394 



RECREATION. 



reservations of the city of Boston, the 

 aftergrowth consists largely of coppice 

 sprouts from the stumps of older trees. 

 Such material makes neither good trees 

 for use nor for beauty. Especially when 

 the stocks are injured by fire, as they 

 generally are, they are rotten at the base 

 and as they grow up they are liable to 

 become unsightly and fall a prey to storms, 

 rot and insects. Here the landscape gar- 

 dener's and the forester's interest and 

 point of view arc the same; healthy grow- 

 ing trees subserve both the aesthetic and the 

 economic needs. To the forester, they 

 promise a valuable harvest, to the land- 

 scape gardener, persistence and symmetri- 

 cal development. 



The Federal Bureau of Forestry has is- 

 sued a "Working Plan" for one of the 

 townships in the Adirondacks owned by 

 the State. It is an interesting pamphlet 

 discussing the character, situation of the 

 tract, and giving .measurements of the 

 contents especially in spruce, and pre- 

 dictions based on these measurements as 

 to what the future may bring if some of 

 the spruce is now cut. The gist of the 

 plan is the advice to the State to cut the 

 salable spruce from this virgin tract, con- 

 veying the impression that thereby no 

 diminution in supplies and deterioration in 

 the production will take place." This con- 

 clusion is by no means correct. 



By removing the mature spruce while 

 leaving the associated hardwoods, some of 

 the smaller spruce now on the ground will, 

 to be sure, develop into salable size, but 

 as long as the hardwoods are favored by 

 leaving them on the ground the repro- 

 duction will necessarily also be of them 

 and not of spruce ; in other words, if this 

 policy is continued the spruce will be prac- 

 tically exterminated. If the State is in 

 financial straits and needs the money there 

 is perhaps no objection to this proposition 

 which continues the policy of the lumber- 

 men, proposing only to use more care in 

 the removal of the spruce. Otherwise we 

 should think a very different working 

 plan for this particular township would 

 be indicated. 



Raquette lake, which is situated in this 

 township, is surrounded by private camps, 

 requiring a considerable amount of fire- 

 wood. It would be better, therefore, to 

 begin 'cutting out the old and decrepit 

 hardwoods in a small way as needed and 

 in this way prepare gradually for an im- 

 proved composition of the forest when 

 later an intelligent forestry system may 

 be applied in its reproduction. 



ing new recognition and stronger sym- 

 pathy from the public each year. The 

 road appropriations made by the State 

 Legislature last year are the first prac- 

 tical indications that the State recognizes 

 the value of its mountain possessions and 

 is disposed to co-operate with towns and 

 private capital in the work of their de- 

 velopment. From roads it is but an 

 easy move to the better protection of 

 forests and streams within the same terri- 

 tory. These questions have long been 

 moved by a minority voice which was 

 powerless to effect visible reforms, and 

 yet agitation is bringing about — slowly, 

 perhaps, but surely — a more hopeful view 

 of the matter, and I am sufficiently opti- 

 mistic to believe that within a few years 

 we shall have in practical operation a 

 scheme of joint purchase by which the 

 State and the towns within these northern 

 counties shall gradually acquire thou- 

 sands of acres of cheap mountain lani to 

 be held as public domain forever. 



A SUCCESSFUL FORESTER. 



One of the Special students of the Col- 

 lege of Forestry, who took only one year 

 of forestry studies, after a collegiate edu- 

 cation, writes : 



"It may interest you to know what has 

 become of one of your special students. 



"I have just taken a position with the 

 Tombigbee Lumber Company, in Alabama. 

 I hold the position known as woods sup- 

 erintendent. We have a dozen or more 

 logging contractors and it is my duty to 

 see that their work is done as it should 

 be, see to the scaling and allot them sec- 

 tions to log on. We have 100,000 acres so 

 I imagine I shall have my hands full. 

 Then we have about 50 miles of railroad 

 of which I am the superintendent also. I 

 think myself a fortunate young man. 

 My salary to begin with is only $75 a 

 month, but prospects are bright for the 

 future. The fact that I have made a study 

 of forestry helps me considerably. While 

 I have found some lumbermen who do not 

 think much of forestry, I find others who 

 do, and I know it was instrumental in 

 getting me this place." 



WHITE MOUNTAIN FORESTS. 

 The arguments in favor of systematic 

 and scientific forest preservation within 

 White Mountain territory seem t© be gain- 



Already many thousands of people are 

 wondering what they are going to get 

 for Christmas presents. Other thousands 

 are wondering what they are going to give 

 their friends. If you wish to make a pres- 

 ent to a man or boy who is interested in 

 shooting, fishing, amateur photography, or 

 nature study, give him a year's subscription 

 to Recreation. Nothing you can possibly 

 buy for $1 would give him so much pleas- 

 ure as 12 issues of this magazine. Come 

 early and avoid the rush. 



