314 



RECREATION. 



most fit, namely protection against the 

 destructive forces of nature. In such 

 regions no lumberman should be allowed 

 to operate at all and all work should be 

 directed by trained foresters. 



In the case of land where forestry is 

 or should be practiced as a business it is 

 best in the majority of cases where the 

 woods are mixed, to cut clean, pile and 

 burn the slash, and then plant afresh. 

 Regeneration may be effected by leaving 

 seed trees or belts of seed trees so that the 

 ground will be naturally seeded. This 

 method is slow and cheap. When land 

 is cut clean in the North a growth of poplar 

 and birch soon follows. This is an ad- 

 vantage rather than a disadvantage, be- 

 cause the poplars and birches serve as 

 nurse trees to the pines and spruces which 

 gradually make their appearance among 

 the poplars and birches. This process 

 may be hastened by cutting strips and 

 planting. This strip cutting and plant- 

 ing may be done for $5 an acre. 



There is, in fact, no advantage in the 

 end in merely cutting out the softwoods, 

 as happens in all regions where river 

 driving is practiced. 



The main objection to river driving, 

 however, is that it pollutes streams to 

 such extent that all the good species of 

 game fishes, especially trout, are killed. 

 The grayling was practically exterminated 

 in Michigan by lumbering operations. The 

 logs ruin the spawning beds, the river is 

 filled with bark and dead-head logs, 

 the water is rendered unfit to drink and 

 the river is monopolized for a long period 

 ©f time by a few lumbermen. Guides and 

 tourists and even the natives are de- 

 prived of the use of it for some time 

 during the very part of the year when 

 boating is pleasantest; that is, in the Spring 

 before the mosquitoes and flies come. 



There is no doubt that the scarcity of 

 trout in the Racquette river is due to 

 river driving. The pickerel is blamed, but 

 the trout and pickerel lived together in 

 the streams long before river driving be- 

 gan. Even the pickerel will lose their 

 hold in case river driving continues. They 

 have, simply held their own because they 

 could endure more adversity than the 

 trout. 



FOREST FIRES. 



You have, no doubt, seen the annual 

 message of President Roosevelt, and in it 

 are some suggestions about forestry 

 that I hope will become laws. One im- 

 portant fact seems to have escaped 

 notice, namely, the origin of forest fires, 

 which have been destroying the forests 

 to such an extent that if they are not 

 prevented at once we shall live in a desert 

 within the next 100 years. Of course we 

 shall not be here, but we ought not to be 



selfish. We should provide for the pleasure 

 and needs of others that may come after. 

 The cause of forest destruction to which 

 I refer, is the railroads that run through 

 virgin forests. I should like to learn of 

 one place where the engines of the rail- 

 roads have not been at fault. In my 

 travels to the extreme West, Whatcom, 

 Washington, I have seen the work of fire 

 all along the line of the railroads, and no 

 one can convince me that the hunters are 

 responsible. When wood burning engines 

 were in use, the smoke stack was made 

 so that cinders could not be thrown out; 

 but now the engines have no such ap- 

 pliances and I see no reason why they 

 should not be made to use them. Many 

 people saw the prairie at Huffman's 

 Station, 7 miles East of Dayton, Ohio, on 

 lands owned by H. Cooke, fired by the 

 railroad at least 5 times during one day 

 when we camped there last summer. We 

 were told by the tenants that from the 

 1st week in July they had to watch con- 

 tinually to prevent being burned out. 

 I hope you will take up this matter. There 

 is no doubt of the result if you will. The 

 results of your fearlessness in advocating 

 the protection of game are wonderful. 

 G. C. Edgeter, Dayton, Ohio. 



FOREST RESERVATIONS. 



With President Roosevelt's recognition 

 of the fact that "the forest and water prob- 

 lems are perhaps the most vital internal 

 questions of the United States," there is 

 hope that the federal forest reservations 

 will soon be more than merely timberlands 

 withdrawn from entry, occupation and use, 

 but well administered, most useful prop- 

 erties. 



Additional hope comes from the appoint- 

 ment of Prof. F. Roth, late of Cornell Col- 

 lege of Forestry, to the position of Chief 

 of the Forestry Division in the General 

 Land Office, in charge of the management 

 of the forest reservations. The consolida- 

 tion of the nation's forestry interests in one 

 bureau, which the President in his message 

 strongly advocates, is, of course, bound to 

 follow. 



The bill introduced in Congress by Mr. 

 Brownlow, providing for the purchase of 

 a national forest reserve in the Southern 

 Appalachian mountains, not to exceed 

 4,000,000 acres, is another move in the right 

 direction, recognizing the national obliga- 

 tion of assuring- desirable conditions in all 

 parts of the Union. 



The proposition to name this reservation 

 the "McKinley National Park and Forest 

 Reserve," in recognition of our lamented 

 President's active interest in this proposi- 

 tion, can only accentuate the patriotic duty 

 involved in it, 



