The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-07-21
Progress Toward
Tree Protection

Special Correspondence.
Washington, July co.
-HERE is reason to feel that the
American people have been awak-
ened to the need of safeguarding
their great forest areas and intro
ducing in the management of the lumber
business scientific principles of forestry.
On July the bureau of forestry began
it's field season Of 1892. and its work is
now being carried on in twenty states
The bureau has appointed ninety new
student assistants for this season, the
entire field force numbering 165 men. The
work includes, among other things, the
gathering of the necessary data for several
working plans. a study of number OF
we'll known commercial trees. the exam
ination of farm woodlots, and study
of the treeless areas with view of de.
vising plans for forest extension.
The bureau of forestry begins the new
fiscal year of 1902-l903 with an appropria-
tion of $291 $50. The amount for the year
Just ended was $1S5,440. This increased
appropriate shows how this work COM
mends itself to congress, and 1t makes
possible a much wider range of work The
present seasons work is by far the most
varied and interesting yet undertaken by
the bureau and is being carried on in
Maine. New Hampshire, Vermont. Massa-
chusetts. New York, New jersey, Mary
land, Tennessee. Kentucky. West Vir-
ginia. North Carolina, Michigan. Min
nesota, Nebraska. Oklahoma, South Da-
kota, Montana. Arizona and California.
Later in the season it will be extended to
still other states and territories.
The field work necessary for a work
ing plan for the tract of the Great North
ern Paper company which was begun
last field season is being continued now.
and will be finished this year. 1t Is be-
ing carried on by two fully equipped
parties each consisting of fifteen men.
working plan is being made for the
tract of hardwoods of the Linville I'm
provement company. lying around Grand
father Mountain in western North Caro-
lima. The bureau is also making a care
full study of the forest resources of OF
sego county, New York, with the purpose
of drawing up a simple and direct man
ual of instructions for the management
of the private forest lands in that county.
The expenses of the field work are being
borne wholly by Mrs. Alfred Corning
Clark, who is greatly interested in for
estry, and desirous that the forests of the
county shall be treated in a practical
manner
Through the cooperation of Mr. Ring,
forest commissioner of Maine study
tions of that state. This is to include an
investigation of the behavior of the
spruce after numbering, in order to draw
up simple and practical rules for has
tening the production of a second crop
upon numbered land. 1t entails also a
careful study of the fire problem>and of
the best means of fighting fire In this
region. This investigation further in
cludes a consideration of local log scales
will p-iV
present season to the examination OF
woodlots. In the management of which
the assistance of the bureau has been re-
quested. Two skilled men will be- de-
tailed for this work, and 1t Is the inten-
tion of the. bureau that It's agents shall
visit all woodlots for which applications
have been made.
One of the most important and inter-
estng undertakings by the bureau during
the present field season Is a careful study
of a number of the most valuable Amer
ican commercial trees. This will include
among others study of the Adirondack
balsam. in Franklin county, New York.
Incident-to the work Of the bureau In
connection with the Chippewa Indian res
ervation in Minnesota a careful study of
the red pine is in progress. A study of
the rate of growth of the sugar pine In
California. which was begun last season,
is now being continued. Last years work
began in the northern part of the state
and in southern Oregon, and this season
the examination will be continued south
ward with the idea of covering the full
commercial range of this important tim
ber tree The southern hardwoods will be
studied In Kentucky. North Carolina and
West Virginia. This work will he main
ly devoted to a consideration of the oaks
and the yellow poplar, the idea being to
study them in their commercial ranges,
along with other trees which occur In
mixture with them.
On July / the division OF forest extern
sion was established In the bureau of
forestry to take charge of the work here
tofore done by the section of tree plant
ing. The work of the new division will
be to devise plans for increasing the for
est area where II Is deficient. This it will
do by the encouragement of planting
where that is necessary to secure
stand Of trees, and by improving the con-
ditions for natural seeding over areas
where the present forest stand is in
sufficient. Several parties are now In
the field in connection with this work. in
the Middle West a large number of land
owners have made application for assist
ance I'm establishing woodlot and other
forest plantations, and the work of eX-
amining these farms and preparing plans
for them is now under way. On the for
est reserves recently established in the
sand hills Sf Nebraska, by President
Roosevelt's proclamation, preparations
for extensive planting are being carried
forward as rapidly as possible, The nec/
essary buildings will be erected. seed beds
and nurseries will be prepared. and a
large quantity of seed collected in prepa-
ration for planting next spring. A field
party of seven men is making n forest
survey of Oklahoma. including special
study of forest conditions on the
Wichita forest reserve. On the Pres
colt forest reserve in Arizona an inves-
tigation is being made to devise methods
for increasing the forest stand By i'm
proving the conditions for natural seed
ing. In Massachusetts, and New Hamp-