Kansas always has been and always will be essentially a prairie state. But every year brings more convincing proof that her plains need not always remain treeless. Each planting season sees new effort put forth to beautify the Western Kansas homes and divest fhe plains of their traditional bleakness.

The 1917 summer trip taken by the Ames forestry students was made through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota. The class was in the field for 12 weeks under the direction of 3 members of the forestry faculty. The students had an opportunity to observe the principal timber types in all the important lumber regions of western United States as well as to make detailed studies of logging and milling operations. During the trip 3 Forest Service Experimental Stations, several nurseries, and 14 National Forests were visited. The trip was made at a relatively small expense to the students. Camps were established at the different stops and, except in a few cases, meals were served in camp.

Imagine if you can a slab fire which has been kept alive day and night almost continuously over a period of 55 years by the refuse from a single large sawmill. Try to realize that this is an actual mill operating in the redwood region of California and that it is only one of many mills of similar size. You can not then help wondering why so much potentially valuable material must be wasted.

Lake Vermillion is situated 1n the Northern portion of St. Louis county, north and a little east of Duluth and may lbe reached via the Duluth and Iron Range Railway. The lake is only 35 miles long, but it has 800 miles of shore line. In many places the shore line is rocky, in others, however, there· are sandy beaches. The lake is noted for its many islands. Those who ·profess to know, state that there are 355. Some islands are only 100 feet square, while one of the large islands contains several thousand acres, including several small lakes. The depth of the lake varies from a few feet to 150 feet. At one time there was considerable timber in the region, mostly white pine (Pinus strobus), red pine (Pinus resinosa) and some Jack pine (Pinus divaricata). Paper birch (Betula papyrifera), balsam fir (Abies balsamea), Arbor vitae (Thuja occidentalis), tamarack (Larix laricina), white spruce (Picea canadensis), black spruce (P. mariana), black ash (Fraxinus nigra), and Balm of Gilead (Populus balsamifera) occur in swamps and along the streams. There is also Populus grandidentata on a few islands. Other species of trees occur but they are scarcely merchantable. These trees are as follows: Bass wood (Tilia americana), hard maple (Acer saccharum), red ash (Fraxinus Pennsylvanica), and green ash (F. Pennsylvanica var lanceolata). The pin cherry (Prunus pennsylvanica) is common everywhere, especially in burnt-over areas. The choke cherries (P. virginiana) is also common, but never attains the dimensions of a tree. The quaking aspen (Populus tremuloi des) is one of the common trees, never, however, of large size. Mountain ash (Pyrus Americana) is always a shrub or a very small tree. The oak (Quercus ellipsodialis) is a rare tree occurring on Pine Island. The blue beach or iron wood (Oarpinus caroliniana) was only found once at the lower end of the lake, near the Vermillion dam. It was shrublike and only leaves were observed: This locality makes apparently the most northern limit in Minnesota for the species. The speckled Alder (Alnus incana) is common in the swamps and on the shores of the lake. American elm (Ulmus americana) is confined to the streams and beaches of the lake.

Unlike the forests of a temperate region, where in a single locality the number of tree species usually does not exceed 10 or a score, those of the Philippine Islands, and probably of any tropical country, contain a bewildering number and variety. In one locality where an actual count was made, 8o different species were collected on a single acre. While this is likely extreme, almost any acre in a virgin stand would probably contain a score of different kinds. Altogether it is estimated that there are more than 2,500 different tree species in the Islands. Many of these, however, are not large growing sorts. As a matter of fact, probably not more than 600 or 700 reach saw timber size when mature. Of those, only something over 100 different species commonly find their way into the markets as lumber.