El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-11-22

FOREST WORK
Being Done BY the Depart
ment Of Agriculture.
INCREASING lNItRES !

OGCot g e''S
: bsr Companies.-Th The Import
ence of Forest Preservation To
the Flow of Streams Valuable
investigation In the Matter OF
planting Trees for Wind Breaks
and For Forest.
! WASHINGTON. d. c., Nov. ID
The field work of the division OF for
estry of the department of agricui-
ture which has been carried on IN
many parts of the country by parties
of different sizes last May, has now
been largely completed for 1900. This
summers work was carried on in New
York. Tennessee. Missouri. Colorado.
South Dakota. Arkansas. Arizona
4 Washington. Oregon, Caiiiorhla'
! number of tree-planting states OF the
middle west. and. in a small way. IN
other states besides Much new and
valuable information has been col
lected. and a very large number Oh
surveys has been made. OF the results
of which il will soon be possible to
. make practical use
Active Field Work
The work. which has thus been going
on in the field consisted OF making
forest SURVEYS and of gathering meas
growth stand. reproduction. etc
Much of it as that in the Black Hills
Yforest reserve in the Adirondacks. and
on the tract of the Sawyer IL Austin
Lumber company in Arkansas. IS pre-
paratory to the preparation OF what
are called working plans. or plans
for the management and utilization OF
given tracts of timber These are bas-
ed not on any general rules. but on
knowledge of the peculiari-
ties of the forest on each tract. OF the
market and transportation facilities OF
the regions in which they are situated
and of the financial necessities of each
case The rest OF the work OF the field
parties has been more OF the charac-
ter of observation-disclosures for instance
the examination of the influence of
. forest cover on waterfiow which was
Dlnade on the watershed of the Arrow
head river in southern California. the
studies OF the habits OF growth and re-
production of the two most important
lumber trees of the Pacific coast-the
Red Fir and the Redwood. and the
survey OF the results of tree-planting
undertakings which have been carried
on in the northern part OF the Missis-
sippi valley.
During the coming winter the agents
of the division will spend most of their |
time in working up the results of the |
pitpiA4hb
1ports on them. although there Will |
doubtless be some field work as well.
The Black Hills Reserve.
E NJ Griffith, a field assistant in
the division of forestry of the depart
ment of agriculture with a large body |
of assistants. has just finished making I
a forest survey of the Black Hills re- |
Is serve in South Dakota. The summers
work. which has mus been finished. is |
preliminary to the preparation of a |
working plan for the forests of the |
reserve. which was undertaken at the |
request of the secretary of the interior. |
II will be submitted to him by next |
spring. and. if adopted. will result in
the first application of scientific for
estry to our national lands. The Black /
Hills reserve. on which this eXamina-
d tion has been made. contains .211 $50 /
acres. No other tract of its size in this |
country or abroad presents more favor
able conditions FOR forest management |
than this reserve. Markets are accessi-
BILE on all sides. and there is large |
and steady demand for timber. The !
forest. too. reprduces itself easily and
grows with great rapidity. so that. al
though cutting and burning have gone
in some places. the problem which
is presented is not. as in southern Cal
ifornia. that of fostering scanty
but rather of utilizing and caring for
IN already well-established forest.
In the course OF the summers work
A part of the reserve was examined.
md on 1900 acres exact figures were
collected regarding the size and kind of
all standing trees! From such meas
Irements estimates of the present
stand and future yield of timber can
be compiled. and on these the recon-
mendations for the management OF the
reserve Will be based.
After leaving the Black Hills Mr.
Griffith and his student assistants went
to southern Missouri. where they are
now beginning similar field work on
large tract of hardwood land belong
ing to the Deering Harvester company. ,
This company. which applied for a
working plan last spring. has under
taken the raising of timber for it's ,
own use.
3 Scientific Tree Planting In
The division of forestry OF the de-
partment OF agriculture has during Z
the last summer examined the sites of
y number of plantations in Indiana in
response to the applications for tree G
planting plans which have been re- {
ceived from that state. Although four s
fifths of Indiana was originally well I
timbered. as much of the state is now
practically treeless. with the exception I
of narrow strips along the rivers. In
some places the available timber has {
all been cut on. even down to the
streams. Farmers have therefore had
to undertake tree planting in order
to keep themselves supplied with fence