The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-07-06
SQUIRRELS WILL DO WORK IN NEW INDUSTRY

thousands of acres of valuable timber
land throughout the country. The ter
rible consequences Of these frightfu
holocausts are 30 well known as to need
no description. They sweep through the
forests in wide swathes OF lame,
spreading ruin and destruction In all
directions. When at last they are A.
nally got under control. there 10 nothing
left but hundreds Of square miles OF
burnt over. useless waste lands
Because Of the ravages Of these fires,
Uncle Sam has taken upon himself the
great burden of reforesting these large
tracks in order to secure to the children
Of the coming generation sufficient tim
Der land to meet the national demand.
There are now more than 100000 acres
Of this kind Of land throughout the coun-
try with the probability that several
more millions will be added this sum-
mer and fall. All of this land will be
replanted IL the present plans Of the
government are contaminated. 1t Is hard
to understand just what an immense
amount Of territory this means. Its
vastness. however. may be appreciated by
saying that the project will require
several generations in its accomplish
ment.
Plan to Get Seeds.
Trees. like all other plant life. spring
from seed. and it was up to Uncle Sam
to find some practicable means Of OBJ
tanning the seed. Tree seed bought in
the open market Is quite .-:pensive. yet
for long while this appeared to be
the only practical means of securing It.
At last, however. the scientists hit upon
a scheme which embraced the wholesale
gathering OF seed in the forests with the
help of Mister and Mistress Squirrel. The
cost Of seed. as shown in the prelimi-
nary experiment, gathered in this man.
ner was hardly more than half the cost
Of securing 1t in the open market.
A fact not generally known. Is that
every year Is not a bearing year." es-
pecially with evergreens. so the scientists
intend to start the campaign by securing
pine and spruce seeds as they are the
most desired species. The seed Of the
cone pine takes two years instead OF
one to mature. and even then the crop
is not often abundant. About once in
every three to ten years they have a
bearing This matter will be watched
by the forest rangers who will report tie
condition OF the crop in their territory.
Then by shifting the base of operations
there will be, ample territory to work in
from year to year.
Last year the plan was started in a
small way. There was promise of good
seed year. The most promising national
forest was selected. About midsummer
posters were placed upon dis
play in all the nearby cities, towns. and
villages. The newspapers made known
the demand for help in the collection of
the years seed crop. Recommending sta
tons were established. and to them
focked men of every description and sta
ton in life. Men from the lumber mills
who had been forced into idleness applied
for Job. Young college men. trying to
enliven a dull vacation, came to grasp a
chance to wade in and do something.
There were even a few convicts who
found 1t hard to get work elsewhere be-
cause Of their records, and in addition
some plain "hobos'' who saw a chance
to earn the price of a few square meals
The work seemed SO simple and childish |
they could not resist the temptation TO
do something. 1t looked like child's play
a chance to get up in the cool forests |
with plenty to eat and warm blankets to |
sleep in. and all at Uncle Sans ex-
pense. |
There was little work to do, except |
10 gather the cones and bag them, at |
east, so they thought. But they did |
not quite appreciate what a tedious
task this simple work could be. 1t |