Forest and Stream. 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Copyright, 1901, by Forest and Strbam Publishing Co. 
Terms, $4 .Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. J NEW YORK, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1904. \ No . ^Broadway," Nbw York. 
Six Months, !S3e. J ' 3 
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In this Hand are men hauing anckles, with spurres, like to 
ccckcs; here are hogges with homes, a riuer stored with fish, and 
yet so hote, that it flaieth off the skinne of any creature which 
entreth it; there are oisters so large that they cristen in the shells; 
crabbes so strong that with the claws they will breake the yron 
of a pick-axe; stones which grow like fish, wheoeof they make 
lime. — Purchas his Pilgrimage, edition of 1613. 
THE AIR OF THE FOREST. 
In the popular estimation two aspects of forestry are 
prominent. The forest is regarded as a conserver of 
water supplies, and thus to be of immediate and direct 
value to the citizen of to-day; and it is regarded as a pro-' 
ducer in the distant future of a crop of wood which shall 
bring a money return to the citizen of a later generation. 
The public in general is not greatly interested in posterity, 
which it feels has never done anything for it, and to 
which, therefore, it owes no debt, and for this -very 
natural reason much more emphasis has been laid on the 
forest as a source of water supply, and much more inter- 
est felt in this aspect of the- forest than in the crop which 
it is to produce. It is true that existing forests and wood 
lots, by judicious treatment, may be made to yield crops 
of fuel or of merchantable timber which will more than 
pay the cost of gathering them, and that by judicious 
treatment the value of such forests or wood lots con- 
tinually increases and their yield grows larger. But after 
all it takes a long time to harvest a crop of trees, and the 
man who plants a forest can only expect that his successor 
will harvest the crop. 
Another aspect of forestry, of immediate practical in- 
terest to us all, is the influence of the forests on the pub- 
lic health. We talk commonly enough of the pure air 
and water of the forest, but we use the words in so gen- 
eral a sense that they mean little except to dwellers in the 
city. Nevertheless there are various factors involved in 
the forest's relation to' health which are of great im- 
portance. The water, the soil, the air and the climate of 
forests differ from those of the naked plain and also from 
those of the seashore. 
The relation of the forest to the public health was re- 
cently taken up by the American Public Health Associa- 
tion, and the question was submitted to a committee of 
which Prof. Wm. H. Brewer, of Yale University, is the 
chairman. Prof. Brewer's eminence as. a student of agri- 
cultural problems is well known, and the report prepared 
by him contains a well considered estimate of the 
subject. 
In regions where the annual rainfall is less than 
ten inches, forests rarely occur, and more than this 
amount is required to a luxurious growth. On the 
other hand, in warm climates no amount of rainfall will 
prevent forest growth. In certain localities in India 
where more rain falls annually than anywhere else in the 
world, there are luxuriant forests. Here the rainfall is 
often 600 inches yearly, and sometimes more than 800 
inches. 
Aside from the very consideration that forests conserve 
the rainfall is the important fact that as a rule forest 
waters arc purer than those of an un fore-ted region. It 
is probable that forests slightly increase the rainfall, but 
if so the increase is small. What is probable is that they 
equalize the rainfall. 
Forest waters are purer than those from cultivated land. 
The undisturbed soil of the forest gives up less of the de- 
caying matter on or near the surface, and less of the 
mineral matter from the soil than is taken up by waters 
flowing over cultivated lands, which are stirred, mixed, 
and manured so as to promote chemical changes in the 
mineral matter which is th— = rendered more soluble and 
sc. more easily taken ro by flowing water. For similar 
;ca:C.r.s forest waters ap? clearer and- cleaner than other 
waters; they pick up in their flow much less of the soil, 
and also fewer living organisms. 
Besides its importance to agriculture, the conservation 
and regulation by the forests of the rainfall has an im- 
portant relation to public health. The water drunk by 
the inhabitants of cities and towns comes from a wide 
watershed, and it is important that the flow of springs 
and streams should be even and regular rather than that 
they should be torrential at one time and feeble at an- 
other. The importance of this process to the public 
health can hardly be over-estimated. 
That forest air is usually wholesome and that it is bene- 
ficial in many forms of disease is well understood. It is 
probable, however, that the curative properties of forest 
air have been overestimated in the past, and that much 
of the good attributed to the air may really be due to the 
more wholesome outdoor life led by the invalid who 
dwells in the forest. At the same time it is well under- 
stood that ozone has a curative value, and that the forest 
air is richer, in ozone than that of cities or even of towns 
or cultivated fields. That the forest air is cleaner than 
that of cities is obvious, and the cleanliness of the air we 
breathe has a close relation to health. Forest climate is 
likely to be milder and to be less subject to rough, harsh 
winds. The temperature is very much more uniform 
than that of the open country. In hot weather it is not 
so hot, in cold weather not so cold, and the daily, monthly, 
and yearly range is distinctly less. There is also less 
range in the humidity. 
These remarks apply chiefly to temperate climates. If 
in rainy countries, the forests of the tropics are not places 
for invalids, nor even for people who are weak. 
The relations of forestry to the public health are only 
now beginning to be appreciated. Yet the good work of 
protecting and saving existing forests has been under- 
taken by a number of States, though for other reasons 
than those here given. It is evident that no hard and fast 
rules for this protection can be laid down, for local condi- 
tions are so unlike that different methods must be prac- 
ticed in different sections. One thing, however, is clear:, 
that in almost every State there are considerable tracts of 
land more valuable to the State and its inhabitants as 
forest than they ever could be as agricultural land. Such 
lands ought without delay to pass into the hands of the 
State, to be treated by it as may seem best for the public 
interests. ' ' 
A PICTURE FROM PORT ARTHUR. 
Last Monday's correspondence of the New York Times 
from the seat of war presents the Japanese soldier in a 
dual character most surprising. In one we have the 
fighter whose fierceness, intrepidity, and dash have excited 
the wondering admiration of the world. -The Russian, 
Prince Radziwill, who arrived at Che-Foo from Port 
Arthur September 18, the Times correspondent writes, de- 
clares that the men of both armies are absolutely veno- 
mous in their antagonism. "Gen. Stoessel has addressed 
his garrison, saying that the present mood of the Japanese 
indicates clearly the necessity of resisting them to the 
last drop of Russian blood, because if the Japanese 
soldiers enter the fortress it will undoubtedly be impossi- 
ble for their officers to control them and prevent a 
massacre." 
In contrast with the fighting machine here described, 
turn to the Japanese soldier as an angler who goes fishing 
between battles. "Another souvenir of home life which 
the soldiers have brought into Manchuria;" writes the 
Times correspondent at Tien-Shi-Tien, "is a fishing line 
in every knapsack. From the commanding general, 
Kuroki, down to the humblest coolie who trots after his 
master's horse, they are disciples of the rod. Seeing the 
mild-eyed boys sitting for long hours by the banks of 
mountain streams waiting for a three-inch minnow to 
bite at an angleworm, it is hard to realize them as the 
same fighting men who storm rocky embankments under 
showers of shrapnel and bring back the huge Cossacks of 
awesome reputation as docile captives." 
Thereafter let no one say that he is too busy, has too 
much work to do, and has. no time to go fishing. The 
Japs are busy, and the work they have to do is to take 
Port Arthur ; yet they find time between whiles to go 
fishing. ■ . - 
Of angling as the strenuous man's recreation, this pic- 
ture from the siege of Port Arthur is altogether unique. 
SNAP SHOTS. . 
The outcome of the agitation in Minnesota a year or 
two ago over the Chippewa Indian Reservation forest 
lands was the establishment of a Forest Reserve of 231,000 
acres. This result was a compromise with the timber 
cutters, who strove to- secure the opening of the entire 
tract for lumbering operations, meaning the destruction 
of the woods. The lumbermen are by no means contented 
with the existing conditions. They want the rest of the 
timber lands ; and to that end are seeking to induce the 
Indians to petition for an opening of the reservation for 
settlement, which means the cutting of the timber. There 
is no genuine demand of this sort by the Indians. There 
is no popular sentiment in Minnesota in support of any 
such proposition. There is no support of further "settle- 
ment," save only on the part of a small body of specula- 
tors who are hungry for the profit they see in denuding 
the area of its forests. The true sentiment of the people 
of Minnesota is well expressed in the communication from 
the pen of Mr, Charles Cristadoro, in our last issue, in 
which .it was declared : "The idea of reforestation has 
come to stay in the State of Minnesota. The forest reserve 
flag is flying over the Chippewa Reservation, and it will 
'stay put,' the boomers to the contrary notwithstanding." 
Indeed, the probability is that instead of ever diminishing 
the reserve boundaries, Minnesota will enlarge them. 
What is claimed to be the highest record grouse bag 
for Great Britain was made the other day near Sheffield 
by Rymington Wilson and eight other guns, who scored 
2,748 birds in a day's shooting, the best bag previously 
made having been 2,648. Such feats are achieved with 
credit in Europe, but. the Atlantic lies between the grouse 
moors of Great Britain and the quail covers of the United 
States, and the ocean itself is not too vast for measure 
of the difference of sentiment prevailing in the two coun- 
tries respecting record bags. This difference is due in 
large measure to the different economic conditions. In 
America we disapprove inordinate killing because it means 
excessive drain on a natural game supply which cannot 
be. maintained artificially. In Great Britain the birds are 
raised as abundantly as poultry, and to kill 2,748 in a day 
means no more as to game supply than the killing of 
broilers by the poultryman. More will be provided in 
due time to meet the demands of another season. 
at 
State Game Commissioner John A. Wheeler reports 
that prairie chickens and quail have increased in Illinois 
to a gratifying extent ; and that a decided change of public 
sentiment is manifested in support of the game laws. 
Commissioner Wheeler has himself done much to create 
a feeling of co-operation between deputy game wardens 
and citizens. The wardens have been instructed to advise 
farmers and land owners through the local press and 
verbally, that if they will notify the authorities by tele- 
phone or wire, prompt action will be taken. If he shall 
continue to. have the support of those who are most closely 
touched by the game laws, Commissioner Wheeler will 
find protection simplified. 
K 
These are the days when the invitation to the field is 
strong. If is in the blue of the sky, the golden effulgence 
of the sunlight. It is in the date of the calendar confront- 
ing us at our desks, in our offices and shops and homes. 
It is in the memory, which at this time comes with 
peculiar force, of the early autumn days of past years. It 
is in the knowledge that deer are reported abundant in 
the woods, in the rosy reports that come from the game 
field. These are the days when game law digests • and 
railroad schedules are consrUed; and one plans and 
schemes and contrives to recr.ncile his going away and 
the continued serenity and progress in his absence of the 
little world which centers abort him. It is strange how 
one always thinks when he get: back home that something 
must have happened while he was away, and stranger still 
is it that nothing ever has happened. 
From various sections come reports of a good game 
stock for the season of 1904.- The Adirondack deer, the 
shore birds and ducks of the coast, the quail and prairie 
chickens of the West, are in fair supply. 
