New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-05-24

and it is the forestry work Of which Mr. Mar.
ston has charge.
1T is a systematic attempt to give nature a
chance" said Mr.. Marston in explanation of thu
work Of his party
This reservation has been closely cut. and II
has suffered from fire Indiscrimiuate cr1t4fng
would practically denude it OF timber I'm q fa7y
years When our work is done the forester -,
charge will have in the map We shall prepara
a guide, the following of which viii not oDIv
enable the post to get what timber it needs. 1ut
by intelligent cutting will greatly improve tho
stand of timber. If the plan We outline is fol-
lowed closely, at the end Of ten years there viii
be fine stand of timber on this reservation
Still another object Of the work IS he r-4se--
walton of West Points water supply The IN
discriminate cutting Of trees, concentrate AS II
usually is in few easily accessible spots de-
nudes the earth Of the trees and -ae sill
robbed of the protecting shade. is soon .ss- bot
and dry, all the moisture being drawn from II
by the fierce rays Of the summer sun while
water in brooks evapOrates rapidly. This -aers
a small item TO the casual observer. bI. u has
been repeatedly demonstrated that shat ---es
and good water supply go hand in hauG -eue-
cialy in the summer months
The forestry students began work on he
West Point reservation on April l. and The
work has advanced so well that they nov, ey~ac-
to be able to finish it by June II. At thai -i7aa
Mr. Marston expects to be able to tell -h. War
Department just how many feet Of avail. lie
timber it has in the stand, where cuts should
be made, and just how many feet may b. eafeIy
cut for telegraph poles. building purpos=s and
other uses each year in course Of the ten vear
period covered in the proposed developu=1- q
the forest
Side nv eide
the forest as the careful selection Of timber TO
be cut may be called. viii advance the positive
growth In some places this growth v.iI b. at
tempted from the seed or nut of the tree and in
others small trees viii be 'underplanted- and
everything possible done to advance thern.
While the West Point reservation is -77Ir-ad 4
small one in area. this fact makes tn. stand OF
timber upon it all the more valuable The pres
ent stand is nearly ali hard wood oaks and
chestnuts
The plan now being worked out IS called 4
"silvi-culture working PLAN" and when COM
pleted Will be turned over to a forester. yet 10
be appointed. who viii be stationed az West
Point and devote his attention TO the care OF the
timber stand on the reservation. The tract viii
be divided into small areas, and each Of these
will be cared for separately. Most Of the hard
wood new growth Will be from nuts ard this
work Will probably be confined to red oaks and
chestnuts, since these trees each have a large
nut In the high, exposed places. whe-= The
soil is not particularly good small spruce md
hemlock trees Will be planted
The work Will be expensive. hut Just how. ex-
pensive cannot now be determined Mr. Ma-scon
is however, authority for the statement that
within twenty years the War Department VIII
be more than reimbursed for whatever is paid
out, in the timber used and available for use.
The methods pursued by the workers to de-
termine the amount of timber in the staEI are
interesting. The tract is divided Into ranges
and these subdivided into compartments.
The workers get line around small, COM
partment. A few trees selected as samples are