Forest Trees and Forest Scenery by G. Frederick Schwarz - HTML preview

NOTES

[1]

Note 1, page 5. There are about fifty distinct species of oak indigenous to the United States.

[2]

Note 2, page 23. The bloom of the dogwood begins to wither and fall with the appearance of the leaves. In the illustration facing page 22 several leaves are seen among the bloom, but they belong to the bough of a neighboring tulip tree.

[3]

Note 3, page 47. The juniper berries are in reality transformed cones.

[4]

Note 4, page 52. The habit of the firs in early life is shown in the plate facing page 125.

[5]

Note 5, page 63. Curiously enough, the old English conception of a forest was chiefly that of a hunting ground, irrespective of the trees growing there. Consequently some forests were very open stretches of ground.

[6]

Note 6, page 71. The red-winged blackbird lingers in the Southern States through the winter.

[7]

Note 7, page 163. German forestry—and, in a less degree, European forestry also—is indebted to Herr von Salisch for elaborating the idea that forest art can be united with practical, utilitarian forestry. His book on “Forest Esthetics,” which fills a unique place in the literature of forestry, is an exposition of this interesting subject, based upon mature knowledge and experience.

[8]

Note 8, page 163. To the reader who is not familiar with the origin of our forest reserves it may be of interest to know how they became established. By an act of Congress of March 3rd, 1891, the President was empowered to segregate from time to time, and for the benefit of the American people, forest areas situated within the limits of the public lands of the United States. In accordance with this act proclamations were issued by Presidents Cleveland, Harrison, and McKinley, reserving forest areas amounting thus far (September 1st, 1901) to 46,398,369 acres, or approximately 72,500 square miles. There are, however, within these areas numerous bona fide holdings of private ownership, in which the owners are carrying on extensive cutting of timber.

The reserves have been placed under the authority of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, Department of the Interior, and are entrusted to the care of specially appointed superintendents, supervisors, and rangers. Some of these forest tracts are now undergoing a careful study by experts in forestry, with the aim of subjecting them to methods of treatment specially adapted to them, in order that they may yield both useful material and a constant revenue, without impairing the productive power or vitality of the forest. The objects will thereby be fulfilled for which these reserves were established.