Forestry Notes 



329 



can advantageously produce these timbers, thereby saving the transcontinental 

 haul of a very heavy and bulky product. 



Remarkable Growth on Cut-Over Redwood Land. — A significant index of 

 what may prove to be the possibilities in raising crops of redwood is seen in 

 the result of a measurement made by the Division of Forestry of the University 

 of California in July, 192 1. At the age of fifty years, a second-growth redwood 

 forest in Mendocino County contained more than one hundred thousand board- 

 feet of timber per acre. A good forest of virgin spruce timber in the Adiron- 

 dacks contains about ten thousand board-feet per acre. The redwood area 

 measured was, however, on good bottom land. On ordinary soil, the growth 

 cannot be expected to approach this figure. Measurements of the yield on other 

 areas are now being made by the University of California. 



Conservation by Proper Use. — The California Redwood Association is defi- 

 nitely furthering two other forestry principles: reduction of waste of existing 

 timber, and the use of each species of timber for those purposes for which it is 

 best adapted. During 192 1 the Association has made a preliminary study of 

 waste of redwood in logging and at the sawmill. The work was done by the 

 California District of the United States Forest Service and the Division of 

 Forestry of the University of California. Certain possibilities in reducing 

 waste, as developed by the preliminary investigation, will be studied in greater 

 detail in 1922. Also during 1922 a scientific study will be made of the purposes 

 for which redwood lumber is best suited because of its physical and mechanical 

 properties. Already, in its 192 1 advertising campaign, the association has an- 

 nounced as its policy the encouragement of the use of redwood for purposes to 

 which it is best adapted, and the discouragement of its use where inferior and 

 cheaper woods will do as well. 



IN THE NATIONAL FORESTS 



Recreation. — The use of the California national forests for recreation continues 

 to increase. Last season there were more campers than ever before and camp- 

 ground facilities were entirely inadequate. It is estimated that one and a half 

 million people used the national forests of California in 192 1, of whom fully 

 eighty-five per cent carried their beds. Some of the public camps were used 

 by from three thousand to fifteen thousand people. Principally through funds 

 contributed by co-operators, about sixty camps have been improved or partly 

 improved by the Forest Service. There are about three hundred additional 

 camps awaiting improvement, but Congress furnishes no funds for this pur- 

 pose. As a consequence sanitary conditions are poor at many places, and will 

 continue so until funds from some source can be provided. The best-improved 

 camp is the one on Lake Tahoe, donated to the Forest Service by William 

 Kent. 



Through the construction of four miles of road by the Forest Service, the 

 beautiful Mammoth Lakes region above Mammoth has been opened to the 

 tourist and camper. A recreational survey of the area has been made, and the 

 demand is already great for a public camp and summer homes. 



Land Exchange. — More than a half-dozen bills are before Congress affecting 

 land exchanges in California national forests. There should be a better public 



