Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women - Wise Acres Yearbook (Ambler, PA)

Page 5 text:

WISE-ACRES Vol. VI June, 1922 No. 26 Published Quarterly by the Students of the School of Horticulture for Women, Ambler, Pa. —Elizabeth Leighton Lee, Director Enterkd at Ambler P. O. as Second-Class Matter Under Act of March 3, 1879. STAFF Editor-in-Chief, Sarah B. Fogg Asst. Editor, Josephine Sharon Adv. Mgr., Elizabeth Swing Asst. Adv. Mgr., Virginia deSterneck Business Manager, Irene Geiser One Dollar a Year Single Copy, Twenty-five Cents OUR ORIGINAL FORESTS Joseph S. Illick There is good reason to believe that the inhabitab’e portion of the earth's surface, with a few exceptions, was covered with a forest growth when it first became the home of man. North America was no exception, for the early American pioneer was confronted on all sides with dense and supposedly endless forests. It is said that a white pine tree was the first green thing that the pilgrim fathers saw when they landed on the rough and rocky shores of the New World. To be welcomed by such a beautiful and princely tree must have given cheer and comfort to the little band of daring and tired sea voyagers. The original forests of North America were not surpassed in beau tv, make-up or value by those found in any other part of the World. In all’they covered 822,000,000 acres—an area about thirty times the size of the whole State of Pennsylvania. 1 hey extended practically unbroken from the Atlantic to the prairies beyond the Mississippi, covered most of the Rocky Mountains, and occupied a wide strip of the Pacific coast. Nature was in a liberal mood when she made the great and prosperous State of Pennsylvania. hen the white man first set foot on her soil the entire land surface of the State, with the exception of a few natural meadows and several rough mountain tops, was covered with a dense forest growth. Nowhere in the East did there occur better and more valuable forest stands than those found on the hills and in the valleys of the Keystone State. It is appropriate that Pennsylvania means “Penn’s Woods and is the only State in the Union that embodies the word “forest’ in her name. Nature worked many centuries to produce these matchless miles of primaeval timber that once clothed every hill and valley of Pennsylvania. It is most unfortunate, but only too true that it took man only a short while to remove the original forest, and now only a few small and scattered remnants of original timber are left. 1

Page 4 text:

ENTRANCE DOORWAY School of Horticulture for Women Ambler, Pennsylvania SPRING COURSE-12 Weekt April 4th — June 24th SUBJECTS Fruit Growing Floriculture Canning and Preserving Floriculture Lansdscape Gardening Poultry Bees Vegetable Gardening Woody Ornamental Plants Farm Crops and Animals SUMMER COURSE August 1st to 26th SUBJECTS Floriculture, Vegetable Gardening, Fruit Growing, Canning and Preserving 1922—DIPLOMA COURSE Two Years of 40 Weeks Each. Entrance in January and September Subjects Floriculture Fruit Growing Vegetable Gardening Botany Woody Ornamental Plants Rural Economy School Gardening Day Students are admitted to all Junior Classes, to classes which extend only through one year, and to Senior Classes upon passing an examination. Soils and Fertilizers Landscape Gardening (Elementary) Zoology, Economic Carpentry Farm Crops The Farm Woodland Business Methods Electives Poultry. Bees. Canning and Preserving. Care of Animals. '■'radical work out of doors and in the greenhouse forms a large part of the curriculum. FEES—Tuition per year of 40 weeks .......................$200.00 Board and single room 40 weeks .................'. 475.00 Board and double room 40 weeks ................... 450.00 Registration Fee, $10.00 Registration fees are deducted upon first payment of tuition. Fees for day students $10 for 20 lecture-hour periods. For further information address MISS ELIZABETH LEIGHTON LEE, Director.

Page 6 text:

If one could see maps showing the forest structures of Pennsylvania in 1682, when Penn arrived, and in 1922, we would be amazed at the wonderful change that has taken place in a period that represents only a few generations of trees. They would show that where once stood supposedly inexhaustible stretches of unsurpassed timber there now remains vast areas of unproductive forest lands, and only a few scattered small remnants of primaeval timber. The original forests of Pennsylvania covered at least 28,500,000 acres. There are now left in the State 13,004,557 acres of forest lands, of which less than 25,000 acres are covered with original forests. This means that there is now left in the State only 1-350 of an acre of original timber for each inhabitant. This is a mere remnant of what was here at one time. In at least 50 of the 07 counties not a single full acre of primaeval forest remains. Most of the younger generations have never had the privilege of seeing the glory and grandeur of the original or nature-made forests. The few scattered remnants of original forests that are left occur in remote and rather inaccessible places. Nearly all of them were left because the lumbermen either missed them or could not get to them. Most of them are privately-owned. A small acreage is found on the State-owned forest land. It will not be long until most of the privately-owened will be cut down, for logging railroads are now approaching them or lumbering plans are in preparation. Special efforts should be put forth to protect and perpetuate the few stands of primaeval forest that do remain, for they will be worthy memorials to the present generation, and splendid object lessons to future generations. All those who have not seen the glory and grandeur of the primaeval forests will be well repaid by taking a trip to them and walking among these stately and princely trees and other associated life. There follows a list of some of the most important primaeval forest stands that now remain in Pennsylvania: 1. The Cook Forest—This tract of original timber consists chiefly of white pine. It is located in Clarion, Forest and Jefferson counties, and has long been admired by residents of Western Pennsylvania, who believe that it should be preserved as a natural forest park. It can be reached over a State Highway through Cooksburg. Detail information can be supplied by The District Forester, Clarion, Pa. 2. Wheeler-Dusenbury Forest Holdings—This company owns extensive forest property in northwestern Pennsylvania. At one time their holdings comprised some of the finest white pine found in the State of Pennsylvania. Only one small tract of original timber remains. It covers approximately 700 acres, and is one of the largest and heaviest stocked stands of original timber in Pennsylvania. Conservative estimators feel that on some of the acres there stand fully 200,000 board feet of fine white pine lumber. This fine primaeval timber will be lumbered in a few years and may be reached by the way of the city of Warren. De- 2