Graham guardian., 1901-02-08
Branch of the Department Estab-
lished in 1916 to Provide for
the Distribution and Dis
position of Timber.

It is only within the past few years
that forestry has been recognized as
| a profession in the United States. Ii
acquired this dignity with the gradua-
! ton Of Mr. Clifford Pinchut from Yale
co'ege in 1889, for Mr.. Iinchot was the
| first American to devote L ken inielli-
gence ard liberal education 10 4 solu-
ton Of the problem of the distribution
and disposition of the timber Of this
country. He came naturally by his in
teres, in forestry. His father, Mr..
James w. Pinchot, of Grey Towers,
| Milford Pa, has for years e. c0uraged
in every possible way the intelligent
conservation of the forests. writes j
D. Wherpiey, in Harper's Weekly
The lnchot family founded and do
mated $l5i,@Dto the Yale fCrv., school,
and the summer school in this branch
of coli re work is held at Mr.. iiEchots
place in Connecticut. WnH Mr.. Gif-
ford Pirchot graduated fi:H :ae the
value Of his services WAS a .nrc rec
| ognizt,i in number of dii'', rms. He
worked out forestry n"r .5r Bilt-
| luOIG, lIIt Edb 4NOi III tFfl oitNN
| of the VanClerbilts. He MS made n
member of the national foi,stry com
mission. and undertook for he gov
ernment n special study OF tle forest
reserves. The permanent need of his
Eervices by the government was quick
ty recognized. and July /, 1858, he was
appointed chief forester of the United
States.
The division Of forestry is one branch
of the department of agriculture. II
was established potentially but no!
sctuapy, in 1876, by the appointment
of DR.. Franklin B. Hough, o. New York,
TO prepare a report on various forest
matters under the direction Of tht
commissioner of agriculture. The po
sition of chief forester was created by
act of congress ten years later
Cooperation with other government
bodies interested in forestry is
marked feature of the wo;k uf the di-
vision. 1t has assisted ard been as
sisted very greatly by the forest di-
vision of the United States geological
survey, which is engaged in mapping
and describing the forest reserves, and
it has undertaken, at the request of thf
| secretary of the interior, The prCpara.
| tion of working plans for the l1C0O,Ctt
acres of national forest reserves, a.
| though. owing to the unfortunate sep
aration of government forest work into
three parts. il has nothing to do with
their adIministra tion. Applications
for po Itions as student assistants have
been received from more than $50 men
for this summers work. Of these less
than co were selected for appointment.
The total force Of the division in office
and feed at present is nearly 100.
The work of the forestry experts is
most practical. American plans had
to be devised, for conditions are differ
ent in this country from those prevail
ing in any other. In Germany, for in
stance. where great deal of atten-
tion is paid to forestry, labor is cheap
and wood is dear. In the United States
labor is high and wood is cheap. Lum-
bermen have been shown they were
losing seven per cent. of their product
by cutting high stumps The system
has in consequence been changed near
ly everywhere.
The forestry division has cooperated
with several important railroad sys
TENS in introducing novel feature Of
economy. 1t is proposed that these
railroads shall raise tie and pole tim
ber on large scale on their nouutilized
right of way. This action is due to the
failure of the natural supply of this
material in all except the recently set
tied portions of the United States
About 100000 acres of timber are
consumed annually by railroads in
building and repairing, and at the pres
ent rate OF timber depletion the in
creased cost of such material will soon
be serious factor in railroad econ
omy The Santa Fe system has already
tried the experiment. suggested, and the
results obtained have done much to
stimulate interest. This road planted
1880 acres in catalpus IS years ago.
The total expense was SIPS, Geo, but it is
estimated that in ten years more this
tract will have produced $2,560,Co0
worth of poles, etc.
One purpose OF the divisaon'ls to dem
onstrate the value OF tree Plantations
to land owners, especially hose in the
treeless regions of the west. The offer
to give advice and furnish working
plans TO persons desiring to plant for
est trees, made last year by the di-
vision, has met with immediate re-
spouse from the farmers of the coun-
try. Nearly $50 applications have been
received, and 40 were furnished yith |
plans in time for use this spring. Astill
larger number have written for advice |
in cases where personal inspection by |
experts was not needed. The treeless
states were quickest to avail them |
selves of the offer, Kansas leading with |
40 applications.