126 



RECREATION. 



THE AMERICAN FOREST CONGRESS 



The most notable meeting that has ever 

 been held in this country to consider the 

 subject of forestry and its allied interests 

 was held in Washington during the first 

 week in January. It brought together a 

 larger body of active men engaged in prac- 

 tical business than ever before assembled 

 to consider an economic question. The 

 Governors of 22 States appointed and were 

 represented by delegates ; 25 of the leading 

 railroads were represented, including the 

 presidents of 12 roads. Among the espe- 

 cially prominent railroad men present were : 

 President Hill, of the Great Northern. 

 President Eliot, of the Northern Pacific. 

 President Winchell, of the Rock Island. 

 President Stevens, of the Chesapeake and 

 Ohio. President Spencer, of the Southern 

 Pacific. President Harding, of the Pere 

 Marquette. President Johnson, of the Nor- 

 folk and Western. President Hoyt, of the 

 Missouri, Kansas and Texas ; and President 

 Hughitt, of the Chicago and Northwestern. 

 All the large telephone companies and both 

 the Western Union and the Postal Tele- 

 graph companies were ably represented. 

 The lumber interests were naturally better 

 represented than any others ; and the graz- 

 ing interests were represented by a num- 

 ber of influential men from the Western 

 States. 



Prominent representatives of the mining 

 interests were present, and editors of nearly 

 all the lumber trade journals. 



Nearly every member of the Society of 

 American Foresters was present ; also 

 nearly the entire force of the United States 

 Bureau of Forestry. The students of the 

 Yale Forest School were required to report 

 for the beginning of the winter term at the 

 Congress instead of at New Haven. Other 

 forest schools were represented by many of 

 their students and faculty. 



The delegates to the Congress were re- 

 ceived in a body by the President at the 

 New Year's reception at the White House, 

 President Roosevelt being the honorary 

 president of the Congress. Tuesday after- 

 noon the delegates met in the National 

 Rifles Armory for the first regular meeting, 

 The subject was the Importance of the 

 Public Forest Lands to Irrigation, and was 

 discussed by the Government Engineers in 

 charge of the arid land reclamation work 

 and by representatives of the vast agricul- 

 tural interests so absolutely dependent on 

 irrigation for their existence. 



"The Lumber Industry and the Forests," 

 "The Importance of the Public Forest 

 Lands to Grazing," "Forestry in Relation to 

 Railroad Supplies," "The Importance of 

 Public Forest Lands to Mining," and "Na- 

 tional and State Forest Policy" were the 

 most important subjects considered. 



HOW FORESTRY DIFFERS FROM LUMBER- 

 ING 



The connection between lumbering and 

 forestry is vague in the minds of many 

 people, and the line of difference between 

 the work of the forester and of the lumber- 

 man is even more confusing. This arises 

 from the fact that the result to be obtained 

 is similar in both cases. The lumberman's 

 business is to harvest his lumber crop at 

 the best profit; and' after all is said and 

 done the forester's work is exactly that. In 

 general, however, the lumberman's aim is 

 to make the greatest immediate profit, while 

 the forester aims to make the forest yield 

 the greatest continued income throughout 

 its life. The forest never dies with the 

 forester. 



A working plan as made by a forester, is 

 first of all a plan for lumbering. It specifies 

 the diameter limit to which trees shall be 

 taken and includes estimates of yield. It 

 fixes the areas to be logged over, forecasts 

 the profits to be realized, and sums up the 

 whole situation from a business point of 

 view. This far, it treats of what is to be 

 done in- the forest entirely from the stand- 

 point of the lumberman, and it is based on 

 the same study of local conditions that any 

 good lumberman makes before he fells a 

 tree. The lumberman's working plan, how- 

 ever, usually considers only the most profit- 

 able way of harvesting the merchantable 

 timber. The forester's plan is made with a 

 view also to the removal of the mature 

 timber in such a way as to hasten the pro- 

 duction of a second crop. In spite of much 

 that has been said to the contrary, there is 

 no other radical difference in purpose be- 

 tween the 2. Both wish to make the forest 

 pay as high a rate of interest as possible on 

 the capital it represents. The lumberman, 

 however, is usually content to receive re- 

 turns only once from the -same area, while 

 the forester lumbers with a view to lum- 

 bering again. Exactly the same study of 

 the quality and amount of merchantable 

 timber, of the conditions of transportation, 

 and the market open to it for sale, is neces- 

 sary under lumbering and under forestry. 



Lumbermen do not need foresters and 

 foresters do not need lumbermen. But 

 lumbermen need to be foresters and for- 

 esters need to be lumbermen. 



Stranger (at the door) — I am trying to 

 find a lady whose married name I have 

 forgotten, but I know she lives in this 

 neighborhood. She is a woman easily de- 

 scribed, and perhaps you know her; a singu- 

 larly beautiful creature, with pink and 

 white complexion, seashell ears, lovely eyes, 

 and hair such as a goddess might envy. 

 Servant — Really, sir, I don't know — 

 Voice (from head of stairs) — Jane, tell 

 the gentleman I'll be down in a minute. 

 —London Tit-Bits. 



