser- 

 vation of our forests and game. 



J. C. Nattrass, New Whatcom, Wash. 



