S D L87 FORESTRY IN THE UNITED STATES. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Miscellaneous. Special Report No. I. 4^ . ADDRESS HO>sL GEO. B. LORING, U. S. COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTUEE, IIEI'OKK THK AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS, SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA, AUGUST 8, 1883. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 1883. Kfin^gnpii Pass SD^WI Rnnk "Z. hi FOEESTEY IN THE UNITED STATES. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Miscellaneous. Special Report No. I. ADDRESS y^ HOIST. GEO. B. LORING, I U. S. COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE, BEFORE THE AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS, SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA, AUGUST 8, 1883. WASniNGTO]»jL|t A J> DRESS THE AMERICAiN FORESTRY CONGRESS Gentlemen: When I had the honor of addressing an assembly of those interested in promoting the cultivation ami preservation of forests in this country, and in ornamenting our cities and towns by the plant- ing of trees in their parks and along the highways, now a year ago, I dwelt largely on the value and importance of providing in every way for the gratification of our refined tastes and for increasing the popular sense of beauty. I did this as preliminar}' to the more practical work which called that assembly together, and as an appeal to the strongest motive man has to engage in the business of providing for his wants and surrounding himself with the comforts and luxuries which pros- perity secures. At this time I propose to confine myself strictly to the condition of forests in this country, and to such suggestions as may occur to me with regard to their increase, preservation, and economical use. And first as to the increase of our forests. In this work both nature and art are engaged. The "forests primeval" meet man wherever he advances to the occupation of new lands best adapted to feed and clothe him and best fitted for agricultural labor and production. His primary work is to remove this great vegetable growth, whose condition indi- cates the quality of the soil he proposes to cultivate. If he pauses in his work the forests return to their accustomed place. In the older States many acres which half a century ago were used for pasturage or tillage are now covered with forest growths, and many timber lands which have once supplied the forest products are now hastening to sup- ply a new crop. The acreage of woodland is undoubtedly increasing in those sections where farming has become unprofitable either through exhaustion of the soil or through a change in the locality and demands of the markets. In the strictly lumbering States this is also true. "While the deserted, remote, and mountain farms in Massachusetts are rapidly "grov.ing up to wood," the woodlands of Maine and Michigan and many another kinibering State are growing a new crop, which in a quarter of a century will be more valuable than the original growth, although much reduced in size. The young pine and spruce forests of the north, covering acres of land once occupied by their sturdy progeni- tors, are full of promise and beauty. In other sections of the country, 3 4 AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. lands, whicli have for ages been bare of trees while exposed to amiiial prairie fires, are, under the protection of man, producing- rapid growths of wood. As the settler guards his fields against fires and cattle, trees spring up, and especially along the water-courses may be seen forest belts where an entire absence of trees had been the law for many gene- rations of men. Wherever the land is protected, therefore, whether it be the location of old forests, or bare spots adapted to tree-growing where forests have been hitherto unknown, nature is busily engaged in producing wood and in bringing back the forest growth which welcomes advancing man as he goes on in his work of civilization. In addition to this natural increase, much has been done in many of the States in tree-planting, and much more ought to be done. The establishment of 'harbor days" and the inducements held out by legis- lation hi,ve operated very favorably on the work of what is called vil- lage improvement, and on an agricultural attention to the cultivation of trees as a crop. And this business has increased with very consider- able rapidity in some of our best farming States. In Minnesota, for instance, the number of acres planted on "arbor day" in 1878 was 811; in 1882 the number was 1,184; and the whole number of acres planted increased from 18,029 in 1878, to 38,458 in 1882. Work similar to this is done in Iowa, Nebraska, and Dakota, as well as in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Kansas. In Nebraska, the number of acres of -cultivated woodland has reached 107,438, as against 19,(395 acres of natural in- crease. These are small beginnings, it is true, but they are entitled to our most careful consideration as the commencement of an enterprise which, when properly conducted, will undoubtedly constitute an im- l^ortant branch of American agriculture. Ti'ee-culture ought now to receive our most carefol attention. It is time that the skill which has been applied to the cultiNatiou of our great cereal crops, to cotton, rice, tobacco, and all the profitable products of the soil, sach as grass and vegetables and fruits of every description, should be applied also to the growing of wood as a farm prod net. To the choice of forest trees adai)ted to each locality; to the selection of land which can most properly be devoted to trees, considering its fitness or unfitness for any other crop on account of quality and situation, whether near to or remote fVom the iarm buildings, whether useful or not for pasturage and tillage; to the best methods of cultivation, whether by seeding or planting from nurseries; to the best method of securing a speedy return — to all these points the attention of practical and investigating farmers should be carefully and systematically turned. The profit of the crop can, I presume, be no longer questioned. Waste lands inclosed and left to nature have produced in wood a very large return for the investment. Why should not land subjected to the well- directed art of the cultivator produce just as good a result? For the purjyose of encouraging this enterprise it is important that Government should lend its aid in every legitimate way until the wood crop is recog- AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. 5 nized exactly as are the great staple crops of the country. If a bounty is legitimate and useful in any case, it certainly would be in this. The protection against lawless iuvasiou''thrown around our grain fields and gardens should also be extended to our woodlands, protection against depredation, wanton fires, and stray cattle. The ritliug of a forest should be as penal an offense as the rifling of an orchard. Over forest- covered public lauds and over forest i)]aiitations, against the careless destruction of the settler on the one, and the trespass of the outlaw on the other, should the strong arm of the lawbe constantly and vigorously extended. THE A^ALUE OF THE INDUSTRY. In order tliat I may impress upon you the value of tliis industry I will ask your attention to its extent in our country, which covers such a vast area. I do this in order to impress upon your minds not onlj' the value but the great importance of husbanding our resources in this direction in view of the constantly increasing demand for our forest products in all their variety. The forest lands of the United States amount to less than one-fourth of the entire area. The proportion of wooded area is less than in Eastern, jSTorthern, and Central Europe, and is very unequally distributed. Norway has two-thirds of its area wooded, Sweden six-tenths, Eussia nearly one-third, and Germany nearly one-fourth. The countries having less forest areas, arranged in order of proportion, from 18 down to 5 per cent., are Belgium, France, Switzerland, Sardinia, Naples, Holland, Spain, Denmark, Great Britain, and Portugal. Originally the Southern, Middle, and Eastern States were entirely wooded, exce])t a large portion of Texas and a few small prairies in the Southwest. Small areas of mountain glades among the Alleghenies might also be excepted. Ohio and Eastern and Southern Indiana were wooded, and the northern i)ortions of the Lake States. West of the line of prairies, running southwest through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, to the Indian Territory, the central prairies, the drier XJlains, and much of the southern belt of the Pacific slope are destitute of wood. The streams in all the great region are more or less fringed with trees of some sort, and the higher mountains on the protected sides have a thin covering of forest. In the deep valleys of the west- ern slope of the Sierra ISTevadas are forests of extraordinary density filled with soft-wooded evergreen trees of enormous size, the wonder and admiration of the practical woodman. Here the Sequoia gigantea, or big tree, flourishes in isolated iiatches, while the coast range is the home of the Sequoia senipervirens or redwood. From North Carolina to Louisiana nearly six-tenths of the farm area is wooded, though much of the area thinly, and part of it has been culled and is in second growth. Including unoccupied areas not in farms 6 AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. which are in forest, something like three-fourths of the entire South is wooded. There are counties in the South that were ten years ago almost un- broken forest. More than nine-tenths of the area of Brunswick, North Carolina, were then wooded, and almost as large a proportion of Beau, fort, Craven, Onslow, ISTew Hanover, and Bladen. A similar prepon- derance obtained in Williamsburg, Georgetown, and Lexington, South Carolina ; and in Camden, Charlton, Clinch, and others in Georgia. In all of the Gulf States such districts were found. Less than 2 per cent, of Newton Countj^, in Eastern Texas, was cleared. To-day the pro- portion of w^oodland is but little less. On the farm areas of Georgia the percentage of forests has increased from 55 to 59 on account of taking two or three millions of i)rimitive forests into the farm area. In Florida, from the same cause, it has increased from GO to 66 per cent. The decline has been from 61 to 58 in Mississippi; from 57 to 55 in Lou- isiana. It has increased from 42 to 44 in Texas ; and nearly one hun- dred counties show from 10 to 80 per cent, in wood. The wealth of forest growth is scarcely appreciated in large districts of the South. There are districts where clearings are yet made yearly by girdling the trees in the summer for planting among the boles standing bare and blackened. Every winter a log-rolling disposes of the trunky that fall, until decay and Are have cleared the held. And it is not long since a sprinkling of black walnut rails could be seen in the worm fences which still surrounds fields of corn and cotton, and probably a few can yet be found. Comparing the census returns of 1870 and 1880 we find a decrease of woodlands in farm areas in Michigan from 41 to 32 per cent. ; in Min- nesota from 21 to 15, and in Iowa from 16 to 11 per cent. In NeiLvaska, tree-planting has changed the record from 3 to 10 per cent. From the increase of farms in the wooded area, Wisconsin has 31 instead of 29 jDcr cent. The comparison is thus tabulated: 1880. , 1870. states. Acres in farms. Acres in ■woodland. It 1 Acres in 1 farms. \ 1 1 Acres in w-oodland. Michigan 13, 80r, 240 15,353,118 13, 403, 019 24, 752, 700 9, 944, 826 4, 452, 265 4. 768, 046 2, 030, 726 2, 755, 290 321, 566 32 31 15 11 3 10, 019, 142 11, 715, 321 6, 483, 828 15,541,793 2, 073, 781 4, 080, 146 3, 437, 442 1, 336, 299 2, 524, 793 213, 374 41 29 21 16 Nebraska 10 Total • 77, 260, 903 14, 327, 893 18 45,833,865 11, 592, 054 25 AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. 7 The belt including latitudes 37° to 41° through which runs the Ohio Eiver extended westward across the Mississippi Kiver, shows a decrease from 34 to 26 per cent.; greatest in Ohio and Indiana, as follows: 1880. 1 1870. states. Acres in farms. Acre.s -in woodland. O m II Acies in farms. Acres in woodland. Kentucky Ohio '. 21, 495, 240 24, 529, 226 20, 420, 983 31, 673, 645 27, S79, 276 21,417,468 10,106,072 5, 982, 507 5, 935, 308 4, 935, 575 10,137,790 991, 187 47 24 29 16 36 1 5 18, 660, 106 21, 712, 420 18, 119, 648 25, 882, 861 21, 707, 220 5, 656, 879 9, 134, 6.58 6, 883, 575 7, 189, 334 5, 061, 578 8, 965, 229 635, 419 49 32 40 Illinois Missouri 20 41 11 Total 147, 415, 838 38, 088, 439 26 i 111, 739, 134 37, 869, 793 34 In the eastern section, Maine shows an increase from new farms in Aroostook County and other northern counties, but it has been de- nuded of heavy timber and left for new growths, and therefore makes a deceptive showing. New York shows a decrease from 26 to 22 per cent., and Pennsylvania fro*m 32 to 29, as follows: . 1880. 1870. ^H . C4-1 . States. om OJ§ Acres in Acres in S.3 Acres in Acres in a c8 farms. •woodland. o a farms. woodland. ° a t-i 1- ® rf P-(=" PL, =2 Maine 6, 552, 578 2, 682, 296 41 5, 838, 058 2. 224, 740 38 3, 721, 173 1, 296 529 35 3 605 994 1 047 090 29 4, 882, 588 1, 503 467 31 i 528' 804 1 386 934 31 Kew York 23, 780, 754 5, 195, 795 22 22, 190 810 5 679 870 26 19, 791, 341 5, 810, 331 29 17,994,200 5, 740, 864 32 Total 58, 728, 434 16, 488, 418 28 54, 157, 866 16, 079, 498 30 Taking the States by groups the inequality of forest distribution is strikingly shown. The following statement divides the woodlands re- ported on farm areas as follows : states. Acres in farms. Acres in woodland. Per cent. of farm land. 'New England Middle South Atlantic Gulf aud Southern ... Ohio Valley and Lake Trans-Mississippi Pacific Kocky Mountain Total 21, 483, 772 47,592,113 90,117,393 112, 004, 983 137, 473, 231 97, 397, 289 21, 339, 316 8, 673, 738 7, 31.5, 730 11, 993, 317 49, 339, 653 59, 078, 032 42,360,123 16, 236, 559 3, 115, 924 816, 406 536, 081, 835 190, 255, 744 34 25 55 53 31 17 15 09 AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. CHANGES BY YEARS. The following tables give a list of the States showing cbauges often years both in farm and woodland areas: 'New York New Jersey Pennsylvauia Delaw Marvland i 1-634; Virginia j ». 126, North Carolina ., 13, 8(38, South Carolina 7,255, 15, 269 Georiiia Florida.. 2, 186, South Atlantic ' 49,339 Alabama . . . Mississippi Louisiana... Texas Arkansas . . Tennessee . Gulf and Southern . West Virginia . Kentucky Ohio Michigan Indiana Illinois Wisconsin Ohio Valley and Lake . Minnesota Iowa Missouri . . . Kansas Nebraska . Trans-Mississippi - Colorado Arizona Dakota Idaho Montana New Mexico . Utah Washington . Wyoming Indian Kooky Mountain . California - Oregon Nevada . . . Pacific Coast. United States 190,255,744 10, 430 9, 144 4, 557, 15, 851 7,861 11, 232 59, 078, 6, 180, 10, 106 5,1 4, 452, 5, 935 4, 935 4, 768, 42, 360, 2, 030 2, 755 10, 137 991 321 16, 236, 44^ 13 80 11 3 219, 2 437 1, 672, 1,424 18, 3, 115 32 46 62 54 59 66 55 58 55 44 65 54 53 123 31 924 17 4 10 2 4 1 35 0.4 31 0.4 18 AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. 9 Of the value aud importance of the forests covering* these areas let me say : Next to the white pine of the northern forests, the most valuable tree is undoubtedly the Phius australis, or long-leafed pine of the southern coast lauds, forming a belt of varying breadth, up to 100 aud 150 miles from the Atlantic and Gulf shores. It is the Georgia piue of builders, preferred for flooring aud heavy frame-work, aud is still found in pristine vigor aud abundance over a large area from ^STorfolk to Gal- veston. These pine lands are uow eagerly sought for by American and English capitalists, are rapidly taken up for manufacturing operations or on specnlative acconnt, and are rising in value. They have been held for luauy years by tlie General Government at piices ranging from 12^ cents to $1.25 i^er acre, tiie former being for lauds that had been opened to nuirket for a certain period. This is the turpentine })ine of North Carolina, where the business of distilling turpentine aud nuiking tar aud rosin has long- been profitable. It is also carried on, though in isolated enterprises, in other portions of this coast belt. TURPENTINE PINE. The products of the year ending April, 1880, are thus estimated by Mr. A. H, Van Bokkelen : States. ! Turpentine. Rosin. Gallnns. , : 6,279,200 Barrels. 663, 907 333 940 i 4, 593, 200 ! 3,151,500 277 500 , 1,036,350 68 281 2,005,000 158 482 250 000 20 000 250 000 20, OoO Total United States 17 Sfin ann 1 542 110 The Southern pine will come into still greater prominence as railroad and steamboat lines extend facilities for transportation, which is now being done with great rapidity. The condition of the pine-lumber supply of the United States in con- nection with the statements I have made is interesting. The destruc- tion of this tree by fire and the ax of the settler and the lumberman is very great. Together with the spruce it is being rapidly consumed, and I think the following figures will show that the supply is to be ob- tained hereafter by allowing an exhausted region time to recuperate, whilethe comparatively uncut sections are resorted to for filling the de- mands of the market. Investigations recently made show that the supply of pine in New Hampshire and Vermont is exhausted, and that the spruce lumber, at the rate the cutting is now going on, will last in the former State but 7 years, and in the latter but 4. In the State of Maine the pine will last 4 years and spruce 15 years. In South Carolina the pine forests will last 50 years at the present rate of cutting ; in Cali- fornia, 150 years; in Arkansas, 300 years; in Pennsylvania, 15 years; in 10 AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. Geoi\2fia, SO years; in Louisiana, 100 years ; in ISTorth Carolina, 50 years; in Wisconsin, 20 years; in Michigan, 10 years; in Minnesota, 10 years; in Mississippi, 150 years; in Alabama, 90 years ; in Florida, 30 years; in Texas, 250 years. That the exhausted forests in this list of States can be restored in time there is no doubt; and every means of cultivation and protection should be applied by the people and the Government, both State and Federal, each in accordance with its own jurisdiction. FEARS OF A TIMBER FAMINE UNFOUNDED. We should not forget, however, that while the demand for timber is imperative and increasing with increase of population, requiring the fostering care of the Government and the enlightened enterprise of timber-growers in promoting the progress of forest culture, there may be danger of assuming too hastilj' a prospective timber famine, and fabulous prices for fuel, even with the foregoing striking estimates be- fore us. It should be remembered that thus far the exhaustion of lumber re- lates mainly to the white pine. It may be found, when the great i^ineries shall be cut over, that the outcome is greater than was assumed, and that isolat'.'d patches of pine in mixed forests, and the second growths and remnants from first cuttings, may suffice to delay the threatened famine. The black-walnut, culled from western forests to meet a limited though important demand, is really becoming scarce on the northern side of the O^io Valley; but on the southern, along the foot-hills and in the valleys of the Appalachian range, it is abundant and almost untouched. It grows rapidly in the Western States even beyond the Missouri, and is destined to be the source of wealth to the future tree-grower. The millions of acres of existing forests on this great eastern chain of mountains have not yet been considered in the statistics of forestry here presented. Their resources have never been measured, are yet com- paratively unknown, and almost untouched by the axe of the woodman. As railroads penetrate these mountain fastnesses in the Virginias, the Carolinas, Kentucky and Tennessee, bonanzas of forest production will respond to the call of enterprise, and enrich the proprietor-woodsman and manufacturer. In addition to this, the white pine of Minnesota is estimated at 6,100,000,000 feet exclusive of isolated timber in birch lands and amidst other hard-wood growth. In Michigan the estimates for the lower peninsula cover 7,000,000,000 feet in the Saginaw district, 8,000,000,000 on the streams flowing into Lake Huron, and 14,000,000,000 on those flowing into Lake Michigan. The upper peninsula contains 6,000,000,000 more, making 35,000,000,000 feet in the principal pine dis- tricts of Michigan. The great pine forests of Wisconsin are estimated to contain 41,000,- 000,000 feet of lumber, the largest proportion in the Chippewa and Wis- consin districts. They cover an area of 22,500,000 acres. The northern AMERICAN F0RP:STRY CONGRESS. 11 border of the pine area is less productive tliau the areas of lower lati- tudes. The cedar swamps of Wisconsin scattered through the pine belt are estimated to cover ],3(>5,0')0 acres, and to contain 02,800,000 posts, telegrai)h i)oles, and railrotul ties. There are also large supplies of tam- arack, and spruce, and valuable oak timber, especially in Dunn, Pierce, and Saint Croix Counties, and other hard woods are abundant through the southern border of the wooded districts. The united area of the States south of Maryland and tlie Ohio River is more than 500,000,000 acres, containing nearly 400,000,000 acres of forest lauds. The farm area of these States is 228,000,000 acres, con- taining 123,000,000 acres of ^Toodland. Denude any portion of this forest surface, and trees spring up spontaneously and grow rapidly. There are millions of acres of young forests in the South in which the corn-hills are almost as prominent as when the waving corn occupied the surface. Nature abhors a vacuum of broom-sedge, the first growth of abandoned fields, and speedily replaces it with a forest of pines. Intelli- gent land-owners of this region have estimated an average growth of a cord of wood per acre each year, or twenty cords of wood per acre in twenty years. Is there immediate danger then of scarcity of fuel in a country where more than two-thirds of the entire area is wooded ; and when nature is so kiiul and so prolific in forest farms, cannot the supplemen- tary hand of man aid in providing even a sufliciency of timber for the wants of coming generations'? PRESERVATION OF FORESTS. But notwithstanding this somewhat encouraging view, much remains to be done for the preservation of our forests. The waste by careless cutting, bj^ fires, by settlers clearing the land for agricultural puj-poses, is enormous. Thus far this has not been checked to any great degree. Local and federal legislation, diffusion of knowledge, the manifest de- struction of valuable property have not yet been able to bring the for- ests within the pale of well protected possessions under the law. Often has the remedy been pronounced by those who have devoted their lives to the study of this industry, and often have laws been passed which seemed to afford a remedy for the existing evil. But still the work of destruction goes on. It now remains, as it seems to me, for the public mind to be brought to a true understanding of the value of the property itself and of the disaster which would attend its destruction. That protection can be secured in the States by associations like this, by i^ractical men en- gaged in planting trees and preserving their woodlands, by bounties for successful tree-culture, by the distribution broadcast of bulletins and pamphlets, there can be no doubt. On the best method of legislation it is not easy to decide. Bounties based on exemption from taxation have not had the desired effect, the tree-planting having served more as a mode of evading taxation than as a means of developing an industry 12 AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. uuder the stimulus of protectiou. Aud of oue county iu Iowa it is said "the experience of the board of supervisors justifies them in the opin- ion that forest culture in our county would advance as rapidly without as with the exemption laws." On the other hand the State auditor de- clares that: "there can be no question but that this law of our State has grately stimuhited the planting of forest trees aud orchards too;'^ and that "if advantage could be taken of its popularity by inducing jjlanter to set out a better class of trees, such as ash, walnut, &c., more good would thereby be accomplished." Connecticut, Dakota, i^Tevada, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and other States, have all passed acts encouraging tree-planting, either by bounty or exemption. Encour- agement has also been largely offered by agricultural associations in most of the States, and great attention has been given to the proper se- lection of trees for each locality. The introduction of new varieties of forest- trees has beeu carefully considered also; and the habits of trees, native and foreign, have been made matters of the most diligent study, both by those who are governed by scientific zeal and those who are en- engaged in developing a practical industry. Of the efforts of the Fed- eral Government to preserve and develop the forests on the public lands of the United States much has been said. THE TIMBER-CULTURE ACT. On the working of the timber-culture act it is unnecessary for me to dwell. But I think I can, with profit, submit some suggestions, made by the Land Office, with regard to "timber depredations!' and the laws to prevent them. On this point the Land Commissioner, in his report of 1882, says: While much has been accomplished iu the direction of suppressing the uulawful cutting and removing of timbers from the public lauds, I am of the opiuiou that bet- ter results can be obtained in the future; particularly so if some general and compre- hensive law could be passed clearly defining who may take timber from the public lauds, the purposes for which it may be cut and removed, and ])rescribing the punish- ment for unlawfully cutting, removing, or in any way wantonly destroying or injur- ing any timber growing, or being upon any of the public lands, or in any way causing or inciting such trespass. Such law should also establish the terms and conditions upon which any compromise or settlement should be authorized. A law of this nature "would be more generally understood and comprehended than the several different enactments relating to this subject now in force, and could be more easily and evenly administered. This is recommended because it is difdcult to get competent and reliable special timber agents under the existing laws, and because the offenses are committed too often under cover of the homestead entries fraudulent! 3' made for the purpose of securing the timber on the lands. I think the difficulty in this matter lies in the fact that no value is set ur)on the timber itself as a piece of Government property. It has been assumed that Government does not desire to make the timber a source of revenue or profit, and that in the survey of lands no discrimina- AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. 13 tioii should be made on the score of existing resources. This policy may be wise and necessary, but it is not thrifty. Early in the history of the (jrovernmeut public lands were sold, as in the case of the sale to the Ohio Company, in 1787, for the purpose of replenishing the public treasury. And while Congress has exercised great liberality in the donation of lands for various enterprises, still the fact remains that this landed possession is of great financial .importance. The time is gone by when the standing timber of the country, either on public or private domain, can be considered an obstruction to be removed by the ax and fire to make way for crops of another description. There is a valne attached to it equal to that of an}" crop known — a value which should in some way be considered in the transfer of public lands to settlers and purchasers. Whenever, in anj" way a recognized value is attached to the timber itself, be it large or small, its protection and preservation by the Government becomes a natural consequence, and wanton destruction by the ax and fires may be ])revented. Government now offers a bonnty for planting trees by its timber act, and makes no adequate provision for the preservation of the valuable forests standing on unoccupied lands. It seems as if this case might be met by some form of legislation. The timber-culture act was passed March 3, 1873, amended March 13, 1874, and again June 11, 1878, since which date 75,045 entries have been made, of the aggregate of 93,240, since the first passage of the act. The area covered by these entries is 13,677,140 acres, of which 4,890,802 are in Dakota, 3,591,775 in Kansas, and 2,-338,155 in Nebraska. In 1882 the entries amounted to 2,500,080 acres, more than half of which were in Dakota. The distribution of the aggregate entries is as follows: states and Territories. Entries. Acres. Arizona Arlcaiisas California. .. Colorado ... Dakota Idaho Iowa Kansas . . .. Louisiana . .. Minnesota .. Montana .. Nebraska . .. Nevada . . . . New Mexico Oregon TTtah W.Tshincton Wisconsin . . Wj'ouiing . . . Total . 93,246 11, 866. 08 231. 92 168,413.53 15.3,373.87 , 890, 802. 15 141,903.25 5.5, 151. 51 , 594, 775. 49 3, 417. 85 , 510, 382. 56 63, 273. 25 ,3.58,1.55.60 4, 120. 00 11,619.13 232, 9.54. 86 16, 144. .59 476, 841. 52 40.00 3, 679 21 13, 677, 146. 37 THE NECESSITY OF PRESERVING AND REPLANTING FORESTS. In the report of R. W. Phipps, esq., of Toronto, on "The necessity of preserving and replanting forests," I find a sketch of forests and their 14 AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. management in other countries, to which I call your attention as one of the most comprehensive statements we have had on this subject. His sketch, which is here abridged, is taken from an extensive report of Captain Walker, a gentleman who passed nine months on the conti- nent, by direction of the English Government, for that i)urpose. From Mr. Phipps I learn that in Piano ver there are 900,000 acres of forest, under government or state management, belonging to the church and to municipalities. The care and working of these forests costs about $050,000 annual]}". The receipts therefrom are $1,500,000, and the i^rofit is about $850,000, about $1,50 i)er acre per annum. The ofli- cers in charge are a forest director, an over-forest master, 20 forest masters, 112 over- foresters having charge of districts of seven or eight thousand acres each, 403 assistant, foresters. A systenmtic plan for the management of the forest is adopted. After a forest lias, by tliiuniiig, planting, and so forth, been gradually got into })er- fect order, the system of natural reproduction forms a great part of the German method. It is as follows: The rotation and periods are fixed iu the working plan. For beech it is, in Hanover, 120 j^ears, divided into six periods of 2U years each — that is to say, when the forest has been brought into order there should be nearly equal areas under crop of trees in each of the six periods, from one year to twenty, from twenty to forty, and so on. When a block arrives in the last period, fellitig is commenced by what is called a pre- paratory clearing, followed by a "clearing lor light" in the first year after seed has fallen, with the object of (1) pfeparing the ground for the seed, (2) allowing it to germinate, (3) affording light to the young seedlings. If there is a good seed year and sufficient rain, the ground should be covered with seedlings in two or three years after the first clearing; but it is better generally to wait for a second year, and aid nature by hand-sowing, transplanting from patches of many to the barer spots, and turning up the turf to give the seeds a better chance of germinating. When the ground is well covered, the old trees are felled and carefully removed, so as to do as little damage as possible to the new crop, and the block recommences life, so to speak, nothing further being done till the first thinning. The time allowed between the first and final clearings is from eight to fifteen years. * * * In these forests can be seen all the periods of growth — nurseries and schools for seedlings. In Prussia there are twenty millions of acres of forests, ten millions of which are private, and the remainder, with which we have more to do, state, commnnial, and ecclesiastical. Of these the income is $14,000,000, and the expenses $7,500,000, leaving $0,500,000 clear. The forests in Prussia as m Hanover form joart of the finance department, and are p^;esided over by an overland-forest-master and ministerial di- rector, aided by a revenue councillor and joint ministerial director, and a numerous council or board. There are two forest academies, one near Berlin and one in Hanover. There are 12 provinces in Prussia, divided into 30 circles, each having an over- forest master. These represent the forest department in local administrations, which as a board represents the forest interests in the government. In order to be a forest-master, the lowest of the gazetted appoint- AMEEICAN FORFSTEY CONGRESS. 15 ments, 5 years without pay are required to be giveu in study, witb but meager pay when employed, yet candidates are uumerous. lu some i)roviuces the Prussian Government bas certain rigbta con- cerning tbe management of private forests; in otbers, none. In Saxony tbe state forests are nearly 400,000 acres, worked at an expense of $500,000, receiving $1,750,000, leaving a clear rental of $3 per acre. Tbe expenditure is ])lauting, draining, roads, improvement of inferior woods, felling, transport, kiUing insects, &c. About 5,000 are planted yearly, at an average cost of $7.50 per acre. The oflBcial establishment resembles that of Hanover. There is a forest academy at Tharandt with a separate staff of professors. In Bavaria the state forests cover 3,000,000 acres. They return, after paying all exi)enses, about $1.50 per acre per annum. About 30,000 acres are planted or sown annually, taking 35,000,000 plants and 1,000,000 pounds of seed. Persons found guilty of breach of forest rules have been punished by enforced labor in the woods. Private for- est rights are being bought up by the government. The system of man- agement is much the same as that previously described. In Austria the state forests have been largely sold to meet state ne- cessities, but there still remain nearly 2,000,000 productive acres, which yield, however, after expenses are paid, little over twenty-five cents per acre. The existing establishments of forestry are not uniform, but there are about l,2iiO employes, of whom 22 are forest-masters. Scientific forestry is not so far advanced here as in Germany, but officials are busily introducing a reorganization, by means of which, there is no doubt, it will be on a par with other states. The Austrian crown forests have been neglected. There has been till now no attempt at rotation of blocks, or working in periods. The present director is trying hard to change matters for the better. He is planting up many bare or ill-cov- ered tracts, where natural reproduction is impossible, owing to the ab- sence of standard trees. In the Grand Duchy of Baden there is a most interesting private forest belonging to the Prince of Furstenburgh, in the Black Forest. There are about 72,000 acres in charge of IS foresters and over-foresters, who have many subordinates. The administration of forests in France is intrusted to the ministry of finance, and the head of the department is the director-general, as- sisted by two administrators, one charged with the management of the forests and the sale of the products, the other with the police of the forests and the forest laws. Tne forests under the management of the bureau (state or commerce) are about 7,500,000 acres. Also, there are in France 15,000,000 acres of private forests. The saw-mills in the for- ests are usually owned by the government, and hired at a certain rate to the wood merchants, who buy the cuttings. The school of forestry at Nancy is said to be one of the best in the world. The French Gov- ernment have, at great expense, replanted vast and almost barren dis- 16 AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. tricts; tliej^ have also established great forests along the seashore where formerlj^ the sand threatened to destroy whole departments, and have averted the evil. In Eussia, the government own about 330,000,000 acres of woods, and other parties 150,000,000. About 40 percent, of the country (Rus- sia in Europe) is timbered. The immense government woods have been placed under the care of the minister of public domains, who has a director of the forest department, and the organization of the service is very complete. Two special schools of agriculture and forestry have been established; one at St. Petersburg, and one near Moscow. Italy has over 5,000,000 acres of communal forests, over 0,000,000 of private forests, and only 500,000 acres of state forests. One-fifth of the land is in forest. ]n Switzerland, the waste of forests has been more rapid and destruc- tive than any other country in Europe, and in none, perhaps, has this been followed by more disastrous results. Public attention has, how- ever, been thoroughly awakened, and active measures are in progress to remedy, as far as may be, these evils. The cantons which have charge of these operations have for some time, at great expense, been con- structing works to control the streams, and planting trees wherever practicable. The description of the forests in the British Isles, as given by Captain Walker, from whom Mr. Phipps obtained his facts, is most interesting, and shows, as do those to which I have already referred, that the busi- ness of forestry is entitled to the most careful consideration of states and individuals. VARIETY AND AGE. In the practical work of planting forest trees there would seem to be a propriety in following the example of nature and giving variety, mix- ing trees of early maturity with those of great longevity, that the for- mer may be cut when the great size of the latter should command an ampler space. Thus afterthe usual consecutive thinnings for hoop-poles, fence posts, railroad ties, or other purposes, the mature trees of the genus of least longevity could be taken out, leaving the veterans of the plan- tation to mature their more valuable crop of heavy timber. In this connection the consideration of the proper age for cutting with profit is important. Mr. Michie reports his recent observation of a plantation in Great Britain sixty-five years old, partly cut down, in which 85 per cent, of a growth of mixed hard woods was deceased from over ripeness. The plantation should have been cut at fifty years. The proprietor all this time was losing a part of the value of his wood, and losing the growth of fifteen years of young trees. He cites an example of an ash growth the root cuts of which were ''tough as whalebone" at fifty-five years, while at seventy-five all toughness had disappeared and more than half its value lost. It should have been cut down and replanted at the age first named. The ash should have a clean and straight stem, and be cut while yet in rapid growth and full vitality. AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS.' 17 In Eiijiland, the larch, asli. and pophir, are ripe at fifty to sixty years, while the oaks planted among them may coutinue to grow one hundred to one hundred and fifty years, and a second crop of the earlier matur- ing species be matured among the oaks. Mr. Michie places the mature age of the elm at eighty to one hundred years. METEOROLOGICAL INFLUENCES. The influence of forests on rainfall has been so frequently and exhaust- ively discussed that little of value can here be added. From ten thou- and observations made in Parana the mean annual temperature of the forest soil was found to be 21° lower than in the open field, and the mean annual temperature of the atmosphere of the forest 10° lower than in the open field. Relative moisture was found to be 6 per cent, greater than in the open field, 9 per cent, in summer and 5 in the other seasons. In the mountain regions the difference was greater than at lower elevations. It is not necessary to assume that forests induce a heavier rainfall, or even to show that they influence locally the distribution of rain, to prove their beneficence in regulating the moisture available for the use of ag- riculture. The foliage of forests resists the violence of storms, breaks the force of the rainfall which percolates through the covering of leaves and moss, and is absorbed b}^ the humus beneath to be given out by the slow j)rocess of retarded evaporation, the surplus finding its way to the springs deep in the earth. In an open field the storm beats with un- broken violence upon a surface impacted and hardened under the rays of the sun, fails to penetrate the soil, and rushes on in turbid streams down the slopes to swell the brooks and rivers, and instead of refreshing the earth scarifying and wasting it. The world is full of examples of once verdant and productive areas which have become burned and blackened deserts. The gradual des- iccation of the once green and productive islands of the West Indies, Santa Cruz and Saint Thomas, which has been progressive for many years, is the result of the destruction of primitive forests. The little island of Curagoa, where rich plantations, beautiful villas, and terraced gardens have given place to aridity and desolation because of the ex- port of its valuable timber, is a striking illustration of the changes wrought by forest destruction. The entire coast of the Mediterranean, once the garden of the world, has been blighted into comparative bar- renness by the denudation of the forest areas. A portion of this ter- ritory, the Karst region of Southern Austria, bordering on the Adriatic, has been the scene of extensive reaftbresting work by the Austrian Government. Centuries ago it was covered with magnificent oak for- ests, and furnished piles and ship-building timber to Venice during her brilliant maritime career. So dense was the forest upon the Istrian coast that a squirrel could traverse it for miles on the branches of the trees. It was plundered systematically by Venetian spoilers till the whole region was reduced to barrenness and poverty. For a score of 4408 LOR 2 18 AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. miles nortli of Trieste the soil itself was waslied away by the floods after the exportation of timber had been followed by relentless fires^ leaving the bare rock in rugged masses as the sole covering of the sur- face. The work of restoration, commenced nearly twenty years ago^ was one of exceeding difficulty. Exposure to sun and rain had ex- hausted the fertility of any remaining forest humus; the underlying masses of chalk were seamed and honej'combed with cavities requiring a mixture of underlying clay to sprout either grass-seed or tree-seed. Millions of trees were annually supplied by the Government nurseries of Austrian pine, ash, larch, and other varieties, and year after year the slow and patient effort has been continued with results that promise the ultimate renovation of a vast area of several hundred thousand trees, though the blasted district is yet a scene of comparative desola- tion, requiring millions of treasure and years of patient labor to restore a tithe of its profusion of forest wealth. The productive capacity of the United States is due not alone to the great fertility of its central areas but, in a large measure, to the amount and reasonable distribution of the rainfall. The lower latitudes, the Southern States, where high temperatures prevail and evaporation is greatest, have a rainfall of 40, 50, and 60 inches annually, with a liberal distribution through the summer months. The lake region and the Ohio basin have less, yet a good supply, suited to more temperate con- ditions, a lower temperature and less evaporation. Yet the droughts that occasionally prevail, and which are most severe on the borders of the wooded belt, as in Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois, should ad- monish us to avail ourselves of the local benefits of forests in the equal- ization and conservation of the rainfall actually received. Some of the States have less than the rule of the Duke of Burgundy requires : " One-third to the hunter, two-thirds to the husbandman.'^ The rule of William Penn, one acre in woods for five acres cleared for agricultural lands, exclusive of the wooded hills and mountain forests,. was not materially less. Yet Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut in New England have less than a third of the farm lands in forest ;^ New York, 22 per cent. ; New Jersey, 24 ; Pennsylvania, 29 ; Delaware,^ 26; Ohio but 24 j)er cent.; Michigan, 32; Indiana, 29; Illinois, 16. These are originally wooded States, except a part of Indiana and Illinois. The necessity of a careful and accurate cultivation and restoration of Our forests is now recognized by all. For three-quarters of a cen- tury we have been busily engaged in the business of lumbering; th& time has now come when we must turn our attention to the business^ of forestry. The great wood crop, wliich nature lavished on our ances- tors, has been so diligently gathered that all our ingenuity will be taxed to continue the necessary supply for the growing wants of a rapidly increasing population. It is to this point tliat this association should especially turn its attention. It is to this point that I have directed the work of the Forestry Division in the United States Department of Agriculture for the devehjpment of the forest industry of this country. APPENDIX THE FORESTS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT IN OTHER COUNTRIES. [Frovi the report of E. "W. Phipps, Esq., Toronto.] HANOVER. Its forests uuder State maiiagenient amoiiut to 900,000 acres. Some are Goverumeut, some church, some belong to mnuicipalities or communes. Government manages the forests hy oflQcers appointed, while the community pay four cents per acre towards the pay of the officers. The method appears to be that of giving the owners as much wood, pasture, or litter for manure as their original right to the forest entitled them to; but to give it at the hands of Government ofiflcials. If the forest is of sufficient extent to employ a special officer, the commune, instead of the four cents, are charged his pay and allowances, as well as other working charges. The Government forests are about 600,000 acres of the above, and the cost of work- ing and all expenses is about $6.50,000 annually, the receipts being $1,500,000 and the- proiit therefore $650,000, or, taking the actual tigures, about $1.50 per acre per annum. This, of course, takes no account of the value of the laud, or what it might rent or sell for if cleared. Hanover is a province of Prussia. The head office is therefore in Berlin. The forest establishment of Hanover consists of 1 forest director and over-forest master, who is also a councillor; 20 forest-masters in charge of circles or divisions, forming also a board of management in all forest matters; 112 over-foresters in charge of forest districts (rerier), averaging seven or eight thousand acres each ; 403 foresters who assist the over- foresters, and have charge of portions of a district; 343 overseei-s, nndei'-for- esters, Ae., employed in watching and protecting the forest, and supervising the- work which is executed by hired weekly or daily labor, or on contract under super- vision of the fixed establishments. A cash-keeper is attached to each over-forester,, who receives and disburses all moneys out of the forest cash chest, with which the over-forester has nothing to do, although his accounts should, of course, tally with those of the cash-keeper. For payment of laborers, &c.,he gives orders on the cash- kee^ier, whose books are examined by the forest-master in charge of the division, ami accounts rendered to the head office in Hanover and thence to Berlin. All the forests have been surveyed, valued, and. divided into blocks in this manner : Besides those already enumerated, there is, for the sole purpose of measuring, valu- ing, and framing working plans for the forest, a superintendent, draughtsman, and clerks, generally practical foresters, and a staff of surveyors and forest valuators, who are generally candidates for the position of over- forester. When a forest was about to be taken in hand and worked systematically, a surveyor and valuator were dispatched to the spot, the former working under the directions of the latter, who placed himself in comnuinication with the local forest officer and the- inhabitants interested, and obtained from them all the information in his power. The surveyor first surveyed the whole district, then the different divisions as pointed! out by the valuator, who defined them according to the description of the timber standing, and any conditions affecting the nature of the trees to be grown in future. 19 20 AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. While the surveyoi- did this, the valuator valued the trees, formed a register of rights with a view to coiucnatation, considered the best plan of working the forest, the roads, in fact, all which enabled hiui to foim a plan for the head office, and a subor- dinate plan to be handed over to the executive officer as his "standing orders." The valuator and surveyor return to headquarters, and prepare the maps and plans, •which are submitted to the board of forest-masters, the forest-director, and other -councillors of the finance department, who are thus prepared to listeu to any objec- tion^ made by communities or individuals, which are very rarely made now, as the people have learned that the action of the officers is not adverse to their interests, and are willing to allow them to settle matters. The executive officer has thus in his hands ma^is showing each division of the forest tract in his charge, and instructions — the quantity to be felled yearly, the extent to be planted, the state in which the forest should be ten, twenty, or a hundred years after the ])lans were made, all calculated — so that the over-forester has only to carry out the instructions given him, allowance being made for unavoidable difficulties — failure of seed, occurrence of storms, and the like. The forest-masters have no executive work, but control four to six over-foresters, of whose labors they make frequent reports to the director (both in forest and office work). The over-foresters give annual reports of ojjerations. They spend most of their time in the forest, supervising the felling; planting,' sowing, thinning, carting, and selling of timber. The laying down of roads is done by a forest officer, but the actual work is carried out by the local officer, who has also much office work, giving grazing licenses, etc., and preparations of returns ; but his work is out of doors com- pared to that of the forest- master, who has more office work, comparing operations and rates in the districts, collecting statistics, settling disputes, and as a member of the forest committee, revising working plans. The main object aimed at in any scientilic forestry is to convert the natural forest consisting of trees, young and old, good and bad, too thick and too thin, into blocks of trees of the better description, of the same age, and capable of being worked — that is, thinned out, felled, and reproduced, or replanted, in succession, a block being taken in hand each year. In carrying out such a system, considerations must be attended to, such as the relation of the block to the whole forest system; the needs of the peo- ple in timber, firewood, leaves for manure, and pasturage; the soil, the situation as regards winds (which must be attended to in felling to lessen damage), and precau- tions against insects, fire, trespass, or theft. The plans need revising every twenty years, though it is marvelous to notice to what an extent the original scheme has generally answered. After a forest has (to give some idea of management), by thinning, planting, and se forth, been gradually got into perfect order as described, the system of natural repro. duction forms great i)art of the German method. It is as follows: The rotation and periods are fixed in the working plan. For beech " hochwald" it is in Hanover one hundred and twenty years, divided into six periods of twenty years each ; that is to say, when the forest has been brought into order there should be nearly equal areas under crop of trees in each of the six periods — that is, from one yea-^ to twenty ; from twenty years to forty, and so on. When a block arrives in the las period, felling is commenced by what is called a preparatory clearing, followed by a "clearing for light" in the first year after seed has fallen (the beech seeds every fourth or fifth year), with the .object of, (1), preparing the ground for the seed; (2), allowing it to germinate; (3), affordiag light to the young se'edliugs. If there is a good seed-year and sufficient rain, the ground should be covered with seed, lings in two or three years after the first clearing; but it is better generally to wait for a second seed-year, and aid nature by hand-sowing, transplanting from patches of many to the barer spots, and turning up the turf to give the seeds a better chance of germinating. When the "round is well covered the old trees are felled and carefullv removed, so AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. 21 as to do as little damage as possible to tbe new crop, and the block recommences life, so to speak, nothing further being done till the lirst thinning. The time allowed be- tween the lirst and final clearings is from eight to fifteen years. But in many provinces they do away with this system, and remove the old trees so gradually that there can hardly be said to be any clearing at all, the new crop of trees being well advanced before the last of the old trees is removed. In these forests can be seen all the periods of growth — nurseries and schools for seedlings, which are transferred thither, at the age of two to four years, fronj the seed beds, and are pruned and transplanted as often as seems required till finallj- planted out, sometimes not till twelve or fourteen years old. There are many methods of planting adopted here. Tlie steepest and most rocky sides of the hills are covered with forests, which have been created by the labors of the forest department. In many such places, where even the few haudfuls of soil placed round the young tree had to be carried some distance, it is not contended that the first plantations will yield a pecuniary profit, but the improvement in climate by the retention of the moisture and reclamation of large tracts formerly barren and unproductive is taken into account; besides which the dropping of leaves and needles from the trees will ere long create a soil and vegetation, and insure the success of plantations in future years and consequent surplus. Prussia has 20,000,000 of acres of forests, 10,000,000 of which are private, and the remainder, -with which we have more to do, state, commercial, and ecclesiastical. Of these the income is $14,000,000, and the expenses .|7,.500,000, leaving $6,500,000 clear. This will not show much, in fact not more than G5 cents per acre, but there are other returns of more than mere yearly revenue imjiortauce. When it is consid- ered that this result is arrived at without trenching on tho capital or stock of timber in the forests which, on the contrary, is being increased and improved in every province of the kingdom, and that the indirect value to the people of many forest privileges, which they exercise free of charge, must be very great, not to mention the benefit to all in the shape of public recreation grounds and an improved climate, some idea may be arrived at of the enormous value and benefit such a system of state forests must confer on Prussia. The forests, as alrea(Jy stated concerning Hanover, form part of the finance depart- ment, and are presided over by an overland-forest-master and ministerial director, aided by a revenue councillor and joint ministerial director, and a numerous council or board. There are two forest academies, one near Berlin and one in Hanover. The over- land-forest-master is curator of tho academies, and at the head of each is an over- forest-master, who is aided by a numerous staff of professors and assistant professors. There are twelve provinces in Prussia, divided into thirty circles, and to each an over-forest-master, who is appointed to represent the forest department in the council of local ad'i inistration, and is aided by councillors and by the forest-masters as a board, to represent foi'est interests in the Government. Next in order come the forest- masters, numbering 108, in charge of divisions with an average area of 60,000 acres, and then the executive officers, 706 over-foresters, to each of whom is 7,000 acres, and to each of whom is attached a cash-keeper, and 3,646 foresters, or overseers with ranges of 1,000 to 3,000 acres. At the academy near Berlin are seven professors with assistants. There is an ex- perimental garden attached, with an over-forester in charge of the technical portion, and professors for the meteorological, zoological, and chemical sections. The number of students averages sixty-five. The varied apparatus includes a building where the set-d is dried and separated from the cones, large seed-beds of spruce, fir, and willow, full opportunities of transplanting seedlings, and examples of every kind of trees for botanical studv. 22 AMERICA*N FORESTRY CONGRESS. There i8 here a museum, rich iu specimens of all sorts of birds, animals, and insects found in the forests. In cases where the animal or insect does damage to trees, speci- mens of the branch, bark, leaf, or cone, in a healthy state, and after being attacked, are exhibited close to each, so that the students can see at a glance the nature of the damage and connect it with the animal which causes it. Thus we have squirrels, rats, beavers, mice, set up gnawing the barks, grubbing at the roots, &c. Insects are shown in the several stages of their existence — larvfe, chrysalis, caterpillar, moth, with their ramifications in the stem or branches of the tree. These, with specimen blocks of almost all descriptions of timber, form a most instructive collection. There is a forest district attached, remarkable for the growth of Scotch fir and spruce on a poor sandy soil, and in spite of repeated attacks by insects. Nothing is more remarkable than the extent of study required from forest candi- dates, and the number of years they are content to spend in studying or waiting an appointment. The would-be over-forester, which is the lowest of the gazetted ap- pointments, must pass certain terms at a Government school, a year in a district with an over-forester, an examination as forest-pupil, two years at a forest academy, an ex- amination in scientific forestry and land surveying. He is then a forest-candidate. Then two years' practical study, nine mouths of it doing duty as an actual forester ; then another examination. He is now an over-forester capdidate. The first exami- nation tests his theory; the second his practice. Then he will be occasionally em- ployed in the academies, or in charge of a district, only then getting allowances. After five years of this he may look for steady employment. Thus five years without pay are given iu study; five iu probation with but meager pay when employed, and the time is often longer, before regularly installed. Yet so great is the desire for Government — especially forest— service, that there are numer- ous candidates. The qualifications for admission into the subordinate grades — forester, sub-forester, ■overseer — have a military tendency. Candidates, after two years in the forest, enter a jager battalion, and bind themselves for twelve years' service. After three years they obtain leave, and are employed in the forest as huntsmen or gamekeepers. After eight years they must have passed the forester's test, which consists in six months' ■charge of a district, and an examination. At the end of twelve years they are dis- ■charged with a certificate entitling them to employment in the forest establishments. The appointments are much sought after, and in 1867 there were tw^o hundred and tw^enty-one applicants for one hundred and forty-five vacancies; but many are ab- sorbed by communal and private forests. In some provinces the Prussian Government has certain rights concerning the man- agement of even private forests ; iu others none. While on the subject of Prussia, it may be well here to insert some extracts from a letter received from Baron Von Steuben, a Prussian noblemen, now royal chief fores- ter of the German Empire, by the Forestry Congress, at Cincinnati, 'in April of last year. He remarks : "There can be no doubt that every country requires a certain quantity of well- stocked woods, not only to supply the demands for building material and fuel, but move especially to secure suitable meteorological conditions, to preserve the fertility of the soil, and out of sanitary considerations. The ratio of the minimum quantity and Judicious local distribution of the indispensable forest to the aggregate area can- not be expressed by a universal rule, but the same can only be approximated by scien- tific investigation. Above all things, it is essential to prevent forest destruction where such would injuriously aft'ect the fertility of the soil. It is important, then, to preserve and to cultivate judiciously those forests which stand at the head-waters and on the banks of the larger streams, because, through their indiscriminate de- struction, fluctuations in the stage of water, sand-bars, and inundations of arable, lands are occasioned. It appears also necessary to preserve and properly to cultivate AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. 23 ^•oods iu quicksands, or the summits a,nd ridges, as well as on the steep sides of mouut- aius, along the sea-coasts, and fitlier exposed localities. "In Germany, and especially iu my more narrow-bounded Fatherland, Prussia, it Is regarded as of the greatest importance, not only to preserve the forests already there, hut to extend them as much as possible. " In the national appropriation bill large sums are set apart for the purchase of such lands as are unfit for cultivation, and for utilizing the same by planting trees. "With reference to forests owned by private individuals, they are not restrained in the use of their forests, and may, according to their own judgment, clear the same and till the soil, in short, do what they like, and yet there may be certain restrictions placed on the free use of the same as soon as danger to the common welfare is feared ; these restrictions are prescribed by the law of July 5, 1875, relative to forest protec- tion. "This law is applicable in cases — "1. Where, by reason of the sandy nature of the soil, adjoining lands, or public grounds, natural or artificial courses, are in danger of being covered with sand. "2. Where, through the washing away of the soil, or through the formation of cas- cades in open places on the ridges of hills and on hillsides, the arable lauds, streets, or buildings lying below are in danger of being covered with earth or stone, or of being flooded ; or the lands or public grounds or buildings lying above are in danger of ^sliding. "3. Where, through the destruction of the forests along the banks of canals or nat- ural streams, riparian lands are in danger of caving, or buildings hitherto protected by the woods are iu danger of iceflows. "4. Where, through the destruction of forests, rivers are in danger of a diminution of the stage of the water. ".5. Where, through the destruction of forests in open places and near the lakes, neighboring fields are seriously exposed to the detrimental influences of winds. " In the cases above mentioned, which have been copied verbatim from the statute liook, the manner of use as well as the culture of forests may be legally ordered, in •order to prevent those dangers where the dangers to he averted are considerably in -excess of the damages which would result to the owner by reason of the restrictions." The state forests are nearly 400,000 acres, worked at an expense of $500,000, receiv- ing $1,750,000, leaving a clear rental of $3 per acre. The expenditure is planting, draining, roads, improvement of inferior woods, felling, transport, killing insects, &,c. About 5,000 acres are planted yearly, at an average cost of $7.50 per acre. The fixed establishment is 1 inspector, 15 over-forest-masters, 120 district foresters, 1(3 cash-keepers, 13 engineers, 27 foresters, and 83 sub-foresters. There is a forest academy at Tharandt, with a separate staff of professors. The system of planting now principally experimented on is much the same as that previously described, the young trees being several feet high before the old trees are all removed. One operation is noticeable. It was decided to convert a mixed hard- wood forest, patchy and irregular, with impoverished soil, in 1820, into a coniferous forest, and maps were drawn showing what it would be iu eighty years. Private intersecting lands have been bought up, and by 1900 the ideal chart will be actual. Already, iu place of a straggling wood, irregularly covered with timber trees of infe- rior growth, we have now a compact close forest, regularly wooded in sections of dif- ferent ages, principally spruce and Scotch tir, but containing also hue oak, ash, and beech, with straight and clean stems. In many cases the young oaks have been left where jiiues were planted, and the introduction of the latter has had a wonderfully ^ood eftect on the oaks. All private rights were abolished and compensated in these forests by a bill passed in 1832. 24 AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. BAVARIA. The state forests are 3,000,000 acres. They return, after paying all expenses, abont $1.50 per acre per annum. About 30,000 acres are planted or sown annually, taking 35,000,000 plants and 1,000,000 pounds seed. Persons found guilty of breach of forest rules';have been punished by enforced labor in the woods. Private forest rights are being bought up by the Government. The system of management is much the same as that previously described. There id a forest academy at Aschaflfenburg, with one hundred and sixty-iive students. It will be interesting to notice the injury and process of repair in the fine forests of the Spessart in Bavaria. The deterioration was caused by felling the forest trees as soon as, or before, they were mature, the impoverishment of the soil by the removal of leaves and litter, and the allowing dense underwood to grow unchecked. Inferior trees got the upper hand and prevented the growth of good, while they drained the already impoverished soil and gave nothing in return. Early in the present century the matter attracted attention, and every means have since been adopted to grow oaks, beech, and couiferae. The result is, though not yet equal to the uniforu»ity of other forests, nowhere can one find finer clumps and individual trees. Inferior trees will soon be rare in the whole forest. In remote portions where the humus had not been destroyed, the growth of beech and oak is truly magnificent, tracts of 120- year old beech and 300-year old oaks being common, the latter with clear trunks rnnniug up to a hundred feet high. "When we compare these with other portions where the crippled and stunted appearance of the trees shows tlie effect of unregulated grazing and loss of litter, burning of the decayed wood, and forest theft and mischief, or the soil and vegetation, the result is maiked. The circumstances, says the Indian com- missioner, are analogous with what has gone on in India for centuries, and is still more or less permitted. The vast extent of forests, which once clothed the hillsides and extended far oxit on the plains, and the luxuriant growth of the tropics, have hitherto, or until the last two years, prevented the gradual deterioration of our for- ests being marked or felt, but the subject has now attracted attention, and none too soon. . If any have doubts in the matter, let them visit the Spessart, study the history of its forests, and judge for themselves. The forests are sharply protected by law, the average number of prosecutions annu- ally being thirty per thous^d acres. The crimes are mischief to wood, pasture, gras?.. straw, and miscellaneous. AUSTKIA. Scientific forestry is not so far advanced as in Germany, but officials are busily in' troducing a reorganization, by means of which, there is no doubt, it will soon be on a par with other .states. The state forests have been largely sold to meet state necessities, but there still re- main nearly 2,000,000 productiA'^ acres, which yield, however, after expenses are paid^ little over twenty-five cents per acre. The existing establishments of forestry are not uniform, but there are about 1,200 employe's, of whom 22 are torest masters. Some of these have almost sinecures, while otliers have six times too much to do, and it is the same with those in the subordinate ranks. The forest academy is at Mariabruuu, near Vienna. There are about 35 students. " The collections are fine, possessing siiecimens of all instruments and appliances made use of in felling, squaring, sawing, carting, and preparing timber, models of saw-mills and machinery of all descriptions, plans of river beds improved and em- banked for floating, sluices of all sorts, dams and piers for directing rafts in their course and catchiug fire-wood, models of rafts, and specimens of home and foreign timber of all kinds. The damage done by animals and insects is also exhibited here comprehensively. There is also a forest garden attached to the academy for the in- struction of the students. AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. 25 The staff of the academy consists of the director, 13 professors and assistant pro- fessors, with subordinates in the account office, laboratory, &c. There is also a forest school at Bruhl, for training young men (of whom 8 were there) as practical foresters. The greater number of those trained here are intended for private and not for Gov- ernment service, their expenses for board and lodging being paid by noblemen and large proi^rietors, from whose estates they come and to whom they return as forest officers and workmen. The state maintains the schools and pays the professors' sal- aries, and there are no extra fees. This cannot fail to assist the intelligent manage- ment of the private forests of the empire, which are very extensive. The absence of numerous candidates for the Government forest service and the preference for private employment are noteworthy when compared with the opposite state of things in Prus- sia. The irregular promotion, lack of system, and low salaries in the Austrian forest service are the explanation. The Austrian crown forests have been neglected; they are patchy, with a low and decreasing yield per acre. There has been till now no attempt at rotation of blocks or working in periods. As is found in India, a glance at the outskirts of the forest would lead one to suppose it fairly stocked with timber, but a more careful inspection proves that this is not the case, and that only in the valleys aud more remote portions, where the soil is particularly good and the ax has not been so frequent in its inroads^ is there a fair aud regular crop. Herr Schuppitch, the present director, is trying hard to change matters, and is changing the hardwood crop, which has exhausted the soil for that class, with pine growths, which, besides, grow quicker aud pay better. He is also dividing into blocks and periods, and iilanting up many bare or ill-covered tracts, where natural repro- duction is impossible owing to the absence of standard trees. GRAND DUCHY OF BADEN. We shall now notice a private forest, that of the Prince of Furstenburgh, in the Black Forest. The receipts and expenditures are not obtainable, as are the public ones- but vve are iufonued that the forests are economically worked, and that the liberal sums expended on road-making, titting rivers for floating, housing foresters, &c., were well repaid by the facilities secured and contentment and zeal of the employ6s. In the case of this, as of other private forests, it is evident that a private individual is not burdened with considerations of policy and public good as in a state. The for- ests are, therefore, worked with the best profit compatible with their retention as capital. There are about 72,000 acres, in charge of eighteen foresters and over-foresters, who of course have many subordinates. The method employed is the slow felling and con- tinual reproduction before mentioned, a block being after forty years in clearing before all the old are replaced by new trees. Attention aud intelligence are necessary, for the seed will not grow nor the seedlings flourish without enough light, aud the forest officer must watch that they get it ; and again much greater care is needed in felling and hauling away when the trees are surrounded by lofty saplings and young trees than when the seedlings of the next crop are not more than a foot or two high. In this the axmen of the Black Forest are adepts, and the damage very slight to what it ■would be in other hands. It may be useful to describe their manner of bringing timber down the rivers. It cannot here be done when the stream is in flood; in fact, the less water in it the bet- ter so long as sufficient is stored up above to float the rafts. Reservoirs are made, and the water poured into the river bed when the raft is ready. The streams are often small, of only fifteen or twenty feet in width, and have to be prepared for floating, by being cleared of any large rocks or bowlders, aud " sleepered," if we may use the- expression, by pieces of wood firmly fixed in the bed of the stream every few yards. These iirevent the formation of lioles in the bed, and serve for the raft to slide on if it touches the bottom. The first impression of the Indian commissioner when he saw ^6 AMERICAN FORESTRY CONGRESS. Ihe float, composed of stems from twenty to sixty feet iu leugth tied together with withes at the ends and lying zigzag in the bed of a mountain stream, up aud down which they extended sixteen hundred feet, was that it was simply impossible they ever could be floated down the stream, with all its windings, and over the locks and rocks which occurred pretty frequently. It contained eight hundred aud eighty stems, •eight or ten of which abreast formed as it were a link in the raft. There were thirty links, not fastened laterally, but only at both ends to the next link. The breadth is greatest about two-thirds from the prow, which is narrow and consists of on ly three stems ■abreast, with, in front of all, a piece formed of old wood and raised out of water like the bow of a whale-boat, so as to lead the raft, aud the largest and heaviest stems placed in the broadest part and towards the stern or hinder part, which does not taper at all. There are two or three brakes, by which the speed is slacked or the rait stopped if ^needed. When all is ready, the water from above is let loose, aud the raft, perhaps not now lying in more than a foot of water, begius to, float a little but is not let go till two-thirds of the water is passed, as it is a curious fact that when let go, if there is much descent, it travels faster than the water, and has to be stopped to let the water get ahead again. The raft has ei^ht or ten men aud boys, one or two of whom stand by the master at the chief brake, on which the safety of all depends. When let go it i& exceedingly curious to see the forward part dart off at the rate of five miles an hour, and the several links which have been lying zigzag and perhaps iiigh and dry uncoil themselves and follow in its wake till the whole dashes along at great speed and apparently uncontrolled. Accidents are rare, as they are well trained f(lads of six or eight can be seen going down in miniature floats"); but for one not ac- customed to it, it is nearly impossible to stay on the raft at all, as it literally springs out of water on touching a rock, dashes round a rapid turn, or jumps a weir with a fall of several feet. Forty or fifty miles can be got over in a day if stoppages to let the water ahead are not too frequent or the stream is not swollen by rains. KEMARKS ON GERMANY. The Indian commissioner proceeds to remark on the German system of foresty. Per- liaps it will be here admissible that I make one myself. Let me say that, when we consider the immense extent and rapid growth of forests in India, the vast amount iu* Government hands, and yet find that they are so raj>idly deteriorating as to necessitate the dispatch of commissioners to Europe to learn the methods of preserving the forest, it is likely that Canada has just as much reason to bestir herself in the matter. Let us notice also, by some of the valuable tables Cajitain Walker has furnished, that in Germany and Prussia alone there are nearly 250,000,000 of acres of forests. We will well have already understood, by the foregoing pages, how di-fi'erent the great mass of these forests, with their great reserves of growing and well cared for trees, planned and prepared for many years, so that the forest can be depended on to give its regu- lar aud annual yield of valuable timber in i)erpetuity, are from our Canadian reserves, which are cut without regard to the future, and are fast disappearing before the com- bined assault of the settler and the lumberman. On asking where are we to look for a model or precedent on which to work, he replies : "To Germany, where the management of forests by the state has been carried on for hundreds of years. Not the mere planting of a few hundred acres here, or reserving a few thousand acres there, but a general system of forest management, commencing by a careful survey, stock-taking, definition and commutation of all rights and servi- tudes, careful experiments in the rate of growth, the best soil for each description of tree; in fact in every branch of the subject, and resulting in what we find to-day, Jiundreds of thousands of acres mapped, divided into periods and blocks, and worked to the best advantage both with regard to present aud future, and the annual yield of wliich uow, and for many years to come, is known and fixed to within a few hnn-