condition at the time of giving up his land. Similarly, the department has expended large sums in establishing forests in parts of the arid regions of Beluchistan, and on the whole has expended about $150,000 during 1894-95 on cultural operations, which up to that time involved about 76,000 acres of regular plantations and 36,000 acres taungyas (mostly teak), making a total of 112,000 acres, besides numerous large areas where the work consisted merely in aiding natural reproduction. In disposing of its timber the Government of India employs various methods. In some of the forest districts the people merely pay a small tax and get out of the woods what and as much as they need. In other cases the logger merely pays for what he removes, the amount he fells being neither limited in quantity nor quality. The prevalent systems, however, are the permit system, where a permit is issued indicating the amount to be cut and the price to be paid for the same, and the contract system, where the work is more or less under control of government officers and the material remains government property until paid for. To a limited extent the State carries on its own timber exploitation, as appears from the following figures, where the cut for 1894-95 for the entire country is given: In spite of the many difficulties, a poor market (no market at all for a large number of woods), wild, unsurveyed, and practically unknown woodlands, requiring unusual and costly methods of organization and protection, the forestry department has succeeded, without curtailing the timber output of India, in so regulating forest exploitation as to insure not only a permanence in the output, but also to improve the woodlands by favoring the valuable species, and thus prepare for an increase of output for the future, and at the same time has yielded the Government a steadily growing revenue, which bids fair to rank before long among the important sources of income. The growth of both gross and net revenue is illustrated by the following figures: From this it is clear that in India as in Europe not only the gross but also the net income has become greater in proportion as a better organization is permitted to expend more money on the care of the forests. During the year 1894-95 the income from State forests was distributed as follows: Wood Minor products... Grazing Other incomes Total income The expenditures for the same year were: For administration (pay of officers, foresters, etc.) For cutting timber and removing it Other work...... Forest school.... Total recurring expenses................. For survey and other extraordinary work... Total expenditure leaving a net revenue of $3,714,000, or 44 per cent of the gross income. $6, 170, 000 670,000 780,000 750,000 8,370, 000 $2,200,000 1,350,000 760,000 4,356, 000 4,656, 000 It is of special interest to note that the expense of fire protection amounted, under these most extraordinary circumstances, only to $130,000, or 1.6 per cent of the gross income, and that for cultural work, the horror of the American anti-forest proclaimer, only $150,000, or 1.8 per cent of the gross income, was paid. The forest laws of India were like those of most countries, a matter of growth and adaptation, with the important difference, however, that the well-defined object of preserving to this great and peculiar people a continuous supply of the all-essential timber was steadily kept in mind. The principal acts are those of 1865, 1869, and especially the "Indian forest act" of 1878, with secondary legislation applying to particular localities, such as the act of 1881 for Burma, and 1882 for Madras and others. In general these forest laws provide for the establishment of permanent or "reserved" State forests, to be managed according to modern forestry principles. They provide for a suitable force of men; give the forest officers certain police powers; prohibit unwarranted removal of forest products, the setting of fires, or otherwise injuring the forest property. The laws also regulate grazing and the chase by permit systems, and prescribe rules by which the work of the department is carried on, as well as the manner in which officers are engaged, promoted, etc. Since the peculiar circumstances required men specially fitted and trained, schools were established to furnish the recruits for this steadily growing service. The one at Coopers Hill, England, where a thorough course is intended to prepare men for the superior staff positions, and the Imperial school at Dehra Dun, which is to supply the great number of the executive staff, the young men starting in usually as guards or rangers at a pay of about $25 per month, working their way up to places worth $70 per month, and if well suited, eligible for further promotion. In the Delra Dun school and the executive staff the native element is fast making itself felt, and there is little doubt that the men of India will soon be able to manage the forests of their own native land. F. PRINCIPLES OF SILVICULTURE. HOW TREES GROW. Trees, like most other plants, originate from seed, build up a body of cell tissues, form foliage, flower, and fruit, and take up food material from the soil and air, which they convert into cellulose and other compounds, from which all their parts are formed. They rely, like other plants, upon moisture, heat, and light as the means of performing the functions of growth. Yet there are some peculiarities in their behavior, their life and growth, which require special attention on the part of a tree grower or forest planter. FOOD MATERIALS AND CONDITIONS OF GROWTH. Trees derive their food and solid substance in part from the air and in part from the soil. The solid part of their bodies is made up of cellulose, which consists largely of carbon (44 per cent of its weight), with hydrogen and oxygen added in almost the same proportions as in water. The carbon is derived from the carbonic acid of the air, which enters into the leaves, and under the influence of light, air, and water is there decomposed; the oxygen is exhaled; the carbon is retained and combined with elements derived from the water, forming compounds, such as starch, sugar, etc., which are used as food materials, passing down the tree through its outer layers to the very tips of the roots, making new wood all along the branches, trunk, and roots. This process of food preparation, called "assimilation," can be carried on only in the green parts, and in these only when exposed to light and air; hence foliage, air, and light at the top are essential prerequisites for tree growth, and hence, other conditions being favorable, the more foliage and the better developed it is and the more light this foliage has at its disposal for its work, the more vigorously will the tree grow. In general, therefore, pruning, since it reduces the amount of foliage, reduces also for the time the amount of wood formed; and just so shading, reducing the activity of foliage, reduces the growth of wood. SOIL CONDITIONS. From the soil trees take mainly water, which enters through the roots and is carried through the younger part of the tree to the leaves, to be used in part on its passage for food and wood formation and in part to be given up to the air by transpiration. In a vigorously growing tree the solid wood substance itself will contain half its weight in the form of water chemically combined, and the tree, in addition, will contain from 40 to 65 per cent and more of its dry weight in water mechanically or hygroscopically held. This last, when the tree is cut, very largely evaporates; yet well-seasoned wood still contains 10 to 12 per cent of such water. The weight of a green tree-a pine, for instance-is made up in round numbers of about 30 per cent of carbon and 70 per cent of water, either chemically or hygroscop ically held, while a birch contains a still larger percentage of water. The largest part of the water which passes through the tree is transpired-i. e., given off to the air in vapor. The amounts thus transpired during the season vary greatly with the species of tree, its age, the amount of foliage at work, the amount of light at its disposal, the climatic conditions (rain, temperature, winds, relative humidity), and the season. These amounts are, however, very large when compared with the quantity retained; so that while an acre of forest 264 may store in its trees, say, 1,000 pounds of carbon, 15 to 20 pounds of mineral substances, and 5,000 pounds of water in a year, it will have transpired-taken up from the soil and returned to the air-from 500,000 to 1,500,000 pounds of water (one-quarter to one-half as much as agricul tural crops). Mineral substances are taken up only in very small quantities, and these are mostly the commoner sorts, such as lime, potash, magnesia, and nitrogen. These are carried in solution to the leaves, where they are used (as also on their passage through the tree), with a part of the water, in food preparation. The main part of the mineral substances taken up remains, however, as the water transpires, in the leaves and young twigs, and is returned to the soil when the leaves are shed or when the tree is cut and the brush left to decompose and make humus. The mineral constituents of the tree remain as ashes when wood is burned, the remaining elements passing into the atmosphere in the form of gas. Hence the improvement of the fertility of the soil by wood crops is explained, the minerals being returned in more soluble form to the soil; as also the fact that wood crops do not exhaust the soil of its minerals, provided the leaves and litter are allowed to remain on the ground. For this reason there is no necessity of alternating wood crops, as far as their mineral needs are concerned; the same kind of trees can be grown on the same soil continuously, provided the soil is not allowed to deteriorate from other causes. As the foliage can perform its work of food assimilation only when sufficient water is at its disposal, the amount of growth is also dependent not only on the presence of sufficient sources of supply, but also on the opportunity had by the roots to utilize the supply, and this opportunity is dependent upon the condition of the soil. If the soil is compact, so that the rain water can not penetrate readily and runs off superficially, or if it is of coarse grain and so deep that the water rapidly sinks out of reach of the roots and can not be drawn up by capillary action, the water supply is of no avail to the plants; but if the soil is porous and moderately deep (depth being the distance from the surface to the impenetrable subsoil, rock, or ground water), the water not only can penetrate, but also can readily be reached and taken up by the roots. The moisture of the soil being the most important element in it for tree growth, the greatest attention must be given to its conservation and most advantageous distribution through the soil. No trees grow to the best advantage in very dry or very wet soil, although some can live and almost thrive in such unfavorable situations. A moderately but evenly moist soil, porous and deep enough or fissured enough to be well drained, and yet of such a structure that the water supplies from the depths can readily be drawn up and become available to the roots-that is the soil on which all trees grow most thriftily. The agriculturist procures this condition of the soil as far as possible by plowing, drainage, and irrigation, and he tries by cultivating to keep the soil from compacting again, as it does under the influence of the beating rain and of the drying out of the upper layers by sun and wind. The forest grower can not rely upon such methods, because they are either too expensive or entirely impracticable. He may, indeed, plow for his first planting, and cultivate the young trees; but in a few years this last operation will become impossible and the effects of the first operation will be lost. He must, therefore, attain his object in another manner, namely, by shading and mulching the soil. The shading is done at first by planting very closely, so that the ground may be protected as soon as possible from sun and wind, and by maintaining the shade well throughout the period of growth. This shade is maintained, if necessary, by more planting, and in case the main crop in later life thins out inordinately in the crowns or tops, or by the accidental death of trees, it may even become desirable to introduce an underbrush. The mulching is done by allowing the fallen leaves and twigs to remain and decay, and form a cover of rich mold or humus. This protective cover permits the rain and snow waters to penetrate without at the same time compacting the soil, keeping it granular and in best condition for conducting water, and at the same time preventing evaporation at the surface. The soil moisture, therefore, is best maintained by proper soil cover, which, however, is needful only in naturally dry soils. Wet soils, although supporting tree growth, do not, if constantly wet, produce satisfactory wood crops, the growth being very slow. Hence they must be drained and their water level sunk below the depth of the root system. Irrigation is generally too expensive to be applied to wood crops, except perhaps in the arid regions, where the benefit of the shelter belt may warrant the expense. Attention to favorable moisture conditions in the soil requires the selection of such kinds of trees as shade well for a long time, to plant closely, to protect the woody undergrowth (but not weeds), and to leave the litter on the ground as a mulch. Different species, to be sure, adapt themselves to different degrees of soil moisture, and the crop should therefore be selected with reference to its adaptation to available moisture supplies. While, as stated, all trees thrive best with a moderate and even supply of moisture, some can get along with very little, like the conifers, especially pines; others can exist even with an excessive supply, as the bald cypress, honey locust, some oaks, etc. The climate, however, must also be considered in this connection, for a tree species, although succeeding well enough on a dry soil in an atmosphere which does not require much transpiration, may not do so in a drier climate on the same soil. In the selection of different kinds of trees for different soils, the water conditions of the soil should therefore determine the choice. LIGHT CONDITIONS. To insure the largest amount of growth, full enjoyment of sunlight is needed. But as light is almost always accompanied by heat and relative dryness of air, which demands water from the plant, and may increase transpiration from the leaves inordinately, making them pump too hard, as it were, young seedlings of tree species whose foliage is not built for such strains require partial shading for the first year or two. The conifers belong to this class. The great extent of our country, involving as it does wide ranges of climatic and soil conditions, makes it impossible to give complete lists of trees adapted to various soil conditions in all parts of the United States. The safest rule for the planter to follow is to be guided in his selection of species by the character of the growth in similar sites near the land to be planted. Speaking generally, the following lists may be useful: Trees that endure wet soils.-South of the Ohio River and central Missouri: Bald cypress, white cedar, red cedar, black gum, holly, water oak, red birch, cottonwood. North of the Ohio and Missouri rivers: White cedar, arbor vitæ, larch, black spruce, cottonwood, white willow, sycamore. Dry soils.-South of the Ohio River and central Missouri: Mesquite (Texas and southwest), black oak, hackberry, shortleaf pine. North of Ohio and Missouri rivers: Bull pine, jack pine, scrub pine, white oak, post oak, jack oak. The remaining species, north and south, require moist or fresh soils for their development, conditions under which all species succeed best. In later life the light conditions exert a threefold influence on the development of the tree, namely, with reference to soil conditions, with reference to form development, and with reference to amount of growth. The art of the forester consists in regulating the light conditions so as to secure the full benefit of the stimulating effect of light on growth without its deteriorating influences on the soil and on form development. As we have seen, shade is desirable in order to preserve soil moisture. Now, while young trees of all kinds, during the "brush" stage of development, have a rather dense foliage, as they grow older they vary in habit, especially when growing in the forest. Some, like the beech, the sugar maple, the hemlock, and the spruce, keep up a dense crown; others, like the chestnut, the oaks, the walnut, the tulip tree, and the white pine, thin out more and more, and when fully grown have a much less dense foliage; finally, there are some which do not keep up a dense shade for any length of time, like the black and honey locust, with their small, thin leaves; the catalpa, with its large but few leaves at the end of the branchlets only, and the larch, with its short, scattered bunches of needles. So we can establish a comparative scale of trees with reference to the amount of shade which they can give continuously, as densely foliaged and thinly foliaged, in various gradations. If we planted all beech or sugar maple, the desirable shading of the soil would never be lacking, while if we planted all locust or catalpa the sun would soon reach the soil and dry it out, or permit a growth of grass or weeds, which is worse, because these transpire still larger |