FORESTRY. 



503 



Sportsmen, only a few years old, but al- 

 ready possessing a membership of more 

 than 3,000, with every State and Ter- 

 ritory in the Union represented, is wield- 

 ing a most powerful influence favor- 

 able to the protection of our 'birds, mam- 

 mals, and fishes. The recent passage of 

 the Lacey Bill by Congress will add im- 

 mensely to the forces that make for good 

 along this line. And now comes Cornell 

 University with its College of Forestry act- 

 ively taking up the subject of fish and game 

 protection and fish culture, and establish- 

 ing a regular course of lectures on this 

 subject. The course consists of lectures, 

 together with laboratory work and field 

 observations and demonstrations regarding 

 the life histories of the important fresh 

 water food and game fishes ; the biology of 

 streams and lakes ; the relation of the for- 

 est and of forestry, logging, lumbering, 

 milling, mining, and irrigation operations 

 to the streams and lakes and their inhab- 

 itants ; the artificial propagation and pro- 

 tection of fishes ; and the protection of the 

 useful mammals and birds and the song 

 birds of the forest. 



This course of lectures is given each 

 spring by Dr. Barton W. Evermann, 

 Ichthyologist of the United States Fish 

 Commission, in the College Forest at Ax- 

 ton, in the Adirondacks. 



The value of instruction along these lines 

 can not well be overestimated. The young 

 men who graduate from the College of 

 Forestry are the men who will be called 

 on to manage the large Government forest 

 reservations and the large private forest 

 properties. They will know not only how 

 to care for the trees of the forest, 

 but the birds and mammals, the streams 

 and lakes, and the fishes which in- 

 habit them. They will know how to re- 

 claim waters which have been made unfit 

 for fish, and will be able to restock them 

 with the proper species. They will know 

 how to conduct their forestry operations 

 without detriment to the streams. They 

 will know the value of our insectivorous 

 birds and how to protect them. In short, 

 their interest in Nature will be increased, 

 and they will have an intelligent appreci- 

 ation not only of the economic importance 

 of our various species of fishes, birds, and 

 mammals, but they will appreciate the es- 

 thetic value of protecting the animals of 

 the forest and the forest streams. 



PROTECT THE FORESTS. 



Mr. E. E. Stokes, of Brooklyn, N. Y., 

 writes approvingly of Mr. Wild's commu- 

 nication in July Recreation regarding the 

 destruction of a beautiful red oak tree by 

 a greedy farmer who could not appreciate 

 the beauty of the tree as transcending its 



money value. Pointing out the different 

 purposes which trees may subserve, Mr. 

 Stokes suggests better laws for the protec- 

 tion of works of nature. 



Laws should be framed to protect the 

 forests, as birds and animals are protected. 

 Unprincipled men should not be allowed 

 to destroy wantonly Nature's perfect 

 handiwork. 



Works of science, art, and beauty pro- 

 duced by man are all protected by man's 

 laws. Why should not Nature's work be 

 protected too? Her punishment, though 

 sure, is often tardy and does not directly 

 reach the real offender. 



God has devised His works for pleasure, 

 beauty, and utility. Each fills a want, 

 but in a different way. Some are to be 

 used by man for his convenience, thereby 

 changing or destroying their form; others 

 are intended to minister to the higher 

 needs of his soul in their original form, 

 and _ of these this tree was a perfect 

 specimen. 



Recreation's editor is an uncompromis- 

 ing champion of field and stream. I hope 

 he will become as implacable an enemy to 

 forest hogs as he is of the game destroy- 

 ers, and that he may soon be backed by 

 wise laws. 



INDIANS DESTROY FORESTS. 



Not only should every effort be made 

 to save the game by striking at its real 

 destroyers, but also by preserving all 

 forests now standing in this Western coun- 

 try. That our forests are as ill protected 

 as our game the following, from a Mon- 

 tana paper, will show : 



A camp of ico Crees and Chippewas is located 

 on the forest reserve, in the vicinity of Major Steell's 

 ranch, near the mountains on Birch creek, and they are 

 building houses and cutting timber. These Indiar s belong 

 in Canada, and the Canadian government has repeatedly 

 expressed its willingness to support them, if they will re- 

 turn to its jurisdiction. Their presence is a menace to 

 the peaceable possession of property, as they must live, 

 and will hardly go hungry as long as there is stock on the 

 range. If our citizens can not go on the forest reserve, 

 foreign Indians should not be allowed to. 



This is but one instance in thousands. 

 I hope all members of the L. A. S., in 

 whatever section of the country they may 

 be, will do their best to persuade those in 

 authority to have all game and forest laws 

 carried out to the letter. 



W. Jackson, 

 Blackfoot Agency, Mont. 



"How is the landlady this morning?" 

 asked one of the boarders. 



" Threatening and cooler,' " answered 

 the man with the newspaper, misunder- 

 standing the question. 



And the other boarder, who was noto- 

 riously slow in settling with the landlady, 

 looked partly cloudy. — Chicago Tribune. 





