BUREAU OF FORESTRY

HE plan which Maryland adopted

THE

With

some time ago of getting the coöperation of the Bureau of Forestry in making a detailed study of her forests is a most excellent one, and is equally available to all the states and about equally advantageous to them. the help of the trained foresters of the Bureau of Forestry the Maryland Geological Survey was able to make an inventory of the forest wealth of the state, finding out how much there is of it, the condition it is in, what benefit it is to the state, including its effects on stream flow and on agriculture; how much damage it has suffered, and how such damage may be lessened. forests of Allegany, Cecil, Garrett, Calvert, and Harford counties have already been thoroughly studied by experts of the Bureau of Forestry, and reports for the first three have been published by

the state.

The

The work suggests the very great advantages of a similar coöperation between other states and the Bureau of Forestry, although the examinations need not always be as detailed as in the case of Maryland. The matter is extremely simple and may be easily arranged, and the results are valuable out of all proportion to the cost of such work to the states. The Bureau furnishes and pays the salaries of the experts who make the examination, when the state has guaranteed their field expenses. The reports of the Bureau's experts become the property of the state, provided they are credited, when published, to the Bureau.

For a long time the Bureau of Forestry has been urging state investigations of forest lands, because the results of such investigations are as valuable to the Bureau as to the states themselves. Inquiries are constantly re

ceived from lumbermen and others regarding the forest resources of different states which the Bureau is unable to answer fully, because often no accurate studies of the regions have been made. Every bit of reliable information concerning the forests of the different states and territories is welcomed by the Bureau as contributing to the sum of knowledge of the forest resources of the whole country on which the Bureau must base its general forest policy.

States like New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, which are working out for themselves some sort of forest policy, find it absolutely essential to take stock of their timber lands. Michigan has begun such an examination, through cooperation between the state forest commission, the university authorities, and the Bureau of Forestry. already made of 60,000 acres of forest A study preserve lands in northern Michigan by T. H. Sherrard, of the Bureau of Forestry, resulted in recommendations for fire-protection experiments and for tree planting, which have been submitted to the state legislature. California has appropriated $15,000 for an examination of the forests of the state. A report on the forests of Texas has been prepared under direction of the Bureau of Forestry, and will probably form when published the basis for forest legislation in the state. Several years ago the forests of the northern part of Wisconsin were examined by Filibert Roth, of the Bureau, and his report was published by the Bureau and by the state. Prof. J. G. Jack, of the Bureau, two years ago made an examination of the forests of Vermont, and the work was continued more recently by C. D. Howe. Recommendations for forest preserves before being acted upon by the legislature must be supported by reliable.

studies of the forest growth on the areas which it is proposed shall be reserved. New Hampshire, alarmed by the heavy cutting in the White Mountains, has appropriated $5,000 for an examination of that region by the Bureau of Forestry, and an examination of the forest lands on Long Island may form a part of the summer's work of the Bureau.

THE NEW TRANS-CANADA RAILWAY

THE

HE projected new trans-continental railway, for which the Dominion Government recently granted a charter to the Trans-Canada Railway Company, is described by Mr E. T. D. Chambers in the Review of Reviews for April. Of the commercial importance of the new road Mr Chambers writes as follows:

"The proposed line of the TransCanada Railway is one of the most direct which can span the continent. Starting from deep-water termini at Chicoutimi-the head of navigation on the Saguenay River-at Quebec, and at Montreal, it is destined to traverse and develop the best part of the newly discovered wheat and timber lands of northern Quebec in the James Bay district, to tap the whole of the James Bay and Hudson Bay trade, to open up the

valuable mineral country of northern Ontario, to cross the center of the rich wheat lands of the Peace River valley, and, finally, to reach one of the finest ports on the Pacific coast by a pass in the mountains only 2,000 feet high, as compared with 4,425 at Crow's Nest, and with 5,400 at Kicking Horse.

"The most cursory glance at the line laid down on the map for the new road reveals the directness of the route and and its far-northern location.

"From Quebec to Port Simpson via the Trans-Canada Railway will be only 2,830 miles, all of the route south of the northern limit of wheat, while the distance between the same points via the Grand Trunk Railway will be about 3,400 miles, and that from Quebec to Vancouver by the Canadian Pacific Railway is 3,078 miles. The expected saving in both distance and gradients by the proposed road over existing routes from Manitoba to the Canadian seaports on the St Lawrence is so great that the promoters have already undertaken to carry wheat from all points on its line in the Province of Manitoba to the ocean steamer at Chicoutimi, Montreal, or Quebec at rates which will save the farmers of Manitoba and the Northwest about seven cents per bushel on present cost of transportation to the

Courtesy of Review of Reviews

seaboard. It is claimed that this saving alone will much more than pay the total interest upon the cost of the road's construction.

"It is admitted on every hand that the terminal seaports of the TransCanada leave nothing to be desired. The harbor of Port Simpson is said to be the finest on the Pacific coast north of San Francisco. It has the a lditional advantage of being much nearer to Yokohama than either Vancouver or San Francisco.

Nottaway, on James Nottaway, on James Bay, which is to be reached by a branch of the main line, is the only deep-water harbor on the bay, and with some dredging might be used by vessels drawing thirty feet of water. The coast line of James and Hudson Bays, tributary to this railway, will be about four thousand miles. Chicoutimi, on the Saguenay, can be reached by vessels of any draught, and Quebec has magnificent docks, which have cost the government millions of dollars, with deep-water berth and elevator facilities for steamers of any draught. The new bridge now building over the St Lawrence, at Quebec, will enable the TransCanada road to make use of St John and Halifax for winter ports if ever those of Quebec and Chicoutimi should be blocked by ice."

EXPEDITION TO TURKESTAN

RAPHAEL PUMPELLY is on

DR his way to Turkestan on a most

important scientific mission. His journey is for the purpose of looking over the ground in Turkestan with reference to a combined physico-geographical and archæological exploration, if such further work should be found to be promising as to results and practicable as regards execution.

It has been his wish to see this done for forty years, and the results obtained by Russian surveys in recent years in connection with some parts of the prob

lem have strengthened his belief that the region offers a field of the greatest interest in connection with the relation between the growth and changes-social, economic, and ethnological—of nations and measurable changes in their environment.

The journey is made under the auspices of the Carnegie Institution. Prof. W. M. Davis, of Harvard, will have charge of the physical geographical part of the problem and will meet him on the Caspian early in May. In the meantime Dr Pumpelly has gone to St Petersburg to obtain the permission of the Russian Government, on whose willingness and sympathy all depends.

TH

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

HE Survey has begun an experiment which will doubtless prove of great practical service to the mining interests of the country. Heretofore the explorations of the geologists of the Survey have not been available until one to two years after the explorations were made. To prepare and to publish the complete report of a season's work takes considerable time. By the new arrangement such results of the season's work as have direct economic importance are to be published at once in advance of the purely scientific investigations. This plan has been begun by the publication of a bulletin (No. 213) which summarizes the work of economic character

done in 1902. The bulletin, says Dr C. Willard Hayes in the preface, "is designed to meet the wants of the busy man, and is so condensed that he will be able to obtain results and reach conclusions with a minimum expenditure of time and energy. It also affords a better idea of the work which the Survey as an organization is carrying on for the direct advancement of mining interests throughout the country than can readily be obtained from the more voluminous reports."

The bulletin contains 60 brief papers, of which the following may be mentioned: "Investigation of Metalliferous Ores," by S. F. Emmons; "Placer Gold Mining in Alaska in 1902," by Alfred H. Brooks; Gold and Pyrite Deposits in the Dahlonega District, Georgia," by E. C. Eckel; "Mineral Deposits of the Bitterroot Range and the Clearwater Mountains, Montana," by W. Lindgren; "Gold Mining in Central Washington," by George Otis Smith; "Ore Deposits of Tonopah and Neighboring Districts, Nevada," by J. E. Spurr;

Ore Deposits of Butte, Montana," by W. H. Weed; "Lead, Zinc, and Fluorspar Deposits of Western Kentucky,' by E. O. Ulrich and W. S. T. Smith; Coal Fields of the United States," by C. Willard Hayes.

46

GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK

TH

CITY

HE geological history of New York and its vicinity is discussed at great length, illustrated by numerous maps and pictures, in New York City Geologic Folio, No. 83, recently issued by the Geological Survey.

Tens of thousands of years ago the greater part of the State of New York was covered by an immense glacier, similar in character to those now found in Switzerland and Alaska, but immensely greater in area and thickness. This ice sheet had gathered up in its course large quantities of sand, gravel, and mud. Part of this burden was pushed before the ice mass, and as the front of the glacier came to rest in the latitude of the city, the material pushed ahead of it was deposited there. When the glacier disappeared, owing to the coming on of a warmer climate, the mass of material deposited along its front became the familiar rounded hills of Long Island-the so called backbone of the island.

sheet, the land in the vicinity of the city sank, so that the sea covered points now 100 feet above tide level. During this period of submergence, the great brick-clay beds along the Hudson River were deposited. The traveler on the Central or the West Shore road can now see these beds-near Croton Landing or Haverstraw, for example-far above the railroad tracks, but they were all formed under water.

The next event in the history was, on the contrary, a gradual rising of the land until it stood considerably higher than at present. This was followed by a sinking just as gradual, which is still in progress. Along the coast of Long Island and New Jersey tree stumps may be seen under water. It is known that these have been covered by the sea within very recent times, and that the encroachment of the sea on the land is still going on.

Many other subjects of interest are discussed in this folio, which is the most interesting contribution to New York local geology ever published. It may be purchased from the U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C., for 50 cents.

The apparatus or box for developing photographic films without the aid of the dark-room, referred to in this Magazine in May, 1902, will prove of great service to explorers and travelers. The present season is the first opportunity that men in the field will have of using the machine, as it was placed on the market too late last year. With the little box, which is no larger and not so heavy as a camera, one will be able to develop one's films in the evening beside the camp fire, or if a specially fine landscape is seen which the traveler wishes to secure beyond all doubt, he may develop his snap-shot in broad daylight before moving on, provided water is at hand. The box, invented by Mr A. W. McCurdy, is known as the Kodak Develop

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

Ο

N May 20 the National Geographic Society moves into its new home, the Hubbard Memorial Building, which has been erected as a memorial to Hon. Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the first president of the Society, by Mrs Hubbard and her children and grandchildren. The Society has now a membership of 2,600 in the United States. Every state and territory is represented on the membership roll. After May 20 the address of the Society will be Hubbard Memorial Building, Sixteenth and M streets, Washington, D. C.

The Annual Excursion of the National Geographic Society will be on Saturday, May 9, to Annapolis, Maryland. Members and their friends will leave Washington on a special train at 9 a. m., reaching Annapolis at about 10.15. The morning will be spent in witnessing the naval drills and in inspecting the grounds. The Superintendent of the Naval Academy has very kindly detailed some members of the naval force to guide the party. Immediately after luncheon, which will be served in Carvel Hall at 12.30 p. m., Elihu F. Reiley, Esq., of Annapolis, will address the Society. He will review some of the more noted points of interest in the history of the famous old town. Three of the four signers, from Maryland, of the Declaration of Independence were

Antarctica.

residents of Annapolis. After the address the party will visit the historic

scenes in the town and return to WashThe ington late in the afternoon. excursion committee of the Society consists of Colonel Henry F. Blount, Dr F. V. Coville, and Mr Otto J. J. Luebkert. Dr Jean Charcot is building an ice-resisting ship at Saint Malo, France. She is to carry 17 men and to have stowageroom for two years' provisions. Dr Charcot plans to sail the middle of May for the island of Jan Mayen, and then to explore the region around Nova Zembla and Franz Josef Land. It is a summer trip only, as he hopes to be back by the first of October of this year. Capt. de Gerlache, who commanded the Belgica South Polar Expedition of 1897'98, goes with him as the oceanographer of the party.

Mr Ellsworth Huntington, A. B., Beloit, 1897, has lately been awarded the Gill memorial by the Royal Geographical Society of London for his explorations of the Euphrates River while science teacher in Euphrates College, Harput, Turkey, 1897-1901. Since 1901, Mr Huntington has been a student in the Graduate School of Harvard University. He has just been appointed Research Assistant by the Carnegie Institution, and now goes with Professor Davis to join Professor Pumpelly for a summer of exploration in Turkestan.

By Edwin Swift Balch, author of "Mountain Exploration,' "Glacières or Freezing Caverns," etc. With three large maps. Pp. 230, 7 x 11 inches. Philadelphia: Allen, Lane & Scott. 1902.

The present volume presents a succinct history of south polar exploration. It is written in most entertaining style, giving a graphic account of the battles

of the explorers of sixty years ago in their small sailing vessels. A volume that would unravel the tangled and imperfect records of south polar exploration has long been needed. Mr Balch's book is especially welcome because of the present interest in the far south, where four ably led and ably equipped expeditions are at work.

The author aims to particularly em