May, 1909. j 



439 



TIMBERS. 



CONSERVATION. 



During the past, year public opinion 

 fill over the United States has been 

 aroused as never before to a realization 

 of the necessity for more careful methods 

 in the use of the sources of the material 

 wealth of the Nation — the great natural 

 resources, forests, waters, minerals and 

 lands. 



First came the announcement that the 

 President was to call together the 

 Governors of all the States for a Con- 

 ference. Then for six months followed 

 what amounted to a campaign of edu- 

 cation. Newspapers and magazines vied 

 witli one another in articles on Conser- 

 vation, and helped to work up an interest 

 that reached the point of action at the 

 Conference of the Governors held at the 

 White House in Washington in May. 



The Conference of the Governors was 

 a gathering that will be remembered as 

 one of the noteworthy events in Ameri- 

 can history. It marks the beginning of 

 a new era in the economic development 

 of the Union, for only by the wise use of 

 its natural resources can the Nation 

 continue to enjoy material prosperity. 



Following . the re-appointment by 

 President Roosevelt of Water Ways 

 Commission, and its enlargement into 

 the National Conservation Commission, 

 there have been appointed by many of 

 the Governors, State Conservation Com- 

 missions to investigate the resources of 

 individual States and to co-operate with 

 the National Commission in devising 

 plans whereby the natural resources of 

 the Nation as a whole and of each State 

 and Territory may be properly developed 

 and wisely used. 



In Hawaii continued economic pros- 

 perity depends in an unusually inti- 

 mate way on the right use of natural 

 resources. For this reason it was 

 especially appropriate that Governor 

 Frear should appoint, as ho did in July 

 last, the Territorial Conservation Com- 

 mission of Hawaii. In personnel the 

 Commission is representative of the 

 interests involved. The Chairman is Mr. 

 Ralph S. Hosmer, the Territorial 

 Forester. Mr. W. O. Smith is the Secre- 

 tary of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' 

 Association, made up of the plantations 

 that are now the largest users of water 

 in the Territory. Mr. Alonza Gartley is 

 Manager of the Hawaiian Electric Com- 

 pany, a corporation that takes a keen 



nterest in harnessing water to do work 



in another way. Mr. W. F, Dillingham, 

 Treasurer of the Oahu Railway and Land 

 Company, represents transportation in- 

 terests, and M. Jared G. Smith, late 

 Director of the Hawaiian Experiment 

 Station, and now Manager of the Kona 

 Tobacco Company, has long been re- 

 garded as the special exponent of 

 diversified industries. The three first- 

 named accompanied Governor Frear to 

 the Conference of the Governors in 

 Washington in May as his "advisers." 



The Territory Conservation Com- 

 mission of Hawaii made its preliminary 

 report to Governor Frear just prior 

 to his departure for AVashington in 

 November. It is appropriate that the 

 report should be given in full in the 

 Forester. Therefore, it needs no excuse 

 that a good part of this issue is devoted 

 to the report and to its appendices. The 

 present report is preliminary. It is 

 expected that further facts and figures 

 will be submitted to the Governor early 

 in 1909, before the coming session of the 

 Territorial Legislature. 



To this end the Commission is continu- 

 ing to collect data on various points 

 bearing on the recommendations made. 

 These, with the report, will be made 

 public in due course. — Hawaiian For- 

 ester and Agriculturist, Vol. V., No. 12, 

 December, 1908. 



NOTE ON THE POWELL WOOD 

 PROCESS FOR PRESERVING 

 TIMBER. 



By R. S. Troup. 



General. 

 This process, as is now well known, 

 consists in impregnating wood with an 

 antiseptic saccharine substance in order 

 to render it immune from rot and the 

 attacks of white-ants and other insects. 

 At the same time it is claimed that the 

 wood is hardened and completely sea- 

 soned, and warping and splitting are pre- 

 vented. Many woods are unchanged in 

 appearance by the treament, but some, 

 notably salai {Boswellia serrata), are 

 rendered more handsome in grain. In 

 India at the present time the beauti- 

 fying of wood, however, is of minor im- 

 portance, the chief desideratum being to 

 obtain a thoroughly satisfactory and 

 cheap method of rendering so-called "in- 

 ferior" woods proof against rot and 



