Jan. 2, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
11 
rocks or it may have come from the bowels of 
the earth where Pluto is working up another 
volcanic eruption. 
We were now on the east side of the moun¬ 
tain, having climbed the mountain from the 
west, passed over the summit and made a start 
down in the direction of Mountaineer Camp, 
and, if successful in completing the expedition, 
we would be the first party to establish such a 
record trip. We had explored the anthracite 
coal fields on our way to the mountain, studied 
the geology of the west slope, photographed 
the denuded area at long and short range, ob¬ 
taining some valuable information relative to 
the lava overflows, had our survey well under 
way, likewise, in addition to having a good 
time, our mid-summer outing had been replete 
with adventure and hair-breadth escapes. 
My companions were sturdy good fellows. At 
five o’clock in the morning there were indica¬ 
tions overhead that the weather had moderated. 
We climbed our rope and set foot once more 
on the icy steep. The snow was no longer 
crusted and we .made our way down the incline 
without having to cut many foot steps. The 
clouds were thinner and we could outline our 
course three to five hundred feet ahead through 
the mist. Crevasses became less numerous and 
smaller in size and by noon of July 27 we came 
out under the clouds in plain sight of the camp. 
Our signal was answered and an escort sent 
out to meet us. Near the foot of Boulder 
glacier we got our first drink of water, and 
when we reached timberline we were welcomed 
by an advance party with warm food and drink. 
When we entered Mountaineer Camp we were 
royally entertained, and during our stay we 
nursed our frost-bites and made up for lost 
sleep under the care of the camp physicians, 
Dr. Stephens and Dr. Cora Eaton. The first 
day in camp we watched the Mountaineer Club, 
from the tents, with field glasses, as they 
climbed in long line up the side of the mountain 
to the summit and their return. It was indeed 
a beautiful sight. 
How Birds Preserve the Trees. 
Boston, Mass., Dec. 24 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: In 1894-5 I made experiments to at¬ 
tract birds into an old orchard in Medford, 
Mass. Food and nesting boxes brought the 
birds to the orchard in considerable numbers. 
The succeeding summer apple tree insects, such 
as the cankerworms and the tent caterpillars, 
were very abundant and stripped the foliage 
from most of the apple trees in the town; but 
nine remained in good foliage and bore almost 
the only full crop of fruit in town that year. 
Details of this experiment are given in a bulletin 
entitled, “Birds as Protectors of Orchards,” 
which is published and distributed free by the 
Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture. 
Similar experiments year after year have demon¬ 
strated clearly the dollars and cents value of the 
birds in orchard and woodland; but while my 
observations were under way, the German Hans 
von Berlepsch was carrying out, unknown to me, 
a number of more extensive and painstaking ex¬ 
periments in bird conservation on his great estate 
at Seebach. He secured results there far more 
striking than my modest efforts produced here. 
He studied the methods of attracting and feed¬ 
ing birds and those of constructing nesting boxes 
and preparing bird shelters. He carried out the 
game preserve principle with birds until he had 
breeding on his home park of twelve acres about 
1,000 small birds, two pairs of wild ducks, one 
pair of moorhens and one of grebes. There 
hundred nesting boxes hung up in his grounds 
are all inhabited by birds. In his 400 acres of 
woodland there are two thousand nesting boxes, 
and everywhere shrubbery is so trimmed as to 
make dense and safe nesting places for the 
birds, while the enemies of birds are destroyed 
by the keeper of the estate. 
The results of this work are that the estates 
of the Baron von Berlepsch are free from in¬ 
sect injury when others suffer. In 1905 the 
woods in the country round about were stripped 
by caterpillars of Tortrix virdana. The wood 
of von Berlepsch was untouched and stood out 
among the surrounding woods like a green oasis. 
At a distance of a little more than a quarter 
of a mile from it, the first traces of the plague 
were apparent, and a quarter of a mile further 
on it appeared in full force. This is just about 
the distance that small birds carry food to their 
young. The Prussian Government foresters 
' 
STOPPED BY A SHEER WALL OF ICE—ENTRANCE TO 
THE ICE CAVE. 
Drawn by C. T. Easton. 
have now adopted similar measures with like 
results. And the National Association of Audu¬ 
bon Societies is now introducing into this coun¬ 
try for experimental purposes some very suc¬ 
cessful, scientifically constructed nesting boxes 
and feeding appliances now in use by Baron von 
Berlepsch with the expectation of producing 
similar results here. 
Edward Howe Forbush. 
Chrisimas Tree Custom Upheld. 
The country’s forests again have been called 
upon to supply about four million Christmas 
trees, and again many persons have asked them¬ 
selves and have queried the United States Forest 
Service at Washington, “Is the custom a menace 
to the movement for forest preservation?” 
In the millions of happy homes over the coun¬ 
try where the younger generation has made the 
Christmas tree the center of play since early 
Friday morning, there are many mothers and 
fathers who have given the question more or 
less thought. From Sunday schools and other 
organizations also, which hold an annual celebra¬ 
tion around a gayly trimmed evergreen for the 
benefit of the little ones, has come the question 
whether it is consistent to urge conservation of 
forest resources and then to cut millions of 
young trees every year to afford a little joy in 
the passing holiday season. 
“Yes, it is consistent and proper that the cus¬ 
tom should be maintained,” has been the answer 
of United States Forester Gifford Pinchot in 
every case. “Trees are for use, and there is no 
other use to which they could be put which 
would contribute so much to the joy of man as 
their use by the children on this one great 
holiday of the year. 
“The number of trees cut for this use each 
year is utterly insignificant when compared to 
the consumption for other purposes for which 
timber is demanded. Not more than four mil¬ 
lion Christmas trees are used each year, one in 
every fourth family. If planted four feet apart 
they could be grown on less than 1,500 acres. 
This clearing of an area equal to a good-sized 
farm each Christmas should not be a subject of 
much worry, when it is remembered that for 
lumber alone it is necessary to take timber from 
an area of more than 100,000 acres every day of 
the year. 
“It is true that there has been serious damage 
to forest growth in the cutting of Christmas 
trees in various sections of the country, particu¬ 
larly in the Adirondacks and parts of New Eng¬ 
land, but in these very sections the damage 
through the cutting of young evergreens for use 
