IN

Report of the General Secretary.

N accordance with the annual custom, I present herewith to-day a brief statement, and offer a few suggestions.

I presume it is fair to say that the importance of the forestry movement in Pennsylvania to Pennsylvania and the other States was never more fully realized than now. This is due to two facts: first, because ten years ago a very small portion of our population knew there was such a science, and that it was producing results elsewhere which proved to be of great national importance. It is due, in the second place, to the campaign of education which the friends of forestry have conducted over the Commonwealth.

In this connec

tion, I desire here to suggest and emphasize the importance of a rule for our future guidance, because it has led us to success in the past. Briefly, it is this, Never ask for legislation of a special character until you are sure that the public desire it and until you are able to prove that the public will approve of it if passed. It may demand time to bring about this condition of affairs, but it is time well spent, for nothing is so disastrous to the ultimate chances of any movement, however good, than to have the stamp of a legislative disapproval upon it. The future of Pennsylvania forestry lies in the law-making body, because the State alone has the power to undertake the long task of possessing, holding and restoring its now unproductive areas to a productive condition, and any policy determined upon now should be after most careful consideration, but, once adopted, should be adhered to regardless of changes of administration. Because "The Forest Waters the Farm" the success of State forestry is essential to the prosperity and the endurance of the Commonwealth, and it therefore involves greater issues than those of any political party which has yet appeared or is likely to appear. The friends of the forestry movement may therefore, with entire propriety, expect to find support in candid men of all political creeds.

Nothing is so convincing as experience, and it is fair to say that (as a part of the campaign of education) the increasing scarcity of lumber, along with the associated higher prices and poorer quality of the product sold, have done much to convince doubters that there is some reason after all in the forestry movement.

The outlook, then, is gratifying to those who have so long been engaged in conducting the work of agitation and of organization.

The State Department of Forestry, already upon a solid working basis, has planted many thousands of white pine trees, and, as its latest

effort, successfully established a young plantation of black walnut trees.

All that has been done, however, in this direction is merely preliminary to much more extensive operations.

As to methods of producing seedlings and of placing them in final position, we are already sufficiently well informed to go ahead boldly with the work of tree-planting. It is proposed that there shall be more than one nursery (as at present) on State land, and that these nurseries shall each anually produce millions, instead of thousands, of young forest trees. For the present, the planting grounds will be the abandoned farms and the open spaces in the woods, where the young trees can be protected against forest fires.

The conditions for the creation of forest fires and for extensive destruction by them existed during the past autumn. Nevertheless, but few such fires of serious character did occur in this State. This is most gratifying, and becomes still more so when it is coupled with the fact that for several years back there has been a gradual decrease in the number and in the severity of forest conflagrations in Pennsylvania. Is this a mere accident, or is it the result of years of agitation and of legislation with this end in view? If the latter, then the work of tree-planting over all of our waste lands may well be commenced, though a moment's reflection will satisfy any one that it is useless to expend time and money in planting waste ground areas so long as they are to be swept by fires, on the average, once in three years.

It is a pleasure to note the substantial changes for the better which have been made in the work at the State Forestry Academy. The curriculum has been extended to three years. An increase has been made in the teaching force, and a higher grade of scholarship is insisted upon as a condition of entrance. It may be confidently predicted that the young men who are graduated from this institution in future will compare favorably in productive, working capacity with those from any similar school in the country.

It is well here to allude to the work of the South Mountain Camp Sanatorium for cases of incipient tuberculosis. Since August the Camp inmates have been boarded at a cost to themselves of one dollar a week. Owing to the increasing demands for admission to the Camp, it became necessary to make this small charge in order to eke out the pittance received from the State. Prior to August the Camp inmates provided and prepared their own food. It is remarkable how speedily good results were apparent in the patients, since food has been provided by the State. We believe this care of the consumptives has come to stay as, in

some form, a part of the work to be done on the Forest Reservations of the Commonwealth.

The acquisition of land for Forest Reservation goes steadily on. It is still hoped that the million acre mark may be reached during the present administration.

The greatest difficulty continues to be to obtain suitable men for forest wardens. There are many applicants for the places, but the vast majority of those who seek the positions have no special fitness for them, and in many cases there are sound reasons why they should not be appointed. We think that a few years will end this trouble.

I desire here to thank the officers and the members of the Association, and also the public press of the State, for assistance received during the past year. Respectfully submitted,

J. T. ROTHROCK.

Forest Planting for Profit in Massachusetts.

MR.

R. THEODORE F. BORST, of Boston, Mass., in an illustrated lecture before the Massachusetts Historical Society, gave some interesting data in regard to forest planting in that State, from which the following abstracts are taken :

There are many thousands of acres of land in Massachusetts that are absolutely waste. Much of this land is either unfit or unnecessary for agricultural purposes. Everywhere are noted abandoned, brushy, worn-out pastures, impoverished ploughland, deforested tops of ridges, steep, rocky hillsides, poor, loose, sandy soil, odd corners too expensive to plough and cultivate; yet many of these waste lands could, at small expense, be made to yield valuable timber crops.

Upon areas where more or less voluntary treegrowth exists the supplementary planting necessary to fill the open places is very quickly and cheaply done, sometimes costing as low as four or five dollars per acre, using white pine trees for this purpose. Where the entire area must be planted, the trees are set about five by five feet apart, requiring 1743 trees per acre, and may cost from seven to fifteen dollars per acre. The size of plants needed determines much of the cost of the plantation, and is very dependent upon soil conditions, as well as the nature of growth covering the land.

Where conditions permit the use of chestnuts, acorns or hickory nuts, the cost of planting per acre may be only two or three dollars. Some 18,000 acres of waste land have already been artificially forested in that State. A few of such areas have recently been lumbered at a net profit of over

6 per cent. on the entire investment. If the planting which was done forty, fifty and sixty years ago has proved profitable, certainly the planting of to-day, which would come into the market forty, fifty and sixty years hence, must prove even more profitable; especially when there is every indication that timber prices will double, or perhaps treble, themselves before that time.

White pine, chestnut, hickory, ash, oak, maple and tamarack are among the best trees for planting in Massachusetts, but under some circumstances other trees might be preferable.

Mr. Borst has, during the past four years, made plans for and supervised the planting of considerably over one million trees in Massachussetts, and many more trees are now being grown in nurseries for forest plantations.

Data from actual experience was presented to show the cost of reforesting lands of different types.

If the planting is done on sufficiently large scale, say 25, 50 or 100 acres, the cost of planting, including the young trees, may be from five to fifteen dollars per acre. Ten dollars per acre has frequently been the cost for white pine planting.

Uncared for white pine forest in Massachusetts may produce in sixty years about 30,000 feet of timber, B. M., while under forestry treatment the European figures show that 50,000 feet can readily be produced on one acre during the same period of time. White pine plantations have been figured to yield a net annual return of $1.15 per acre, paid at the expiration of forty years, in addition to 4 per cent. compound interest on the money invested. Under a different calculation, using all costs, it is estimated a return of about $2.25 per acre per year for forty years from the time of planting to the time of cutting is obtainable. This estimate is corroborated by actual experience. These returns are certainly very satisfactory, considering the fact that it is secured from land which is almost useless for any other purpose, and which, without a timber crop, would be a source of constant expense in taxes. A timber crop not only gives a return on the money invested, but it makes productive the capital locked up in the land. These returns are figured on the yield obtainable without pruning, thinning, etc. If forestry treatment is given the returns should be higher. Again, these profits are figured on prices of stumpage prevailing to-day. The future profits will be higher in proportion to the advance in stumpage values.

Timber culture for profit is strongly commended to landowners, especially where lands are being held that are producing no returns whatever.

Another "6 Largest Tree in the State."

A

S"money breeds money," so publication

of one largest tree breeds others by bringing them into notice and comparison. Several claimants for this distinction have been brought to the notice of the readers of FOREST LEAVES. The one which we furnish illustrations of for this issue is found in what is known as "The Corner," in Franklin County, on the farm of Mrs. Rankin, in Montgomery Township.

It is certainly an imposing tree. Exact measurement showed that its girth at five feet above the ground was twenty-two feet and six inches. Its height was not measured, but it is safe to say that ninety feet would not be wide of the truth.

There was considerable doubt for a time as to just what species of oak this was. The drooping lower limbs of the pin oak were not there, yet it seemed as though they might have been, and dropped off, so long ago as to obliterate the scar. The tree, in its leaves and general aspect, had much the appearance of a pin oak. It added to our doubt that no acorns could be found on the tree or on the ground. However, we (Mr. I. C. Williams and the writer) concluded that it was a red oak (Quercus rubra, L.) upon characters, such as the color and clefts of the bark, on the smaller limbs.

Mr. Williams also called attention to the unusual size of a number of other oak trees in the neighborhood.

Just what constitutes "the largest tree" is a matter of some doubt. It does not happen that the largest trunk is always associated with the greatest height and widest spread of branches. This red oak impresses you solely by its massive trunk, but from no point of view is it symmetrical or wide-spreading in its branches. It has long passed its prime, and the indications are that the trunk is already well decayed in the heart.

One can hardly venture to guess the age of such a tree. It is well known that the red oak grows rapidly on ground as fertile as where this tree stands. I once counted the rings on the stump of a red oak tree which was five feet across, and there were only about one hundred and sixty. I do not know of any other species of oak on the Atlantic slope which has such a showing of rapid growth.

J. T. ROTHROCK.

President Roosevelt, in his annual message to Congress, states that the forestry policy of the administration is enjoying the unbroken support of the people, and the great users of timber are themselves forwarding the movement for forest preservation. The organized opposition to forest reserves in the west has disappeared.

Woodlot Forestry.

THROUGHOUT a large part of the Eastern
States nearly every farm has its woodlot.

From that woodlot, which is often all that remains of the vast forests which originally clothed the region, the farmer supplies his own needs. It furnishes him with fuel, fence posts, rails, poles, and even with timber, boards and shingles to keep the farm buildings in repair. A well-managed woodlot is, therefore, a valuable part of the farm, and the sum total of all farm woodlots represents a large national asset.

As a general rule, but little care is devoted to the woodlot. It is left to shift for itself, is often used too freely for the pasturage of live stock, and is rarely guarded from fire or forest enemies. When wood is needed but little discretion is exercised in the choice of trees, and no need is felt of providing for the renewal or improvement of

the stand.

Yet it is decidedly a simple matter to care for the woodlot. The owner need not burden himself with any elaborate system. Nor need he, in most cases, reduce the amount of timber which he cuts. Eventually, of course, he can cut more, for more will be grown. The first requirement of the ordinary woodlot is protection, and the second, selection in cutting.

Fire is the chief enemy of the woodlot. Fires damage the larger trees, starting hollows in the butts or weakening them until they begin to die in the tops, reducing their value when cut; but the greatest harm is done to reproduction and the growth of young trees. Running over the forest soil, they consume the litter and kill the seedlings. The forest soil becomes too dry to encourage the germination of tree seeds. Even if seedlings succeed in finding root and begin to flourish, the next fire destroys them.

Fires may easily be kept out of the woodlot with a little care. They are often started to improve the grazing and pasture. This is certainly poor policy. While the grazing may be improved for a few years, the woodlot is often permanently injured. It is generally a poor plan to expect land to produce grass and wood at the same time. Neither will do well, and the owner will be paying taxes on land which he only half uses. Grazing animals often do much injury to the woodlot. They browse upon young growth and trample it down. They also pack the soil with their hoofs, destroying its power to retain moisture and encouraging the entrance of grass. Grazing should be watched, and should be permitted in the woodlot only when such harm will not result. In cutting, the first thing to look out for is the