The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-03-03

material will soon be a serious factor
In railroad economy. The Santa Fe
line has already done some experiment.
al planting. and the results have done
much to stimulate interest. This road
planted 1,2S0 acres In catalpas fifteen
years ago. The total expense was
N2s.cOo but 1t Is estimated by the
railroad officials that in ten years more
the tract will have produced 2,560,0Oo
worth of poles. ties and posts.
Having become convinced Of the ne
cessity of growing their own timber.
the railroads naturally wish to take
advantage of the assistance Offered by
the government to tree planters which
consists of expert advice. and CT the
working plans for planting, based on
personal examination. The object OF
the government is to demonstrate the
value of tree plantations to land own
ers. especially those in the trceless
regions of the west
A system Of cooperation for tn,
coming summer has been arranged be-
tween the division Of forestry and the
forest reserve work of the United
States geological survey. The latter il
terror. Field parties Of each division
will collect information desired by the
other. and. in some instances. .ex-
change of men may be made. This
system marks a distinct change from
conditions Of a few years ago. when
there was sharp rivalry between the
scientific branches Of government SER
vice. The geological survey will give
nj InAH
forest fires for the division Of for
estry.
Investigation Of the causes. effects,
and means Of prevention Of forest fires
In the west will be carried on this sum-
mer In Washington. Oregon. California,
Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado,
Wyoming, Montana. Idaho, South Da.
kota. Besides field study. designe i
chiefly to discover means of preventing
the evil, the division Is making a his
toric record Of oil the important fires
which have occurred in the United
States since 1854. Although yet incom-
plete, this indicates that the annual
recorded loss by forest burnings in the
United States Is, at the very lowest.
$20,0O0,OO0. 1t will probably run far
above this sum, as the Pacific coast
states have been only partially exam
ined. Accounts of over $500 disastrous
fires have been obtained in the seven
teen states already examined. Michi-
| gan, Minnesota and Wisconsin have
| suffered the most severely. These rec
| ords are taken chiefly from newspapers
| and where it has been possible to COM
pare them with the figures of practical
lumbermen, it has been found that the
| tendency of the press Is to under-esti-
| mate the damage.
The former official estimate of the
wooded area of the United States
placed at 26 per cent, has been raised
to 81 per cent. by the latest computa-
tions Of the division of geography and
forestry of the United States geologi-
cal survey. That office has issued a
bulletin containing new figures on
American forests, some Of which tend
| to prove the national timber resources
| greater than Is supposed.
The two latest states to be examines !
are Oregon and Washington. The for
| mer is estimated to contain 2S4.653 mil
lion feet. b. NJ, in standing timber;
| the latter. HATS million feet. Destruc-
| tion by fire has been exceedingly seri-
| Gus in Washington. On the assump-
| tion that the burned areas contained
| on an average as much timber as the
untouched portion. 10000 million feet
have been destroyed since numbering
began. This amount would supply all
| the saw mills of the United States for
| two years. and at a value Of only Il
cents a thousand, means a dead loss
| to the state of $4,000, 900. The amount
actually logged in the same period has
| been $4,000 million feet. making the
estimate by the same comparison OF
areas. Oregon has suffered less from
both fire and numbering, owing to the
smaller facilities for marketing the
product.