DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND GEOLOGICAL DEVELOPM Vol. 5 ATLANTA, GA., JANUARY, 1935 No.1 I FEDERAL LAND ACQUISITION purchase activities with some considera- "I further oppose it for the reason that POLICIES PROTESTED BY tion for the rights of the state." I believe the government should not engage GOVERNOR TALMADGE State Forester B. M. Lufburrow's in business, and there certainly is no emer- Views .ency existing in our section that requires Lack of Consideration for the Rights "It is the general opinion of timberland the government purchasing large land hold- of the State Charged-Govern- owners, forestry leaders, naval stores oper- ings for any purpose." ment Competition with Private ators and lumbermen of Georgia that the Timberland Owners on Unfair commercial development ,,f for<'c-t resourc-cG Hon. James A. Fowler, Soperton, Basis Claimed-State Forester should be left to private interests. Large Land Owner and Forester, and Private Timberland Owners "The chief reason given for this position Expresses Views Also Adverse to Government is that private timberland owners are James Fowler, Soperton, a large indivi- Purchase Plans. placed at a disadvantage when forced to dual land owner in Treutlen county, compete with the federal government, be- pioneer in large-scale planting Gf slash pine, The January issue of The Forestry News cause the private owner has taxes and in- naval stores operator and member of the Digest, published by the American Tree As- terest on his capital investment to meet, state legislature, says: sociation, carries protests of Governor Eugene Talmadge, State Forester B. M. Lufburrow, T. G. Woolford, President of the Georgia Forestry Association, Alex K. Sessoms and James Fowler, timberland owners, against federal acquisition of forests for commercial development. Unfair competition with private timberland owners, it is claimed, will result from the federal government's tax-free use of subsidized lands. The statement of T. G. Woolford appeared in full in the December issue of this publication. The statement of Governor Eugene Talmadge is as follows: Governor Talmadge's Position "The Federal Government, according to reports, is optioning large areas of land in Georgia for purchase, the a!tea reaching into hundreds of thousands of acres. If any of the agencies of the state are consulted aboqt much of this federal land acquisition program, it is not known to me. "From such information as drifts in, it whereas the federal government operates "As a timberland owner in south Geor- on tax-free land and has the use of un- gia, depending largely on pines for an in- limited capital on which it is not compelled come, I do not look with favor on federal to pay interest nor make a profit. purchase of timberland to use for com- "Georgia has several large units of pri- mercial development. I do not want to be vately owned land where good forestry placed in a position of having to compete practices are carried on. In spite of handi- with the federal government which has the caps, private forestry in Georgia is mak- advantage of using tax-free land, unlimited ing progress and only by making condi- capital for managing the forests, and is not tions as favorable as possible to the private compelled, as private owners are, to make timberland owners is there any hope for a profit. the full development of the state's forest resources. Establishing national forests "I appreciate the assistance received from that would be competitors of the private federal sources through the Clarke-McNary land owners would, of course, discourage Law and Emergency Conservation Work. private initiative. This aid has given encouragement to pri- "The help needed most for private for- vate land owners and helps us to carry on estry is a guarantee of fair tax rate to in this long run proposition of growing a Il replace the present tax burden. crop of timber. "With these obstacles removed and with "Assistance to private land owners, I both federal and state aid adequate to the think, is better than putting the federal ;wed, private forestry will succeed and a government into the business of large scale maximum number of people will find em- timber growing for commercial purposes. seems that options are being taken on sub- ployment in forests and wood working "I have put my faith in timber growing. marginal lands, largely forest land and abandoned farms that are now in condition tC:, use only for growing trees. "If this land goes to Federal Govern- plants." Alex K. Sessoms, Cogdell, Large Timber Owner, Opposes Plan "I am very strongly opposed to the pol- I took the land out of cultivation and planted to slash pine nine years ago, have continued to plant year by year and have cared for areas that have come back through nat- ment ownership, it is removed from state icy of the federal government buying lands ural reproduction. Nothing has caused me taxation, removed without the state being consulted. "I certainly do not want land owners of Georgia to have to compete with the Federal Government in growing timber or in prducing naval stores, with the Federal Government using tax-free and subsidized land and not obliged to make a profit. "Georgia has been getting a lot of wealth from its forests and it looks like a lot more is coming from our woods. Georgians, and llot the Federal Government, should get it. "It seems to me that the Federal Government should at least coordinate its land in our state. My reason for this opposi- tion is: "Private enterprise in our section can, will and is doing a better job at reforestation and protection than the federal government is doing under similar conditions. "Private enterprises are practicing reforestation and making it not only self sustaining, but a profitable business venture. "Lands owned by the federal government are not subject to taxation, and if large tracts were owned by the government, the remaining land would have to bear the tax burden now borne by the whole area. to doubt the successful outcome of the undertaking except the entrance of Uncle Sam into the field as a competitor, with all the advantages on his side. "I think that any private timberland owner in the naval stores belt would be foolish to sell to the federal government with forestry possibilities this section has and which it seems certain will be increased through paper manufacture. "It has been my privilege to show that slash pine grown in a plantation only seven years is large enough to make pulpwood for the paper mill, and thinnings five to 2 FORESTRY-GEOLOGICAL REVIEW Forestry-Geological Review Published Monthly by the DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND GEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT State Capitol, Atlanta C. A. WHITTLE, Editor PINE PULP RAYON REFORESTATION ESSENTIAL AN ACCOMPLISHED FACT TO GUARANTEE WOOD PULP Dr. Herty and Aids Produce Pulp Paper Industries Looking to South That Meets Requirements of Must Visualize F-uture as Well as Manufacturers- Greater Tensile Present 'Supplies - Idle Lands Strength Shown Must Be Put to Tree Growing Foreatry Diviaion Rayon has been made from pine pulp While preliminary reports of the fedprepared by Dr. Charles H. Herty and his eral forest survey in the deep south opens B. M. Lufburrow, State Fore.st~r scientists at the Savannah Pulp and Paper and Secretary of CommiSSion__ Atlanta C. A. Whittle, Educational Mgr,,____Atlanta H. M. Sebring, Asst. State Forester, Atlanta Laboratory. "Highly satisfactory" is the way a rayon Russell D. Franklin, Dist. Forester;___Ro!lle mill reported to Dr. Herty on its trial run to view enough available pulpwood to meet the nation's paper demand for several years, that in itself is not enough. Of great concern is the prospect of sustained pulpwood W. D. Young, Dist. Forester______Gamesville of pine pulp. Another says, "It compares C. B. Beale, District Forester______Waycross favorably with the best pulp we are using." Jack Thurmond, Dist. Forester___ Savannah C. N. Elliott, District Forester_____ Augusta H. D. Story, Jr., District Forester____Albany The paper pulp now in general use for making rayon comes from red spruce, much yields. How much pulpwood will there be 15, 20, 25 years from now? An impressive quantity will be made certain only. by reforesting areas not used for W. G. Wallace, District Forester__Columbus of it from abroad. other purposes, of which there are millions Mrs. N. N. Edwards, Secretary______Atlanta Mrs. R. S. Thompson, Treasurer______Atlanta With all the pine available in the south, with its pulp not only good for making of acres in Georgia alone; also by keeping fires out of the woods. rayon, but for making white paper, brown Lands swept annually by fires have not Geolorical Diviaion R. W. Smith, State GeologisL_________ Atlanta G. W. Crickmay, Asst. State Geologist, ---------------- __________________________ A t l a n t a wrapping paper and cardboard, the outlook for pine fibre is improving. Dr. Herty says, "There was great delight manifested at !the pulp laboratory here had a chance to undergo natural reforestation and a great deal of forest land in Georgia is not as well stocked with saplings as it should be to guarantee a future pulp- Lane Mitchell, Asst. State GeoL___Atlanta Miss Margaret Gann, Clerk ____________Atlanta when it was found that the tensile strength of the rayon yarn from pine pulp was 1.6, wood supply, because occasional fires are allowed to kill off young growth. when the customary strength is- from 1.5 eight inches in diameter were taken out for this purpose. Pine land owners will find in this experience a reason why they should not part with their lands to the government. "I hope the federal government will make it a policy to help the private timberland to 1.55. The cost figures for unbleached sulphite pulp according to AAA standards is placed by Dr. Herty at $44 per ton and bleached at $70 per ton, which he states is much lower than the cost of pulp made from red spruce. The far sighted land owner who wants to share in the future demand for pulpwood should be taking care of his woodlands and should be planting trees on his open areas and in open spaces in forests. A program of annual planting of trees will insure an annual crop of pulpwood in the future. owner and never to hinder him." Royal H. Rasch, expert cellulose chem- The success of forestry in Europe for ist, has been at work on the problem of hundreds of years has been the result of Refrain from Hunting Near CCC Camps pine cellulose at Savannah since March 1934, and has been aided by Randolph Richter and Frank McCall of the pulp and planting immediately following a cutting, and of harvesting in one year no more than the forest has grown that year. Robert Fechner, Director of ECW, has paper laboratory. Perhaps it is too much to expect a close asked that all hunters refrain from hunting within rifle range of any work project of the CCC camps. Request for cooperation Fire Losses Southern States and meticulous following of such rules in this country. But it is reasonable to expect planting every few years so that a of game wardens or conservation commis- According to information released by the harvest of pulpwood may be obtained every sions for this protection has received splen- U. S. Forest Service, the losses from for- few years. did response, according to Mr. Fechner. In a number of states signs have been posted, warning hunters that CCC men are at work in the area. FOREST FIRE REPORTS est fires in 1933, in southern states suffering most were Florida, $19,800,000; Georgia and Mississippi, $5,000,000 to $7,000,000; North Carolina, $3,000,000. In a majority of southern states the loss was less than for the preceding year. If the south is to lay claim to the paper industry, as it well can with its rapid growing pines and many acres of idle, low cost lands useful only for growing trees, it must plant and continue to plant, protect and continue to protect, and it must not IN REGIONS CCC CAMPS delay the beginning. There must be a large The November report of forest fires in regions served by CCC men show 82 fires with a total of 6,338 acres burned over in Georgia. CCC Men Find Outside Employment Robert Fechner, Director of Emergency Conservation Work, reports that up to October 1, 110,000 of the 300,000 original en- supply of pulpwood assured for years to come, which involves definite planning for sustained yields. Present haphazard methods must be abandoned once for all. The fires classified as to causes are: rail- rolees have been able to find outside em- If there ever existed anything approach- roads, 5; campers, 2; smokers, 3; brush ployment. This information has been ob- ing "easy money" for land owner, it is burners, 8; purposely burned, 43; lumber- tained by canvassing the men who left in growing trees for which there is a prom- ing, 1; range burning, 1; miscellaneous, camp during their period of enrolment, or ising market. Not "big money," but 19. Thirty of the fires were under 10 after they had served out their time in money from land which is yielding nothing acres burned over. camp. but taxes-tree money made with little The estimated damage done by the fires outlay of cash and labor. It really costs is $9,313.92. According to a statement issued by the very little to grow from one to two cords U. S. Forest Service there are 149,945,725 annually on an acre of land. In the vicinity of castor oil plants grown acres classed as farm woodlands, of which every ten feet apart in the tree nursery 85,321,900 acres are pastured. The valUe The City of Amsterdam is built on 4,000,- beds at Mont Alta, Pennsylvania, no grubs of timber products harvested from these 000 piles obtained from the fir forests of were found in the soil. wood lots in 1929 was $242,042,245. Germany, Russia and Norway. FORESTRY-GEOLOGICAL REVIEW 3 ABUNDANT PULP WOOD IN SOUTHEAST GEORGIA Forest Survey Shorws 44,966,000 Cords Pulp Wood in 35 Counties, of Which 26,357,000 Cords Could Norw be Cut Without Taking a Tree Being Turpentined 14 to 18 inches, 26.1 per cent total per acre; 20 inches and over, 13.9 per cent total per acre. Those who want the complete preliminary report should write Capt. I. F. Eldredge, Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, La. FORE'ST. FIRES INFLUENCE. ON INSECT ENEMIES One of the excuses offered for burning off the forest floor is to control injurious insects, such as the cotton boll weevil. Though it has been repeatedly shown that fires do not control this insect, there are some who still burn off their woods for this Advance information released by the Southern Forest Survey Staff of the U. S. Forest 'Service, cove;ring 35 coun'l;\ies in southeast Georgia, indicates that there are 29,703,000 cords of pine pulpwood available in the territory. This area is also the heart of the naval stores belt and produces 50 per cent of the country's output of tur. pentine and rosin. The report sets at rest any doubt that has existed about the supply of pulpwood in the pine belt of the south being adequate for the paper demands of the country. In addition to the 29,703,000 cords of pine pulpwood, the survey reveals 15,263,000 cords of pulping hardwoods such as gum, maple, bay, magnolia, making a total of 44,966,000 cords of pulpwood in the region. Further, there are 9,404,000 cords of non-pulping hardwood such as cypress, oak, hickory, ash, etc. Pine trees not yet chipped, and those now being worked are, of course, not to be considered actually available at this time for pulpwood. Eliminating these from calculation until they are abandoned for turpentining, the report shows 2,404,000 cords of worked out turpentine pines, 8,690,000 cords of non-turpentine pines, or a total of 11,094,000 cords of pine available. This total will be increased each year as the turpentine trees are taken out of production. The present available pines, excluding unworked and working turpentine pines, plus the pulping hardwoods (15,263,000 cords) makes the total available cords that could be harvested today 26,357,000 cords in the 35 southeastern counties of Georgia. Of this aniount, trees 6, 8, 10 and 12 inches in diameter comprise 13,114,000 cords. In these diameter classes little com- PLANNED USE OF FORESTS OUTLINED BY CHIEF FORESTER Included in Chief Forester Silcox's planned use of land, he estimates rehabilitation work on private forest lands would require 100 million man days per year, or 200 days work a year for half a million men, not including present forest workers.. His legislative program as announced in his address in St. Louis October 24, includes relief employment; conversion of forest products; financing with low interest-bearing bonds; soil erosion and flood control; additional cooperation with states and other agencies in protection from fire, insects and tree diseases; extension of cooperation and public regulation to private forest holdings for promoting protection and sustained yields; encouragement to reforestation through wider distribution of forest trees and seeds at moderate cost. New CCC Enrollment For 60,000 Unemployed Approximately 60,000 new men will be enrolled during the first thirteen days of January, 1935, to bring the force up to 350 000 the authorized maximum, accord- ing' to ~ statement of Robert Fechner, Di- rector of the Emergency Conservation Work. Those desiring to enroll should make applications through their county relief agencies. FORESTS ELIGIBLE FOR LAND BANK LOANS A ruling now makes forest lands eligible for loans from land banks on the same purpose. The use of fire to exterminate some other insects has also been shown to be equally useless. Even should there be some kinds of insects that burning the woods will destroy, the damage may be considerably more to the forest than to the insects. One of the effects of forest fire is to increase the abundance of some insects injurious to trees. For instance, the southern pine beetle, a borer that kills pines by girdling the trunk under the bark, does its greatest damage to weakened trees. It is well known that fires weaken trees, particularly by scorching the cambium, vital layer under the bark. When the trees are thus weakened, the southern pine beetle borer finds its opportunity, but as long as the tree is healthy it will usually strangle the borer with gum and with rapidly growing tissue. Another and important influence of fire is that it kills some of the insects that are parasites of the insects harmful to trees. Fires also drive out birds and mice. Birds seed on insects injurious to trees, and mice. skunks and other ground feeders eat in~ sects in their worm stage. Even a temporary absence of insect predators may allow some of the injurious borers to gain destructive headway. Fire upsets nature's way of providing enemies for every insect harmful to the tree. It also brings on an unbalanced condition of forest life under which trees are unable to hold their own in meeting their adversaries. In a word, forest fires disturb the provisions that nature has made for insect control and in this particular, as well as in others, fires violate fundamental laws of tree life. petition is to be expected from the lumber industry. Diameter measurements referred to are taken 10 feet from the ground in the case of worked out turpentine trees and 4% feet from the ground in the case of non-turpentine pines and all hardwoods. terms and at the same rate of interest at- lowed for farming lands. Consideration is also being given to mak- ing turpentine operations eligible for loans. Fire hazards are involved and a plan to provide insurance coverage as a condition of a loan, is being considered. The United States Biological Survey is purchasing land along the Savannah river in Chatham county as a game refuge; About 5,100 acres are being added to a refuge that hitherto has been limited to an area in South Carolina. The percentage of various diameter classes, by average acre and percentage of the total in each diameter class, are given Improvement of Nut Trees Definite proof that the smaller European elm bark beetl~ is a carrier of the dreaded as follows: 6 to 8 inches, 2.13 cords per acre; 10 to 12 inches, 2.55 cords per acre; 14 to 18 inches, 2.03 cords per acre; 20 inches and over, 7.79 cords per acre; 6 to 8 inches, 27.3 per cent total per acre; An effort to improve nut trees, such as walnuts, various hickories, chestnuts, filberts is being undertaken by the U. S. Deparlment of Agriculture, starting with the Bixby Plantation on Long Island, N.Y. Scions from the best nut trees are to go to state experiment stations for further Dutch Elm disease is announced by entomologists of the U. S. Department of Agri~ culture. What other insects are carrier!!! remains to be determined. The U. S. Forest Service reports that about 20.79 per cent of the unprotected forest land in the United States was burned 10 to 12 inches, 32.7 per cent total per trials. Those that finally do best will be over in 1933, but the toll on protected land acre; put into regular commercial channels. was only 1.09 per cent. 4 FORESTRY-GEOLOGICAL REVIEW FORESTRY HOLDING RAINFALL AND ering of ground water levels, and serious HOLDING SOIL IN PLACE increase in soil erosion are caused by re- moving forests from non-agricultural land, QUESTION BOX Reforestation Necessary Part m or by destroying the effectiveness of forest Erosion Control, Flood Control cover through repeated burning or exces- and Water Conservation-Ab- sive grazing." How much does chipping of pines for turpentine slow down tke growth of the trees? If properly chipped, the rate of growth should not be reduced more than one-third to one-half. The growth rate is generally reduced in proportion to the amount of bark removed from the circumference of the trunk. Chipping prevents sap flow or movement of growth material, leaving the remainder of the undisturbed surface covers of the tree trunk to handle the material which, of course, it cannot do as fully as was done before chipping. sorption of Forest Soils Much is being said and much is being done about terracing cultivated lands to hold the soil in place. Too little attention is being given to erosion control on abandoned and gullying farm lands. On such lands the worst type of erosion is in progress. The damage is not confined to the land being washed away. Far greater damage is caused to other and better lands below, where the sand and gravel, pouring from the gullies, covers fertile lands and makes them less fertile. Furthermore, this Yellow silt loams of soil of Illinois, cherty silt loam of Arkansas, and sandy soil of Arkansas were used to see how much water is absorbed per second by undisturbed soils of oak woods, soil of burned woods and soil of open pastures. Equal amounts were applied four times in rapid succession. On silt loam of Illinois, the undisturbed oak forest square foot of soil absorbed an average of 22.30 per cent of the water per second, whereas, on burned oak forest soil there was an average of only 4.57 per cent absorbed, and on open pasture soil only 1.43 per cent absorbed per second. Wky are one-year old seedlings "recommended for planting in Georgia in preference to two-year old? material fills up stream beds; causes destructive overflows, and the sand and gravel carried in the floods, scour away the rich bottom soils. The filling up of stream On Arkansas silt loam soil, the absorption of a cubic foot of soil per second averaged 42.88 per cent; burned oak forest soil averaged 8.80 per cent; open pasture aver- It is well proven by experience in this and foreign countries that the small planting stock makes better trees than large planting stock. The percentage of survival is greater with one-year seedlings. In addi- tion, the cost of transplanting is less with beds and scouring away of bottom lands by sand and gravel often convert bottom lands into swamps. The practical way to stop this very destructi_ve type of. erosion is to m~ke ch:ck aged 9.77 per cent. On the same soil occupied by old field pine woods, the average absorption was 31.05 per cent, and open pasture of same soil averaged 8.60 per cent. small stock, requiring as they do less dirt dams m the gulhes, and plant soil-bindmg On sandy Arkansas soil of undisturbed removal and replacement in planting. It is vegetati~n, ?r~ferably trees, for o~ly tr~e oak woods, the average was 45.17 per cent also easier to preserve the root system of , growth .Is h~e y to hold the gullymg soil, absorption per second, and on open pasture small seedlings than of large ones which and while domg so produ_ce a revenue and soils 17.11 per cent. "It is evident," says contributes to larger survival of planted restore the land to agricultural use for the author, "that even on sand there is a stock. the future. significant loss of water absorption brought Holding rainfall in place is performed about by exposure and pasturing." Would black walnut from north of the place to be planted do better than walnuts grown locally, or obtained from further south? It is considered by nut specialists that seed should be obtained from the region where they are to grow. If one were to plant seed obtained north of the point where they are to grow, they would probably do much better than seed obtained south of that point. Under the Clarke-McNary law, whereby timber owners are compensated in pa1t by the federal government, far expenditures on fire control, is any of this paid for fighting fires? by forest growth better and cheaper than by any means that can be employed. This is true because forest soil has greater ability for absorbing rainfall than cropped or pastured land, even when such lands are properly terraced. Forest soils are much more porous than cropped or pastured soils, and for this reason, forests account for the greater portion of the flow of springs and wells. In fact, there is very little surface run-off of rainfall from forested land. The absorbed water the trees do not use percolates down into the soil. The absorptive power of fresh soils can be reduced by fire and heavy grazing. Fire burns the sponge formed by decaying leaves and destroys the check dams that undecayed SCRUB PINE USES In the mountainous region of Georgia, the scrub or Virginia pine is abundant. Because of its limby nature it has not been valued for lumber. Other uses to which it can be put, however, make its development promising. The tree grows rapidly. It has a habit that other southern pines do not possess, that of intermingling its branches with its fellows. As a result, natural pruning is not so active. This, with its habit of abundant limbs, results in knotty lumber. One of the most promising uses of scrub pine is as pulpwood. It has low resin con- No. The federal government aids only leaves and fallen twigs form. Both serve tent; it is lighter of weight than shortleaf in fire protection measures such as con- to hold rainfall in place. On burned over pine with which it is associated, and pro- structing firebreaks, lookout towers, tele- forest land, the pores of the soil are silted duces high grade kraft wrapping paper, phone lines, fire fighting equipment and pa- up by the surface wash so that it cannot fibre board and printing paper. trolmen. The expense of surpressing fire is borne by the timberland owner. The pre protection measures aid in controlling fires, and to that extent lessen the cost of fire fighting. absorb water as readily. Fire is, therefore, a serious hindrance to forest soil water absorption. Heavy grazing of forest land or pasture land, with soil compacted by the feet of The fuel value of scrub pine is high and it is particularly desirable where an intense heat is desired in a short time, such as is required in burning lime kilns. It gives satisfactory results when used to make animals, also creates an obstacle to water charcoal. "Every four years enough newsprint is absorption. Some interesting data showing A fad for knotty pine lumber for inter- made for a strip as wide as a daily paper the ability of forest soils to absorb mois- iors can be no more satisfactorily met than and long enough to reach the sun and back," ture comes from the Central States Forest by wood obtained from the scrub pine. says "Forest Service" (Pa.). It may be Experiment Station and is reported by Scrub pine is used quite generally for boxes added that the south can grow pines to take Jno. T. Auten, who says: "In many reg- and crates and nail kegs. Its sapwood care of a great part of that indefinitely. 1 ions, failure of springs and streams, low- . makes good excelsior. FORESTRY-GEOLOGICAL REVIEW 5 FIRST DISTRICT THIRD DISTRICT FOURTH DISTRICT Russell Franklin, Dist. Forester ,l Rome .______T_o_w_e_r_m_a__n _o_n_J_o_b_____ ! C. N. Elliott, District Forester Augusta W. G. Wallace, District Forester Columbus The Gilmer County TPO has recently put on a towerman in the Rich Mountain lookout tower. The patrolman reports that this towerman has been a great aid to him in suppressing fires in the county. Rains and some snow in that section have helped to keep down the fires in December. The TPO members decided to let the applicants for the job of towerman bid for the job and a towerman was hired for $32.50 a month. Enlarged Lookout TPO The Lookout Mountain TPO is being revised with Walker, Dade and Chattooga counties cooperating and subscribing funds annually for fire protection in the three counties. Much interest is being shown in fire protection hy the people of these three counties and it is hoped that this will be an ideal TPO. SECOND DISTRICT W. D. Young, Dist. Forester, Gainesville Commerce T. P. 0. Meeting A meeting of Commerce TPO was held at the city hall in Commerce on the 20th of December. New officers were elected as follows: President, M. C. Sanders, Maysville; vice president, Charles Hardman. The secretary-treasurer will be selected by the former president and the two new officers. A maximum assessment was fixed at 2 cents per acre. Plans were made to man the three lookout towers beginning January 1, and continue through the fire season. The total area now under organized protection, is 75,000 acres. The officers are working toward an increase of membership and acreage. North Georgia Nursery About 3,000 lineal feet of beds will be ready for planting at the North Georgia Nursery this planting season, thanks to FERA labor available at the Georgia Mountain Experiment Station. The beds are 4 feet wide, with sides constructed of split logs and slubs. Some lob'olly pine seed will be planted this year in addition to black walnut and black locust. The National Forest Reservation Commission approved on November 23 the purchase of 2,053,169 acres of land to be added to the national forests. Of this 281,863 acres were in the southern Appalachians; 702,611 acres in the southern pine belt; and 403,114 acres in the Ozark mountains and central Mississippi. Seedlings Available Twelve thousand cypress and six thousand walnut seedlings grown at the GwinnNixon State Forest Nursery last year, are President Roosevelt to Harvest His Pine Mountain Farm Timber According to Good Forestry Practices available for late w~nter planting. The According to Mr. Otis Moore, manager walnut seedlings were' grown from seed and of the Roosevelt farm near Warm Springs, are from 6 inch to 10 inch tall. The cy- President Roosevelt has planned to cut the press were taken from wild stock and merchantable pine timber on his farm here. transplanted. They average approximately Mr. Moore will manage the operation, and 18 inches in height and are from four to will run the saw mill-a portable tractor six years old. outfit. Whether the lumber is to be used Highway Beautification on the farm or sold was not stated, but at any rate, the timber is to be cut accord- One use for forest tree seedlings is high- ing to good forestry practices. way beautifiration. The FERA authorities The district forester has been asked to of Richmond county have taken into con- assist in arriving at the minimum diameter sideration the planting of all highways limit, number of seed trees to be left per leading into Augusta. They plan to use acre where clear-cut, fire protective meas- pine seedlings. A survey has been made ures, disposal of slashings, and other prac- and the project recommended. Approxi- tices incidental to good forestry. It was mately fifty miles of highway will be only to be expected that, because of his planted. The upkeep of this highway great interest in the conservation and per- beautification program will fall on the petuation of our forests, President Roose- shoulders of the County Road Commission velt would insist on harvesting his own tim- which has agreed to protect the trees until ber according to the best forestry prac- they become of sufficient age to prevent them being killed by fire or destroyed by cultivation along the edges of the rightof-way. tices. Taylor-Talbot T. P. 0. Employs Patrolman The Taylor-Talbot TPO has employed Cultivated Firebreaks Mr. R. E. McCants as full time fire patrol- Firebreaks surrounding the Gwinn-Nixon man. Mr. McCants will be required to State Forest will be cultivated next year. contact every member of the TPO for the Arrangements have been made to lease the purpose of educating the landowners re- land, which totals approximately six acres. garding fire protection, and to collect the In consideration of rental, the renters have two cents per acre assessment now due. He agreed to report and put out any fires will also direct fire fighting activities for burning on or near the forest. By culti- this organization. The TPO is planning to vation, the breaks will be kept free from put on another patrolman a little later. grass and weeds. The Taylor-Talbot TPO has an excellent Last year some 50,000 trees were plant- system of primary firebreaks constructed ed on the forest. The species included in by the CCC. It has been difficult to knit the planting were Slash Pine, Longleaf the members of this organization into a Pine, Black Locust, Black Walnut, Bald cooperating unit due to the small sized own- Cypress and Red Cedar. This winter, the ership and other factors, but now that the fire breaks surrounding Nixon Forest were TPO has taken this important forward step burned t o get n'd of the grass, weeds and ,1 we feel that the Impor.tance of proper . fir.e other m fiamable rnat ena1. The burnm g was protection will b. e realized and that. this IS a rnatter of economic prot ect'IOn. the turning po. mt . towards an active and efficient orgamzatJon. Milledgeville Project Butler Naval Stores Company Still The CCC side camp at Milledgeville, Burns which was abandoned in November on account of an epidemic of dengue fever, has been reoccupied. This side camp is one of the projects of Camp SP-5, Crawfordville, and is prosecuted on state hospital property, comprising some 5,000 acres of timbered and wooded land. The turpentine still of the Butler Naval Stores Company of Butler burned to the ground early in December. Rosin and turpentine nearby was saved, however. The tremendous volume of dense black smoke was visible for many miles. Mr. J. S. Green, manager and owner, sustained a heavy loss, but such incidents The U. S. Forest Service estimates that are a part of a turpentine man's business 533,579,240 acres of forest land in the and we found him building a new still al- United States need fire protection. This is most before the ashes of the burned one about one-fourth of the area of the United had cooled. Extension Specialist K. S. States. Trowbridge assisted in the erection of the 6 FORESTRY-GEOLOGICAL REVIEW new still according to government and in- Members of Emanuel T. P. 0. have al- '~-------------------. surance specifications. ready constructed 100 miles of secondary St. Elmo Garden Club firebreaks, solid plowed, 8 to 10 feet wide. The district forester, in answer to the They are so constructed that the tracts of EIGHTH DISTRICT H. D. Story, Jr., Dist. Forester request of Mrs. Lawrence Murray, and timber are broken into approximately 40 I members of the St. Elmo Garden Club of acre blocks. Work of this type is subject Albany Columbus, .gave a talk to t?is garden club to .a. refund, after it is approved by some on the subJect of ConservatiOn and Recrea- official of the service and an inspection of Crisp County Plans T. P. 0. tion, a similar talk having been given in November before the Marguerite Garden Club. A member of the St. Elmo Garden Club was writing a play based on Dr. Chas. H. Herty and his Pulp and Paper Mill work with southern pines at Savannah. the work is made. Firebreaks of this type will cost $2.50 per mile. Ogeechee T. P. 0. The Ogeechee T. P. 0. recently purchased 3,000 fire signs and five Smith Indian pumps. The signs will be placed on T. P. 0. lands. The fire pumps are to be used Due to interest on the part of the county agricultural agent and several land owners, in fire protection work, several meetings have been held in the Penia community of Crisp county for the purpose of organizing a timber protective organization. As yet the organization has not been per- for fire fighting by the T. P. 0. members. fected, but interest has been aroused to such SIXTH DISTRICT The members also hired a patrolman who an extent that the land owners are expect- I assumed his duties on December 1, 1934 ing at the next meeting, which ill to be held Jack Thurmond, Dist. Forester Savannah and we will try and make him a full time some time in the near future, to enter into patrolman, being on duty twelve months this thing whole heartedly, and start the in the year. When the fire season is over, nucleus of an organization that has every he will be used to carry on an educational promise of expansion. Treutlen T. P. 0. campaign the T. P. 0. will put on. The Treutlen T. P. 0. has reworked over 75 miles of primary firebreaks which were I Vocational School Work originally constructed with E. c. w. funds. At present visits are being made to the The firebreaks were reworked with a disc twenty-one white schools having forestry harrow, drawn by a caterpillar tractor and projects in this district. Demonstration a good, neat job was obtained. and field trips are given the boys who are The cost of reworking 20 foot primary firebreaks, using the above equipment, costs three dollars per mile. About ten miles per day can be easily reworked by using a taking vocational work. The subjects ~aken_ up. and demonstrated include tree IdentificatiOn, fire protection, forest manage~ent, uses of Georgia wood, simple sur- crew of three men, one tractor man and veymg and measurement of standing tim- two helpers to go ahead and remove any her. Army Barbecue Host The members of the Flint River Timber Protective Organization were guests of the Army at a barbecue at P-67 on Thursday, December 20. The barbecue dinner was followed by a business meeting of the organization at which time assessments for 1935 were voted and new officers installed. The Army personnel has given good cooperation in these TPO meetings, and this meeting was no exception. trees that might have fallen since the origina! work was done. Members of the T. P. 0. have also constructed over fifty miles of secondary fire breaks. Some are solid plowed, eight feet wide and others are of the plowed and burned type, 20 feet wide. The T. P. 0. has also hired lookouts to man the two towirs, constructed from E. C. W. funds. These lookouts have been up since November 1st. Quite a number of fires have been reported, but none of them have burned over any large area, as they are immediately put out by the landowners and in some cases by members of the Camp P-61, which is located in Soperton. Emanuel County T. P. 0. The County Commissioners of Emanuel county voted to purchase three 100 foot steel, lookout towers to cover the lands listed in Emanuel T. P. 0., which will give a county wide detection system, covering 250,000 acres of timber land. The type of towers desired has been decided upon and at the meeting of the commissioners on Where new schools are visited, type maps of the school forest are being made and the two "4 -acre sample plots laid out. When the maps are completed they will be colored, as to the different types found on the area. Tower and Telephone Work Work on the steel lookout towers being put up on Tar City T. P. 0., Tattnall county and Ogeechee T. P. 0., Chatham county, is going forward rapidly. The tower at Tar City T. P. 0. was purchased from E. C. W. funds and one on Ogeechee T. P. 0. was bought by the organization. Telephone line construction is also progressing well. Some 1,200 heart cypress poles were donated by the Tar City T. P. 0. and nearly enough cypress was given by Ogeechee T. P. 0. to construct all of their lines. Work on Tar City towers and telephone lines is being done by P-82, Reidsville and on Ogeechee T. P. 0., by P-81, Bloomingdale. Tree Nursery Notes Shipment of seedlings from the Albany nursery was started December 1, and due to the large demand it has been necessary to prorate orders, to furnish everyone some planting stock. Developments are being planned at the nursery and it is expected to expand to sufficient size to come nearer meeting the demand for 1935-36. An abundant supply of seed has been stored for next year's planting, and in order to save time and expense, drill markers and planters have been perfected at the nursery to speed up planting. A simple mechanical box has been perfected at the nursery, which not only cuts down the time required at planting, but will insure good seed distribution in the drill and will not vary over 20 seed in number to each four feet of drills. INTEREST IN TREE SEED BEDS December 19th a formal order was placed for the three towers. Fifty miles of telephone line will be constructed to adequately connect the three tower system and enable phones to be placed at stragetic points in the county, where fire fighting crews will be available at all times. The wire and phones for the It is estimated that 658,000 pounds of turkey were used for CCC camp Thanksgiving dinner and a like amount used for Christmas. DuPre Barrett, extension forester of the State College of Agriculture, suffered ser- Rural high schools having vocational agricultural teachers are showing more than usual interest in establishing tree seed beds to meet local demand for planting stock. Several are enlarging their seed beds after canvassing their communities for possible demands. line will be purchased from E. C. W'. funds ious injury from a fall which has kept him Pines and black locusts are the favorite and erected by the Swainsboro side camp, confined for two months. His many friends planting stock, pines for pulpwood and lo- which is a unit of Camp P-61, Soperton. will be glad to know that he is recovering. cust for fence posts. FORESTRY-GEOLOGICAL REVIEW 7 shallow tunnel has been extended. Enough MINERALS OF GEORGIA f1ee gold was 1eco1ered by panning the me from the rich shoots to pa,y for the cost of Brief Accounts .of Occurences and Developments of the State's Leading Minerals deepening the shaft to 200 feet, at which level anothm drift has been started, and far the erection of a small mill. The mill Reported by THE DIVISION OF GEOLOGY consists of a jaw-crusher, a 10-stamp Straum circular stamp-mill, amalgam plates to recover the free gold, and a Wil- fey table to recover the sulphides, which THE GOLD DEPOSITS OF ' more than a modest daily wage. An occa- are now being stoTed for later shipment to GEORGIA sional richer find may create much local a ,smelter. All the oTe from the mine, low- By RoY A. WILSON excitement. grade and rich shoots alike, will be treated (Published by permission of the Director, There are several counties where mining in the mill. This property typically illus- United States Geological Survey) operations are of sufficient magnitude to trates the characteristics of lode deposits merit more detailed descriptions. Some of described in a previous article. The high- ARTICLE 4. Present Mining Activity these properties have afforded valuable grade ore represents the "lucky find" that data on t}le problem of Georgia gold de- now and then occurs in gold mining. One posits. of the interesting things about the miner- Note: Dr. Wilson's articles were written Lumpkin County alization in this lode is the close associa- in August, 1934-. In order that the descrip- Battle Branch Mine-The mine at pres- tion of the gold with galena (lead sul- tion of mining and prospecting activities ent creating the greatest interest in this phide). might be brought up to date as of December 15, 1934-, the State Geologist has re- area is the Battle Branch mine, a short distance west of Auraria, close to the Eto- Lockhart Mine-The Lockhart mine, a short distance east of Dahlonega on Ya- visited most of the properties and has added wah River (fig. 6). Exploratory work in hoo~a Creek, is another property on which numerous notes and insertions, all of which the sulphide zone has opened up some pock- systematic exploration of the deeper part are indicated by italics and are not to be ets or shots of high-grade ore. The mine of the lode has been in progress. Mr. W. M. ascribed to Dr. Wilson.-Richard W. Smith, is under the management of Mr. R. A. Grant was in charge of operations. This State Geologist. Newton. The history of this property is mine has had a long history. Past opera- Here and there over the gold belt, es- typical of many of the mines along the gold tions have included hydraulic mining of the -pecially in localities that have produced belt. "Gophering" for richer streaks in the saprolite and extensive gophering for rich- gold in the past, the placer and saprolite oxidized portion of the lode and hydraulic er pockets in the oxidized zone of the lode. deposits are worked from time to time by a mining of the saprolite have been carried The recent operations included the sinking small group. Most of these miners are local on from time to time in the past, mainly of a vertical shaft to a depth of 148 feet farmers or landowners who operate with before 1900. The present operations include and drifting along the lode from this shaft pick and shovel and sluice box, discontinu- reopening an inclined shaft into the sul- to explore and block out whatever ore ing their gold mining when the water gets phide zone and extending a shallow drift might be encountered. Development work too low, when farm work demands their at- from this shaft. A small amount of stoping here is confronted by a problem which tention, or when more lucrative labor can has been done along the richer parts of the should be considered in all plans for min- be obtained. Few of these miners average ore body. In addition to this work, another ing the deeper parts of the lodes in this district. The mineralization is characterized by an abundance of garnet impregnating the veins and altered country rock. This feature, together with the general tough- ness of the country rock, appreciably slows up drilling and breaking of the vein ma- --==-'"""-DAHLONEGA, .:tf~i:~.. #o!<>'4'" .ir-)""'===,:;9-r~(''\, \~\ ,...::::.~ "\\ :~ \\ I"I uII """""\""""\6~ """",, """1""\ ~ 7 II ,"",""""" '~Aura ria " " "-."=== .;:-~~ ... ,, ,, """",, ~"~ "1\ ""II II ",, ,, ''.::- ==:::.:::-,..,,,, " terial. As the development wmk progressed it became apparent that a fault parallel to the general strike had at places considerably limited the size of the ore body, both horizontally and vertically. The work was stopped and the property abandoned by Mr. Grant in November. The lack of success at this particular property is an example of the hazards of mining, but by no means 15hould it deter similar exploratory work by private capital on other properties where geologic conditions appear to be favorable. Barlow Mine-Carey, Inc., under the di1ection of Mr. Reg. A. Brett, have cleaned out, widened, a,nd deepened to 50 feet an old shaft in the bottom of the Ba-rlow Cut, southeast of Dahlonega, the largest of the old saprolite workings in the district. This struck a sulphide lode about 5% feet wide, thought to lie to the west of the main Bar- Vz 0 z Miles ~~~~----~----~ Figure 6. Sketch map of Dahlonega area showing location of active properties. 1. Topabri mine, 2. Ba;ttle Branch mine, 3. Baggs Branch placer, .C.. Saprolite mine, 5. Long Branch placer, 6. Barlow cut, 7. Bunker Hill placer, 8. Briar Patch placer, 9. Lockhart mine, 10. Boly Field mine, 11. McDonald mine. low lode. They have drifted for 160 feet south of the shaft and are now stoping upward along the lode. A mill has just been erected, consisting of a jaw-c1'usher, Ellis ball Chili mill, Ainley centrifugal bowl con- 8 FORESTRY-GEOLOGICAL REVIEW ~aelndtraftlootr~taimonalcgeallms,atainodn plates, two Erhen-1 Wilfey table. The Long lonega, Branch at the jMunicntei~-Sn ooufthLeaosntg of DahBran:h GEORGIA LEADS IN CLAY AND FULLER'S EARTH 1933 free gold will be recovered in the Ainley with the Chestate_e R1ver, a small cham c::Ce~rates b l nd on the plates, and the sulphide elevator has been mstalled [by the Ranald Georgia led the nation in the production will be shipped to a smelter. Gold Mining Co., Mr. W. R. Shillingto:" in of clay and fuller's earth in 1933, accord- Lumpkin County has produced a la~ge cha_rge] to .exc~vate the sandy al_luvmm. ing to the preliminary figures in the 1934 aInmtohuentpeorfiogdobldetfwroemen its saprolite depos1ts. 1880 and 1895, when Th1s the e aorpleyraptl1a0cner1sm~b.naesresd wohno twheorbkee hd emf tthha"1st Minerals Yearbook just released by the U. S. Bureau of Mines, Washington, D. C. saprolite mining was at its height, nearly area were not eqmpped to work the w~ter The clays produced were principally the $1,250,000 in gold was produced in this saturated deposits adjacent to the nv_er. sedimentary kaolins of the fall line dis- county, largely from saprolite deposits. The company hopes to find some r1~h trict of middle Georgia and represent a Deep open cuts scar the hillsides' in many streaks in the gr.avel next to bedrock. Thts value of nearly a million and a half dollars. parts of the district, showing that the work has been htndered by the old problem The principal uses were as paper filler, promising saprolite areas were pretty thor- of lack of equipment that would handle the china clay, and fire clay. oughly mined out. The future of saprolite water. The company has also done some The value of Georgia's fullers earth mining lies in working lower-grade depos- prospecting on the placer depos~ts up Long production in 1933 was not given, but the its which were not considered profitable Branch, on the weathered porttons of two value of the total amount produced in the in 'the past. The successful recovery of the narrow lodes just west of the branch, and United States was approximately two and fine gold from the clays, a problem which on a saprolite deposit south of the Chesta- a half million dollars, Georgia being the is still in the experimental stage, would tee River. largest producer. For statistical purposes probably revive this type of mining to Work is beginning on the ~ollowing prop- the Bureau of Mines has classed as fuller's some extent. erties as this article is wntten (August, earth all natural bleaching or filtering clay- Topabri Mine-The single major hy- 1934): Mr. Robert H. Reid plans to rework like materials requiring no chemical treat- draulic operation in the county at the pres- the Bunker H~ll property: southeast of the ment for activation. The material produced ent time is the Topabri Mine, west of Au- Barlow cut, w1th a drag-hne outfit [not yet in Twiggs and Wilkinson counties is gen- raria on McKlusky Creek, close to the Etow'ah River. This property is under the management of Mr. Bartlett F. Johnston and has been in operation for about three begun]. Chestatee The B River riar Patch placers, south of Dahlonega, oanreth~eo be reworked by the ~a~e company that 1s operating the Topabn mme. A _modern da~ erally termed "Bleaching Clay" by the producers and is used principally in clarifying vegetable oils. The material produced in Decatur County is used principally for min- years. The material is sluiced down the is being constructed on the r1ver for th1s eral oils. Other clays have been found re- creek through several hundred feet of purpose [now held up until a question of cently in Dade, Walker, Crisp, Grady, and. flume equipped with riffles, to a small riparian rights is settled]. Work has been Thomas counties, which may eventually be stamp mill near the river, where the started on the old Boly Field property, east produced for such purposes. coarser fragments pass through the stamps of Dahlonega and adjacent to t~e. Chesta- The Minerals Yearbook also lists Geor- to a small amalgamation table. The fine tee River [by the Bowsend Mtntng Co., gia as a leading producer of marble, gran- material passes into settling tanks and then Inc.], under the direction of Mr. Ch~rles ite manganese ore, barite, ocher, and bau- over Gibson impact amalgamators. Syste- A. Roberts [and Mr. Herbert G. Campwn]. xi;e. While Georgia's gold production in matic experimental work has been carried The Chestatee River for about 1000 feet has 1933 increased 280 per cent, its value was on here for some time on the problem of been diverted into an old channel, and in the not comparable with the production of the recovering fine gold. At p1esent the mine spring they expect to start placer opera- western states. The change in the price of is shut down for the duration of the winter tions in the former channel. In the course gold and the renewal of mining activity in Georgia indicate an even larger increase in months. of this work they uncovered and cleaned out the value of Georgia's gold production for McDonald Mine-The McDonald mine, an old inclined shaft that went 60 feet into several miles northeast of Dahlonega, un- the bedrock with a short drift at the bot- der the management of Mr. Carl MeDon- tom. This followed a narrow vein and is PLAINS SHELTER BELT ald, has been operating for several months. thought to be the old Boly Field shaft said SILCOX THINKS FEASIBLE The exposed lode shows deeply weathered granite containing small stringers and kidneys of auriferous quartz with pyrite (iron sulphide). This saprolite material is mined by washing and with pick and shovel and is then treated in a small stamp mill. Placer mining in Lumpkin County is at present confined to the reworking of stream gravel at several localities by small groups using pick and shovel and sluice box and to two operations on a somewhat larg- er scale. Baggs Branch Mine-The Dixie Gold Mining Co., with Mr. William Loffler in charge, is reworking the stream gravel of Baggs Branch about 2 miles south of Auraria. The equipment consists of sluice boxes, a hydraulic lift, and a small hydraulic giant. Work on this placer was temporarily stopped in October. At pres~t plans are being made to hydraulic mine a small ~apro!ite deposit. The !'old in ~he fine to have been sunk in 1848 along a rich pocket. A wide saprolite zone on both sides of the river is now being prospected. The Reliance Development Corp., in charge of P. G. Jacobson, E. Samuelson, and F. Lindberg, is prospecting the Whim Hill sap1olite deposit about seven-eighths of a mile north of Auraria. A number of rich shoots on this property were "gophered" to water level some 30 to 40 years ago. The Findley mine on the north end of Findley Ridge near Dahlonega has recently been sold to Mr. Cornelius O'Kane of New York. Prospecting has been started and it is reported that equipment will soon be installed for hydraulic mining of the remaining saprolite deposits. Pine Seed for Planting Anyone desiring pine seed for planting may obtain them by writing the education- "If trees are planted now and they are selected with the view to withstanding the drouth, there is no doubt that shelter belts can be established where the average an- nual precipitation does not fall below 18 inches," said Chief Forester Silcox of the U. S. Forest Service before the annual meeting of Land Grant Colleges in Wash- ington. Attention was called to the existence al- ready of 2 million acres of shelterbelts in the plains states from North Dakota to Texas, as sufficient demonstration of the feasibility of the project. He said, how- feevwe r ~eiaf rtsh ew adsr otuot hbei ncotnhseidreergeido na of the past permanent change of climate, people should move out of the region; but he counted on a swing- back to normal precipitation adequate to maintain the shelterbelts as well as many agricultural uses. I materwl wtll be recovered tn a sluwe box al manager of this office, who has the 1 Dark rosins are being mixed experimen- and the coarser material will be treated in a names of vocational agricultural teachers tally in various proportions o~ tar for road small stamp mill. whose students have gathered seed for, sale. surfacing in France.