SUGAR MAPLES. One of the very finest deciduous-leaved trees of North America is the tall Sugar Maple. It can truly be called NO BETTER VARIETY CAN BE USED FOR STREET, as its growth is rapid and straight, its form symmetrical, For this reason it is well adapted for planting near build- 5534 104 No. 12. Editorial.... 177 The Pennsylvania Forestry Association, Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enactment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and National. Annual membership fee, Two dollars. Neither the membership nor the w k of this Association is intended to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become members should send their names to J. Dundas Lippincott, Chairman Membership Committee, 1012 Walnut Street, Phila. President, John Birkinbine. N the proceedings of the annual meeting of the Forestry Association, which appear on other pages of this issue, our eyes were arrested by the statement, "Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association." As it has been our privilege to be associated with the organization since the first efforts were made by some ladies, who have continued to be active spirits in the work, the statement was startling that nineteen years had passed since the initial movement in the cause of forestry in Pennsylvania. As we look over two decades we recall many seasons of discouragement and of persistent endeavor to awaken public sentiment, but we are also glad to recall seasons of elation brought about by the success of these efforts. We recall faces long since taken from among us, but the memory of the individuals who were active, earnest workers in the forestry movement lives. The Pennsylvania Forestry Association to-day has the distinction of being the oldest forestry organization in the United States which has maintained its original name and constitution. It stands to-day for the same work which it laid out Vice-Presidents, Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis, nearly two decades ago; the composition of its Richard Wood. General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock. Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. John P. Lundy. Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler. Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast. Council-at-Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Dr. Alfred L. Elwyn, Charles Hewett. Finance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W. Frazier, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul. Membership, J. Dundas Lippincott, Chairman; Mrs. George F. Baer, Edwin Swift Balch, Hon. Lucien W. Doty, Charles W. Freedley, Dr. J. T. Rothrock, W. W. Scranton, Albert B. Weimer, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S. P. Wolverton. Law, Hon. W. N. Ashman, Chairman; Henry Budd, Charles Hewett, and John A. Siner. Publication, John Birkinbine, Chairman; F. L. Bitler, Alfred S. Haines, Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder. Work, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Chairman; Mrs. George T. Heston, Miss E. L. Lundy, Mrs. John P. Lundy, William S. Kirk, and Abraham S. Schropp. County Organization, Samuel Marshall, Chairman; Eugene Ellicott, James C. Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood. OFFICE OF THE ASSOCIATION, 1012 WALNUT ST., PHILADELPHIA. membership and its method of organization have been but little changed. It was not the first forestry organization, but those which antedated it have either gone out of existence or have changed their names and been reorganized. It also has the distinction of having a larger membership than any forestry association or organization, except the American Forestry Association, which exceeds the present membership of the Pennsylvania Association about 15 per cent. In the nineteen years which have passed the organization has seen many of the reforms for which it took advanced position, and which it | earnestly supported, brought to complete fruition. It has secured the creation of a Forestry Commission and the establishment of a State Forestry Bureau, now developed into a Department of Forestry. It has seen forest reserves established and augmented in area until eleven hundred square miles of territory in Pennsylvania are now woodlands controlled by the State Government, and it has seen the forest reserves of our sister State, New York, develop until they are double the extent of those of Pennsylvania. It has seen the National Government take advanced position in forestry, maintaining a Forestry Bureau and establishing numerous reserves which will be to the advantage of future generations. The Pennsylvania Forestry Association has been active in securing the passage of legislation which protects forest lands and propagates forests, and has been able to do much towards awakening a lively interest for the preservation of wooded areas from damage by forest fires. During all of these years FOREST LEAVES has been the organ of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. What influence it has had, as such an organ, is left for our friends to decide, but we feel that continued, persistent effort towards a special object must have aided in molding public sentiment and advancing the cause of forestry. J. B. The Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. T WHE Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association was held at the room of the Association, 1012 Walnut Street, on Monday, December 12th, at 3.30 P.M. Considering the inclement weather the attendance was good. Owing to the illness of the President, Mr. Charles Potts occupied the chair. The reading of the minutes of the last annual meeting was dispensed with. The Annual Report of Council, Address of the President, the Treasurer's Statement, and the Report of the General Secretary, which will all be found on other pages of this issue, were read and ordered printed. The report of the Nominating Committee was read, and Messrs. Kirk and Trimble appointed tellers. The following officers were declared unanimously elected to serve during the coming year: President, John Birkinbine. James C. Haydon, Richard Wood. General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock. COUNCIL. At Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Adams County, C. E. Stahle. Hon. Geo. W. Guthrie, Wm. Wade. Armstrong County, R. M. Moore. Blair County, Jos. S. Sillyman. Dr. Howard Pursell. Alfred S. Haines, Wm. S. Kirk, Samuel Marshall. John Fritz, Abraham S. Schropp. Pike County, Arthur M. Adams. The Report of the Committee of Council which visited the South Mountain Reservation (which also appears in this issue) was read and discussed. After some informal remarks the meeting adjourned. Address of President of Pennsylvania Forestry Association. TH HE friends of forestry may well receive with satisfaction the announcement that the State of Pennsylvania to-day has forest reserves aggregating 700,000 acres, or 1100 square miles, an area second only to that of the forest reserves of the State of New York. There are other forest reserves held by the National Government which cover larger areas in specific States and in our insular possessions, but the advanced position of Pennsylvania is well emphasized by the acreage now in reserve. The timbered sections purchased having been carefully selected, and presumably the titles to these being beyond question, the Department of Forestry of Pennsylvania now faces the problem of administration. In some portions an administrative policy has been established, but it has been impracticable to carry this out satisfactorily, except for limited areas. However, the statement which comes from the Forestry Department that, during the past year only 200 acres of State forests were burned over, indicates that the administration is efficient and that public sentiment is being educated to discourage the devastation of timbered areas. The Pennsylvania State Legislature meets in biennial session at the beginning of the year 1905, and it is probable that the Forestry Department or the Governor will offer recommendations concerning the administration of the forest reserves of the State. Such presentation should be so considered as to command the support of all friends of forestry, and this support should be given earnestly to carry through the legislation necessary for making the forest reserves of the State a profitable business venture. The word "profitable," as used, does not merely suggest the general benefits derivable from maintaining well-timbered areas, or which may be considered as compensation for the outlay to which the State has been subjected, for judicious administration of the forest reserves should permit of such thinning and cutting as may practically make the timbered areas self-sustaining, or nearly so; the improvement by cutting and thinning enhancing the value of the timber left standing. It is authoratively reported that lands adjacent to the State reservations have already increased in value, the protection which has been given by the State having its influence upon nearby properties. The problem of education which has formed a feature of the administration of the Forestry Department appears to be progressing satisfactorily, and it may be expected that a corps of skilled foresters will soon be graduated from this institution. Pennsylvania must meet the problem of a common-sense business administration of its forestry reserves, and the Legislature will be expected to see that this is secured. The great danger is the introduction of legislation or the interpretation of such, as is passed, as may make this of partisan or factional purport, or which will encourage the selection of wardens or their assistants, as payment for political favors, rather than because the applicants are specially fitted for the work in hand. The forest reserves may be made a most valuable and important adjunct of the State Government, increasing the wealth of the community, or they may retrograde into a medium for the advancement of personal or political profit. The utilization of State forest reserves in restoring to health members of the community has had most gratifying results. If nothing else were gained by the reservation of forest lands, the length of life which is thus assured, or the restoration to activity of disabled citizens, should be ample compensation. With a National Government whose policy has been to encourage the protection and propagation Report of Council of the Pennsylvania D URING the past year the meetings of Coun- The forestry work throughout the State has been kept constantly before the people of this Commonwealth, and a growth in public sentiment in its favor can be noted. The Arbor days, both those proclaimed by Governor Pennypacker, in the Spring, and by Dr. N. C. Schaeffer, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, in the Fall, have been generally observed, especially by the school children; the addresses delivered on these occasions, taken in connection with the other exercises, as well as the tree- and vine-planting, where this is practicable, make forcible impressions on the budding intellects which will in the course of time bear abundant fruit. free from all political entanglements, and after many years of arduous labor is seeing the fruits of his efforts. During his term of office most of the present forestry laws were framed, 650,000 acres of land for forest reserves purchased, a sanatorium for poor consumptives opened, a forest academy and a nursery established, etc., a record which is certainly noteworthy. While Dr. Rothrock resigned as Commissioner of Forestry, he is still a member of the Forestry Reservation Commission, serving as its secretary, and in fact most of his time is still gratuitously spent in the State forestry service. Mr. Robert S. Conklin, the former efficient Deputy Forestry Commissioner, was appointed Commissioner of Forestry by Governor Pennypacker, and will receive the cordial support of his predecessor and all the friends of forestry. At the present time the State of Pennsylvania owns 700,000 acres of forest reserves, which are being increased from time to time when desirable lands can be obtained at reasonable figures. As far as we are aware, Pennsylvania is the only State in the Union except New York which is pursuing a regular system of acquiring forest reserves. In November, a Committee of the Council of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, at the invitation of Dr. J. T. Rothrock, inspected portions of the South Mountain Forest Reserve, visiting the sanatorium, the forest academy and the nursery, seeing the work which has been inaugurated in thinning, improvement cuttings, road making, etc. All of the members were impressed by the amount of work already accomplished, and in hearty accord with the methods pursued. At the last annual meeting a resolution was passed increasing the annual dues of the Association from $1 to $2, and the life membership fee from $15 to $25, which has placed the Association in a better financial position than heretofore. In December, 1903, the total membership was 1725; since then 66 new members have joined, 100 resigned, 39 were dropped from the rolls, and 30 died, making a net loss of 103, and a present membership of 1622. We trust that all of our members will aid in securing new members to augment the total to figures not yet reached. We regret to chronicle the resignation of Dr. J. T. Rothrock, as Commissioner of Forestry and President of the State Forestry Reservation Commission, owing to ill-health. Dr. Rothrock has been active in the forestry work of this State since its inception. When the State Legislature authorized the formation of a Forestry Commission to take up and report on forestry conditions in Pennsylvania, Dr. Rothrock resigned from the active secretaryship of the Association to become the botanist member of the Commission, preparing the major portion of its report. In 1895, when the report was presented to the Legislature, that body authorized the formation of a Bureau of Forestry in the newly created Department of Agriculture, of which Dr. Rothrock was made the head, and in 1901, when the Department of Forestry was inaugurated, the same gentleman became Commissioner of Forestry, serving in that capacity until his resignation in May last. He has served continuously through four different ad- The principal needs of the Association are enministrations, keeping the Bureau and Department | larged membership and an improvement of FOR Among those whom we regret to chronicle as deceased are two members of Council, Mr. J. C. Fuller, of Pine Grove Furnace, Cumberland County, and Dr. Thomas M. Drown, of South Bethlehem, Northampton County. The Woman's Clubs throughout the State and the public press have accorded constant and valuable aid in forwarding forestry work. |