Items of Interest April 28, 1917 Issue

Items of Interest

More attention is to be given by the Provincial Government of Canada to forest protection. Forest fires in 1916 caused a loss of $9,000,000, more than six times as much as has been spent on forest protection work. Most of these fires were preventable. In British Columbia, on account of the efficiency of the forest protection service and somewhat more favorable weather conditions, the number of fires last year was only about one half that of the preceding year. Yet a substantial loss was suffered. The lumbering slash makes such a hot fire that the outlook for another tree crop is very poor. The tree seedlings and the uncut trees are generally destroyed or greatly damaged. A most important part of forest production work is to dispose of this slash as soon as possible after the lumbering operations have been finished. In this slash disposal the lumber companies have been urged to cooperate with the forest service. The railway companies are required to extinguish fires starting within 300 feet of the track, unless a company can show that it did not cause the fire.

The municipality of San Juan, Porto Rico, has just sold refunding and improvement bonds amounting to $915,000. Of the proceeds, approximately $100,000 is for refunding purposes, and the balance is for the following municipal improvements: opening and paving of streets, $412,000; sewers, $300,000; garbage incinerator, $50,000; three public laundries, $15,000. Within a short time the city will offer for sale an additional lot of bonds, having a value of $785,000, the proceeds of which will be applied to building a new water system.

A decree of the President of Venezuela of March 12, 1917, creates an experiment station of agriculture and forestry with a garden of acclimatization. It will be located on lands near the city of Caracas and is intended to serve as a model for other such stations to be established in other parts of the republic. Its purposes are: the study of improved methods of cultivation of the principal agricultural products of the country; introduction, selection, and distribution of seeds; experiments in reforestation; report upon soils suitable to each kind of cultivation and the crops to each region; and practical work for the training of agricultural foremen and forest rangers.

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