974 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. 19, 1908. 
several miles to camp and skiing down grades 
in the woods at night is ticklish work, as a fel¬ 
low is liable to come in too close contact with 
tree trunks to the detriment of one’s nose; but 
camp was reached some time after dark with no 
worse mishap than a couple of lively tumbles. 
The old man was pleased to see me back, as he 
had been getting anxious about me when dark¬ 
ness set in and I had not showed up. 
There was a considerable quantity of grub 
stowed away for supper, and after the pipe was 
got going it was very pleasant to lie on the 
bench by the fire and listen to the old man in 
his quiet way, tell hunting yarns from long ago, 
from the time when the bears would come around 
and smash in the door to the sheep pen to get 
fresh mutton, and the wolves’ serenade could be 
heard through the winter nights. 
Through the smoke hole could be seen the 
blue-black sky with its myriads of cold glitter¬ 
ing stars, and the freezing silence of the woods, 
where not a breath of wind whispered through 
the branches, spoke of the cold that brings the 
sleep which knows no awakening. Long before 
daylight the next morning I was on my way to 
the station, caught my train and was home by 
9 A. M. ready for the day’s work. 
In the center of the dinner table on Christmas 
day, done to a turn, was a big bird an Ameri¬ 
can would have sworn was turkey, and beside 
it something resembling very much cranberry 
sauce. It was the capercailzie and a berry called 
“tyttebaer,” first cousin to the cranberry, and the 
cranberry of Norway. 
Recent Publications. 
Davie and Elizabeth, by Muriel Campbell 
Dyar. Cloth, 131 pages, $1. New York, 
Harper & Bros. 
Every boy brought up in the country knows 
just such a couple as Davie and his good wife, 
and can recall just such pets as they fuss over 
and worry about. Without children, and living 
alone on a little farm, the story of the mild 
little adventures in their lives, and the content¬ 
ment they enjoy, will appeal forcibly to men 
who see little and know less of the country. 
Books Received : “Bird Legend and Life,” by 
Margaret Coulson Walker; New York, The 
Baker & Taylor Company. “Alaska, the Great 
Country,” by Ella Higginson; New York, the 
Macmillan Company. “Outdoors in the Holy 
Land,” by Henry Van Dyke; New York, Charles 
Scribner’s Sons. “Life and Sport in Hamp¬ 
shire,” by George A. B. Dewar; New York, 
Longmans, Green & Co. “Peerless Alaska, Our 
Cache Near the Pole,” by Charles Hallock; New 
York, the Broadway Publishing Company. 
Kennel Note. 
Secretary J. T. Conkey informs us that the 
Cleveland Fanciers Co., Cleveland, Ohio, will 
hold a show Jan. 27 to 30. The judge will be 
James Watson. 
THE NATURAL FLAVOR 
of the richest and purest cow’s milk is re¬ 
tained in Borden’s Peerless Brand Evapor¬ 
ated Milk (unsweetened). It is especially 
adapted for use either plain or diluted on 
breakfast fruits or cereals. In coffee and 
chocolate it is much better than fresh cream. 
It enriches all milk dishes.— Adv. 
The President’s Message. 
In his-general message to Congress, President 
Roosevelt had the following to say on forestry: 
“If there is any one duty which more than 
another we owe it to our children and our 
children’s children to perform at once, it is to 
save the forests of this country, for they con¬ 
stitute the first and most important element in 
the conservation of the natural resources of the 
country. There are, of course, two kinds of 
natural resources. One is the kind which can 
only be used as part of a process of exhaustion; 
this is true of mines, natural oil and gas wells 
and the like. The other, and of course ulti¬ 
mately by far the most important, includes the 
resources which can be improved in the process 
of wise use; the soil, the rivers, and the forests 
A CHRISTMAS DINNER IN SIGHT. 
come under this head. Any really civilized 
nation will so use all of these three great na¬ 
tional assets that the nation will have their bene¬ 
fit in the future. 
“There are small sections of our own coun¬ 
try, in the East and in the West, in the 
country, in the East and in the West, in the 
Adirondacks, the White Mountains, and the 
Appalachians, and in the Rocky Mountains 
where we can already see for ourselves the 
damage in the shape of permanent injury to the 
soil and the river systems which comes from 
reckless deforestation. It matters not whether 
this deforestation is due to the actual reckless 
cutting of timber, to the fires that inevitably fol¬ 
low such reckless cutting of timber, or to reck¬ 
less and uncontrolled grazing, especially by the 
great migratory bands of sheep, the unchecked 
wandering of which over the country means 
destruction to forests and disaster to the small 
homemakers, the settlers of limited means. 
“Shortsighted persons, or persons blinded to 
the future by desire to make money in every 
way out of the present, sometimes speak as if 
no great damage would be done by the reckless 
destruction of our forests. It is difficult to have 
patience with the arguments of these persons. 
Thanks to our own recklessness in the use of 
our splendid forests, we have already crossed 
the verge of a timber famine in this country, 
and no measures that we now take can, at least 
for many years, undo the mischief that has al¬ 
ready been done. But we can prevent further 
mischief being done, and it would be in the 
highest degree reprehensible to let any con¬ 
sideration of temporary convenience or tem¬ 
porary cost interfere with such action, especially 
as regards the National forests which the nation 
can now, at this very moment, control.” 
He gives a number of examples of the effects 
of deforestation in Europe and Asia, and these 
are illustrated with photographic reproductions. 
Concerning waterways he says: 
“Action should be begun forthwith, during 
the present session of the Congress, for the im¬ 
provement of our inland waterways—action 
which will result in giving us not only navigable 
but navigated rivers. We have spent hundreds 
of millions of dollars upon these waterways, yet 
the traffic on nearly all of them is steadily de¬ 
clining. This condition is the direct result of 
the absence of any comprehensive and far-seeing 
plan of waterway improvement. Obviously we 
cannot continue thus to expend the revenues of 
the Government without return. It is poor busi¬ 
ness to spend money for inland navigation unless 
we get it. 
“Until the work of river improvement is under¬ 
taken in a modern way it cannot have results 
that will meet the needs of this modern nation. 
These needs should be met without further dilly¬ 
dallying or delay. The plan which promises the 
best and quickest results is that of a permanent 
commission authorized to co-ordinate the work 
of all the Government departments relating to 
waterways, and to frame and supervise the exe¬ 
cution of a comprehensive plan. Under such a 
commission the actual work of construction 
might be intrusted to the reclamation service 
or to the military engineers, acting with a suffi¬ 
cient number of civilians to continue the work 
in time of war; or it might be divided between 
the reclamation service and the corps of engi¬ 
neers. Funds should be provided from current 
revenues, if it is deemed wise—otherwise from, 
the sale of bonds. The essential thing is that 
the work should go forward under the best pos¬ 
sible plan and with the least possibly delay. We- 
should have a new type of work and a new or¬ 
ganization of planning and directing it. The- 
time for playing with our waterways is past.. 
The country demands results.” 
South Carolina Quail. 
Yorkville, S. C., Nov. 2 7.—Editor Forest and' 
Stream: The opening season for shooting quail 
began Nov. 15 and there has been a great num¬ 
ber of sportsmen throughout the country taking 
advantage of the opening season. There are- 
more hunters in the field this season than usual. 
We are having warm weather for hunting. It 
is the same as summer time. Birds are not so 
plentiful as thought to be. I think one reason 
they are not so plentiful is because in the August 
flood so many young birds were drowned, amf 
another reason is because there are just naturally 
too many gunners in the field. J. E. Ratterree. 
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