acres of hilly, stony or swampy land, which can never be profitably used for anything but tree-growing, as well as by myriads of acres more of abandoned or worthless farms, once fertile, but now exhausted, which, if converted into timber lands, would pay a good profit while being restored to their ancient fruitfulness, are still more forcibly impressed with the importance of prompt and intelligent action ; but, while the disposition exists, the knowledge necessary for successfully reclaiming our waste lands is absent. Most persons imagine that forest management consists in cutting down the mature trees, a conception which, as Mr. Fernow says, is about as childlike as one which would represent the banking business as consisting in paying out money; whereas the profitable management of woodland looks rather to the rapid growth of the most valuable timber as its primary object, and regulates cutting in such a way as not only to get the largest immediate returns from the land, but to provide at the same time for future abundant harvests. Any one can see that a farmer who managed a potato field in such a way that, after securing a few hills of the largest potatoes, most of the immature ones rotted, and weeds sprang up all over the ground, would not meet with great financial success; yet this is practically the system under which our lumbering is carried on.
W
E will not enter further into the curious details of scientific forestry which Mr. Fernow gives, but may content ourselves with saying that no owner of unproductive land can read the pamphlet without feeling that he has gained some notion of the principles involved in timber culture, and wishing to try the application of those principles for himself. In regard, however, to the problem of tree-planting on our dry Western plains, Mr. Fernow’s observations have a general interest. It is encouraging to find that he thinks it quite possible to cover the plains with forests without artificial irrigation. It is certain that the present treeless region was once well wooded. Even now, pine timber is mined in the sand-hills of Nebraska, much as cypress is dug out of the mud of the Dismal Swamp, and there are few districts which do not support at least a few cottonwood groves. Moreover, the rainfall on the plains is not so very much less than that of the Eastern States, and it is probably quite equal to that of some parts of England, and of other countries which are richly wooded. The difficulty is, that the rain which falls in Dakota and Nebraska and Western Kansas is quickly dried up again, by the fierce sun, and, still more, hv the almost unceasing winds. It is ascertained that the evaporation from the ground in a wooded country is only one-sixth of that from land open to the sun; and if the dryest Dakota prairies were shaded by forests, and the winds which blow over them checked by the powerful influence of the trees, they would furnish ample moisture for continued growth of timber. Here, however, as in so many other things, effects are also causes. The destruction of a portion of the trees has exposed the ground between them to the sun, and allowed the wind a freer sweep ; and the sun and wind have blighted the young saplings, destroying their shade also, and still further exposing the ground to the destructive influence of excessive evaporation. Naturally, each clearing of this sort becomes a focus of aridity, constantly enlarging itself, and offering increased opportunity for the winds to gather strength, until an entire district is laid bare. This has probably been the history of our treeless plains, and the most important problem with which the people of the United States have to deal is that of the reversal of the process, so that our children and grandchildren may find riches and fertility in the place which we call the Desert, notwithstanding the fact that its soil is a rich loam, needing nothing but moisture to produce abundantly. It must be confessed that the isolated experiments which have been made by individual settlers under the Timber Culture Act, in raising groves in Nebraska, have not been very successful; but Mr. Fernow thinks that a beginning might possibly be made with such trees as the tamarisk, which grows freely in the Persian deserts, and is quite content with rain once in several years. In any case, however, he thinks that the plantations should be made much more closely than has been the case hitherto. Shade is the first requisite, and must be secured by dense plantations, of mixed growth, and by the judicious encouragement of undergrowth. In a soil thus rendered cool and moist, the seeds naturally or artificially scattered have a chance to germinate, and the forest is perpetuated and improved, while the sowing of seeds of our ordinary trees
on an unprotected prairie is almost useless. Whether private individuals, or great corporations, or the government, should undertake such operations on the large scale which would be most favorable to succcess is uncertain, but that, something of the kind may be tried soon is greatly to be wished. Mr. Fernow thinks the State Governments might take up the task with advantage, and, as a suggestion which has not, so far as we know, been made before, it might, we think, be possible for railways with land grants, either now belonging to them, or to be given on suitable conditions, in cooperation with the State Governments, to carry out operations very advantageous to the community.
AN enormous locomotive has just been placed on the Saint- Gothard railway, which differs a little from any others
now in use. Like many locomotives now in use abroad, it is compounded, having a high-pressure cylinder, sixteen inches in diameter, into which steam is admitted at a tension of one hundred and eighty pounds to the square inch, and a low-pressure cylinder, about twenty-three inches in diameter, into which the steam passes as it exhausts from the smaller one. As it is intended for heavy grades, the driving-wheels are very small, being only four feet in diameter, but there are twelve of them, the largest number, we think, yet given to a locomotive. The whole length of the machine, from end to end of the buffers, is about forty-five feet, and its weight, ready for service, is something over one hundred tons. This includes the weight of a supply of coal and water, which is carried on the locomotive itself, instead of in a tender, to increase the weight directly upon the driving-wheels, and prevent the slipping, which has hitherto been found very troublesome on the Saint-Gothard Railway. So far, the new locomotive has answered very well the requirements which the builder, Maffei, of Munich, undertook to fulfill. There is no slipping, even on the heaviest grades, and a load of two hundred tons, exclusive of the weight of the locomotive, is easily drawn up a grade of twenty-six in one thousand.
A NEW alloy, of one hundred parts copper to six of antimony, is said to have been made, which has a beautiful gold color, unchangeable by ammonia or by acid vapors in the atmosphere. The alloy is made by melting the copper in a crucible, and adding the antimony, with a flux of wood ashes, magnesia, and carbonate of lime, which removes the porosity natural to copper castings. As both copper and antimony are abundantly produced here, it might be worth while to experiment with the new metal, to see whether it possesses any advantages over ordinary brass.
SOME important explorations have been going on under the direction of a German Committee at Sendschirli, in Asia Minor, not very far from Smyrna. The ruins are situated on a hill, which seems to have been levelled at the top, and occupied by the fortified palace of the rulers of the district, while the hill itself was fortified by walls, within which, probably, the shepherds and peasants from the surrounding country took refuge in times of danger. The remains of the palace at the top of the hill shows that several successive buildings have existed there, the most recent of which is thought to date
from about 730 b. c. The wall which defended the lower part of the hill is exactly circular, and seems to have been strengthened by about one hundred towers; the whole corresponding closely in arrangement with the ancient Assyrian fortresses. Some sculptured bas-reliefs have been found, which originally adorned the lower part of the gateways, in. the Assyrian fashion ; besides more than three thousand smaller objects, some of which closely resemble those found at Ilissarlik by Dr. Schliemann. As Sendschirli is supposed to have been a Hittite town, this resemblance has had much historical, or rather, ethnological importance. It is known that
the town was totally destroyed about 550 b. c. by enemies who may perhaps have been the builders of a Cyclopean fortress which still remains, not far away, and which has no resemblance to any Oriental type of building. The members of the committee in charge on the ground are Messrs. Hermann, Von Leschan, Winter and Koldeway, and during the next season, which it is intended to devote to further investigations, many interesting discoveries are likely to be made.
W
E will not enter further into the curious details of scientific forestry which Mr. Fernow gives, but may content ourselves with saying that no owner of unproductive land can read the pamphlet without feeling that he has gained some notion of the principles involved in timber culture, and wishing to try the application of those principles for himself. In regard, however, to the problem of tree-planting on our dry Western plains, Mr. Fernow’s observations have a general interest. It is encouraging to find that he thinks it quite possible to cover the plains with forests without artificial irrigation. It is certain that the present treeless region was once well wooded. Even now, pine timber is mined in the sand-hills of Nebraska, much as cypress is dug out of the mud of the Dismal Swamp, and there are few districts which do not support at least a few cottonwood groves. Moreover, the rainfall on the plains is not so very much less than that of the Eastern States, and it is probably quite equal to that of some parts of England, and of other countries which are richly wooded. The difficulty is, that the rain which falls in Dakota and Nebraska and Western Kansas is quickly dried up again, by the fierce sun, and, still more, hv the almost unceasing winds. It is ascertained that the evaporation from the ground in a wooded country is only one-sixth of that from land open to the sun; and if the dryest Dakota prairies were shaded by forests, and the winds which blow over them checked by the powerful influence of the trees, they would furnish ample moisture for continued growth of timber. Here, however, as in so many other things, effects are also causes. The destruction of a portion of the trees has exposed the ground between them to the sun, and allowed the wind a freer sweep ; and the sun and wind have blighted the young saplings, destroying their shade also, and still further exposing the ground to the destructive influence of excessive evaporation. Naturally, each clearing of this sort becomes a focus of aridity, constantly enlarging itself, and offering increased opportunity for the winds to gather strength, until an entire district is laid bare. This has probably been the history of our treeless plains, and the most important problem with which the people of the United States have to deal is that of the reversal of the process, so that our children and grandchildren may find riches and fertility in the place which we call the Desert, notwithstanding the fact that its soil is a rich loam, needing nothing but moisture to produce abundantly. It must be confessed that the isolated experiments which have been made by individual settlers under the Timber Culture Act, in raising groves in Nebraska, have not been very successful; but Mr. Fernow thinks that a beginning might possibly be made with such trees as the tamarisk, which grows freely in the Persian deserts, and is quite content with rain once in several years. In any case, however, he thinks that the plantations should be made much more closely than has been the case hitherto. Shade is the first requisite, and must be secured by dense plantations, of mixed growth, and by the judicious encouragement of undergrowth. In a soil thus rendered cool and moist, the seeds naturally or artificially scattered have a chance to germinate, and the forest is perpetuated and improved, while the sowing of seeds of our ordinary trees
on an unprotected prairie is almost useless. Whether private individuals, or great corporations, or the government, should undertake such operations on the large scale which would be most favorable to succcess is uncertain, but that, something of the kind may be tried soon is greatly to be wished. Mr. Fernow thinks the State Governments might take up the task with advantage, and, as a suggestion which has not, so far as we know, been made before, it might, we think, be possible for railways with land grants, either now belonging to them, or to be given on suitable conditions, in cooperation with the State Governments, to carry out operations very advantageous to the community.
AN enormous locomotive has just been placed on the Saint- Gothard railway, which differs a little from any others
now in use. Like many locomotives now in use abroad, it is compounded, having a high-pressure cylinder, sixteen inches in diameter, into which steam is admitted at a tension of one hundred and eighty pounds to the square inch, and a low-pressure cylinder, about twenty-three inches in diameter, into which the steam passes as it exhausts from the smaller one. As it is intended for heavy grades, the driving-wheels are very small, being only four feet in diameter, but there are twelve of them, the largest number, we think, yet given to a locomotive. The whole length of the machine, from end to end of the buffers, is about forty-five feet, and its weight, ready for service, is something over one hundred tons. This includes the weight of a supply of coal and water, which is carried on the locomotive itself, instead of in a tender, to increase the weight directly upon the driving-wheels, and prevent the slipping, which has hitherto been found very troublesome on the Saint-Gothard Railway. So far, the new locomotive has answered very well the requirements which the builder, Maffei, of Munich, undertook to fulfill. There is no slipping, even on the heaviest grades, and a load of two hundred tons, exclusive of the weight of the locomotive, is easily drawn up a grade of twenty-six in one thousand.
A NEW alloy, of one hundred parts copper to six of antimony, is said to have been made, which has a beautiful gold color, unchangeable by ammonia or by acid vapors in the atmosphere. The alloy is made by melting the copper in a crucible, and adding the antimony, with a flux of wood ashes, magnesia, and carbonate of lime, which removes the porosity natural to copper castings. As both copper and antimony are abundantly produced here, it might be worth while to experiment with the new metal, to see whether it possesses any advantages over ordinary brass.
SOME important explorations have been going on under the direction of a German Committee at Sendschirli, in Asia Minor, not very far from Smyrna. The ruins are situated on a hill, which seems to have been levelled at the top, and occupied by the fortified palace of the rulers of the district, while the hill itself was fortified by walls, within which, probably, the shepherds and peasants from the surrounding country took refuge in times of danger. The remains of the palace at the top of the hill shows that several successive buildings have existed there, the most recent of which is thought to date
from about 730 b. c. The wall which defended the lower part of the hill is exactly circular, and seems to have been strengthened by about one hundred towers; the whole corresponding closely in arrangement with the ancient Assyrian fortresses. Some sculptured bas-reliefs have been found, which originally adorned the lower part of the gateways, in. the Assyrian fashion ; besides more than three thousand smaller objects, some of which closely resemble those found at Ilissarlik by Dr. Schliemann. As Sendschirli is supposed to have been a Hittite town, this resemblance has had much historical, or rather, ethnological importance. It is known that
the town was totally destroyed about 550 b. c. by enemies who may perhaps have been the builders of a Cyclopean fortress which still remains, not far away, and which has no resemblance to any Oriental type of building. The members of the committee in charge on the ground are Messrs. Hermann, Von Leschan, Winter and Koldeway, and during the next season, which it is intended to devote to further investigations, many interesting discoveries are likely to be made.