March 8, 1913 
FOREST AND STREAM 
319 
proving a destructive element by leveling all 
' dead and worthless trees. Lightning striking in 
I a green tree is never known to prove the basis 
of a fire. There are some that hold that in¬ 
sects do more toward killing out a forest than 
a forest fire. This menace is another factor in 
the situation that must be successfully met. 
One of the foremost of insect tribe that 
attacks the pines is the pine beetle, and a depre¬ 
dation of a swarm of these killers will bring 
about the destruction of several thousand acres 
a year. It begins its work in the early part of 
the summer, when a swarm will settle on the 
trees and bore into the trunks. Once they have 
run their galleries, they lay their eggs, which 
are readily hatched, the young grubs following 
the inner tissue of bark eating around the 
tree, and usually two months of such unceasing 
boring kill the pine. Hundreds of thousands of 
acres of pine have been destroyed by the depre¬ 
dations of the pine beetle. Not alone addicted 
to operation in the Western country, it has in 
its time over-run the Eastern States, the South¬ 
ern States, and here and there all over the tim¬ 
bered districts of the West. 
As an example take the situation in the 
northern part of Oregon some years ago. The 
ravages of an army of these pests destroyed some 
100,000 acres of pine. In the wake of the beetle 
comes the inevitable borer which properly 
finishes the work so ably commenced by the 
beetle, with the result that a few years will find 
the pine an utter ruin and falling apart. Work¬ 
ing side by side with the beetle is another of 
the insect tribe, the weevil, whose presence is 
a sure sign of vital destruction. It is notable 
that many varieties of parasite life will at the 
same tirne attack the same tree, thus making the 
work of death quick and sure. Once having 
gained their end, the army retires, and the ac¬ 
cumulation of fungi becomes evident, and the 
diseased tree will soon be a rotten mass. Hard¬ 
wood trees are also attacked by these predaceous 
insects, but the nature of the wood hampers the 
Reload your rifle, pistol and 
shotgun shells and save half the cost of 
cartridges. Modern shells can be re¬ 
loaded many tim‘'s. Ideal Hand Book 
tells all about reloading all makes and 
styles of shells; 140 pages of useful in¬ 
formation for shooters. Free for three stamps postage. 
Marlin Firearms Co., 27 'V St., New Haven, Conn. 
Latest and Best Device to PREVENT SHOCK 
from Gun Fire or Other Noise. With Pocket 
Case, $1 00 pair. Ask your dealer for them. 
J. A. R. ELLIOTT 
P. O. Box 201 New York, U. S A. 
work of destruction materially. While an oak, 
chestnut, hickory or birch is aide to withstand 
these bodily assaults longer than the more softly 
vitalized trees, in time they are sure to come 
to an end. Young saplings are often attacked 
by these parasites with the result that the upper 
part of it will die, while the lower part will send 
out a shoot to one side which itself may be 
encircled by the busy workers, making it a 
stunted and deformed tree which we often notice 
here and there in the woods. 
In the endeavor to cope with the situation, 
the Government has a great task upon its hands, 
for so startling is the magnitude of these insati¬ 
able destroyers and so alarmingly prolific are they 
in multiplying, that extreme patience and scien¬ 
tific dealing only can conquer them. The Bureau 
of Entomology in Washington is extending close 
researches to the demanded needs. In time we 
may expect scientific results in this direction 
that will make elimination probable. The for¬ 
ester of the present day does all that he can to 
check the spread of these ravaging parasites by 
cutting down and destroying all diseased trees, 
and by careful watch is able to keep down the 
invading host to a small degree. It can, there¬ 
fore, be seen that the forest fire is not alone 
in the field, but has a very capable and enthu¬ 
siastic army at its lead, as industrious as they 
are injurious, leaving no piece of work half 
done, but clearing it up as they go. That birds 
are of a great value to the forests and to the 
land in general cannot be too strongly empha¬ 
sized. Were it not for them, this land would 
l-e over-run with insect life. As it is, the an¬ 
nual crop of grubs and eggs and the insects 
themselves fall prey to the indomitable appetite 
of the various and many members of the bird 
family, some of which subsist almost entirely 
upon insects. 
Forestry is by no manner of means a new 
idea. Far from it. In the countries of the Old 
World the practice has been constantly before 
the people for centuries until in the present day 
everything is worked on a practical, scientific 
scale that is as close to perfection as the power 
of men united can make possible. Among the 
European countries, Germany is perhaps the 
foremost in the progression of forestry, having 
arrived at the point where a thorough system 
of culture and looking after has tended to make 
her 35,000,000 acres of timbered land the finest 
and the best kept in the world. Everything is 
worked on a protective liasis; conservation in 
every form is recognized, and what with the 
scientific shrewdness extended, the best of re¬ 
sults are noticed. According to the laws of that 
country only so much timber is removed each 
year as the forests are well able to produce, thus 
evenly balancing the productiveness and the re¬ 
moval. In our own country we remove at least 
four times as much timber as the 700000,000 
acres of timbered land can produce. Glancing 
at this proposition from a technical viewpoint, 
it is easy to see that such practices must cease 
if the sense of proportion be develoiied. Our 
own Government is taking Germany as an ex¬ 
ample, and is building up its system to match 
that which has been so ably exhibited. Switzer¬ 
land is another country in the foremost rank 
where forestry has been practiced for centuries, 
having something like 2,500,000 acres at her 
command. Managed as it is by skilled men, it 
not only is one of the most profitable assets to 
AT DENVER, 1912 
HANDICAP, SEPT. 10-13 
Mr. R. H. Bruns, shooting his 
LEFEVER 
made the marvellous run of 
283 without a miss. 
On the 700 single targets, in¬ 
cluding handicaps, Mr. Bruns 
scored 683 out of 700. 
The second day of the tourna¬ 
ment on the day’s program of 
200 targets, Mr. Bruns and 
his Lefever gun scored 200 
out of 200. A world’s re¬ 
cord for ten traps. 
On the 500 single 16-yard 
target for amateurs, Mr. Bruns 
scored 494 out of 500. 
ANOTHER WINNER AT THE 
PACIFIC COAST HANDICAP 
Mr. L. H. Reid, shooting his Lefever gun, won 
second high average with 381 out of 400. 
Why don’t you shoot a LEFEVER? 
Write for Catalog 
LEFEVER ARMS COMPANY 
Guns of Lasting Fame 
23 Maltbie Street Syracuse, N. Y. 
the country, but is actually a pride to the people 
who seem to evince vastly more of a sentiment 
toward God’s first temples than actuates Ameri¬ 
can people. France is another country where 
forestry is a recognized factor in the productive¬ 
ness of the land. In France much of the land 
was early cleared in the interest of agriculture, 
hut it was found that the soil was not fertile 
enough for such general purposes, and at once 
a system of reforestation was commenced with 
the result that to-day something like 3000,000 
acres have undergone timber restoration. 
Germany for all her deliberate care in forest 
culture still imports from Austria-Hungary a 
vast deal of its wood, one-sixth of which is 
needed to fill out her demanded balance. Austria 
has something like 24000000 acres of timbered 
land, and Hungary about 23,000,000. Here then 
as in other countries, forestry is conducted on a 
scientific scale, which is remarkable for its sys¬ 
tematic thoroughness. Norway has aliout 20,- 
000,000 acres of timbered land, but the best 
that can be said of it is that they have a forestry 
bureau, and men to watch over the timber, hut 
they are mostly paid on an inferior scale. No 
care is taken as regards production or removal, 
although even at that rate Norway timber would 
hold out a long time. Sweden is a trifle more 
advanced than its neighbor in its care of the 
forests, hut there is no comparison to be drawn 
between it and the other countries to the south. 
