Show FOREST NOTES the work of classifying and opening to homestead entry such lands in the national forests as are chiefly valuable for sri ri culture is progressing rapidly already over seventy million acres have been covered by field examinations and the final reports acted upon there were cut from the national forests in the fiscal year 1916 board feet of timber of this amount board feet was out under free use privilege by individuals in all sales of timber were made of which 97 per cent were under in value indicating the extent to which the homesteader rancher miner small millman and others in need of a limited quantity of timber draw upon the forests tests at the forest products laboratory at madison wisconsin indicate that by the use of four additional nails in each end in an increase of per cent in the strength of canned food boxes is secured approximately acres of denuded lands within the national forests were re forested in the fiscal year 1916 the total number of trees planted was while pounds of tree seed were sown there were more cattle and horses and more sheep and goats using the national forest in 1916 than in 1915 this increase was in spite of large eliminations of grazing lands from the forests it is accounted for by improved methods of handling the stock and by more intimate knowledge of the forage on the ranges and their c carrying i capacity the number of fires suppressed on national forest lands during the calendar year 1915 was as against in 1914 and an average annual number of during the past five years says henry S graves chief of the forest service in his annual report just published while more than the average number of fires occurred the timbered area burned over was but acres or 30 per cent less lesa than the average per year for the period 1911 1915 incle tte tive the average loss per fire was forty four percent of the fires were d to areas area ocless of less than one quarter of an acre |