Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-12-01
FORESTRY
Uncle Sam Has Commenced Giving lnStrGc-
tOnS In That Branch.

Sixty stalwart students have taken
up forestry as a profession under the
instruction of the division of forestry
Iof the Department of Agriculture.
! They have been at work in the forests
of tie various States during the past
summer, under the supervision Of
trained foresters, with results of mark
ed value to the division, chiefly in the
preparation of working plans and the
study of commercial trees. The stu
dents, while living in the lumber
camps, get a certain amount of fishing
and hunting, but the line between
work and play is closely drawn. All
expenses are betrayed by the govern
ment while the men are in the field.
During the past summer the work has
been done in the Adirondacks, the
State of Washington and Maine. The
Iult!nate object is to prepare the stu
dents for service in the forestry divi-
sion Of the United States government.
Aside from the demand created for
trained foresters by the newly awak-
ened enthusiasm of the Department of
Agriculture in stopping the destruc-
ton of the forests of the United States,
the call for experts in the profession is
comparatively slight, but is increasing
with marked rapidity. While the gov
ernment very much wishes the SER
vices of these who have enjoyed in
struction under it, this is not impera-
| tive. Great numbering concerns such
as the International Paper Company,
which controls more than 100, 100000
acres of spruce land; mining COM
panies, owners of game parks, as well
as private owners of large areas such
as Biltmore forest, in North Carolina,
the property of George w. Vanderbilt,
the Ne-Ha-Sa-Ne park in the AdirOn-
.dacEs, owned by w. Seward Webb, and
the adjoining land held by William c.
Whitney, along with the forest inter-
trained foresters. The government al
ready employs a number of men, and
will in the near future extend the
work in such a manner as to require
large increase in the staff of experts.
Mir Clifford Pinchot, the government
forester, says that trained foresters re-
ceive in the division of forestry from
$1,000 to $2,500 year, while a
Cruiser" one who estimates the worth
of timber land, receives much higher
pay.
During the past year considerable
work has ben done on private tracts
under advice from the Division of For
estry This was the result of an offer
made in October, 1898, to give advice
and assistance to private owners in
handling their woodlands. Within a
year applications were received from
owners in 50 States, the total area COW
cred by these applications being about
| / 100000 acres. The preparation for
working plans for these tracts and the
supervision of their execution is now
one of the most important branches of
the Division of Forestry. The first
large forest put under systematic man
agement with a definite working plan
was that belonging to G. w. Wander
bilt, at Biltmore, N. c. The work
was organized in 1891 by Clifford Pin
Ichot now the forester of the Depart
ment of Agriculture, on about 1000
acres. Additional tracts have since
been purchased to the extent of about
100000 acres, and the whole area has
been brought under systematic treat
ment. An expert forester is still en-
Iployed to superintend the work, and
there is a corps of trained rangers.
A certain amount of matured poplar
has been numbered and the system of
cutting employed has been very sue
cessful in bringing about an excellent
reproduction of that trees, improve
ment cuttings of various species, chief
ly for cord wood, are made in the por-
tions of the tract nearest the market,
and certain amount of planting Is
done every year. Mr.. Pinchot says
that a great deal of the work being
done ct Biltmore would not be practi-
cal on many other large tracts, man
aged solely for profit, in other sections
of the country. The systematic man
agement of forests for practical lum-
berment will be more along the lines
practiced on the Webb and Whitney
tracts, in the Adirondacks, both of
which were numbered under the super
vision of the Division of Forestry.
Neglected colds make fat grave