CUBA. THE Island of Cuba is 760 miles long, and its width varles from about 25 miles to 100 miles. Its area comprises 45,881 square miles, or about that of Pennsylvania. It has numerous safe and commodious harbors, that of Havana being one of the largest and finest in the world. Measuring from points of nearest approach to its neighbors, Cuba is about 100 miles from Key West, Fla., north; 54 miles from Haytl, east; 130 miles from Yucatan, west, and 85 miles from Jamaica, south. There are 2,360 miles of railway lines and 200 miles of electric railways. The two principal agricultural staples of the Island are sugar and tobacco. It also produces in considerable quantities fruits, vegetables, timber and metals, mainly iron, manganese and copper ore, and is adapted to coffee and cotton raising. The ground has no rival for fertility, and when duly cultivated gives marvellous results. The sugar cane when planted in superior ground is cut during 50 years without being planted again. Cuba is superior to the rest of the tropical lands, with the possible exception of Porto Rico. The whole land is mantled with rich soils, fertile calcareous loams, which, under constant humidity, yield in abundance every form of useful vegetation of the tropical and temperate climes. It has 1,246 miles of shaded roads and highways. The average fluctuation of the temperature is 12 degrees. The average in January is 70.3; July, 82.4; extremes, 60 to 92. Value of farms, plantations, etc., $120,000,000; tobacco crop, calculated at $32,000,000, and although there are but few plantations, oranges, grapefruits, etc., produce annually $10,000,000, while pineapples, cocoa, molasses, asphalt, iron, nickel, mahogany, cedar, etc., produce $10,000,000 also. The Government is republican in forra. The President, who is chosen by popular suffrage, serves four years and appoints his own Cabinet. The Congress consists of a Senate and House of Representatives, one representative being chosen for every 25,000 inhabitants, as nearly as possible. The provinces, of which there are six, corresponding to the American States, elect their own Governors and control their own internal affairs. POPULATION OF CUBA. A census of Cuba was taken by the United States Provisional Government in 1907, under the direction of the Department of Agriculture at Washington. The results, of which the following is an abstract, were published in Spanish and English in 1909. In 1907 Cuba had a population of 2,048,980, an Increase from 1899 of 476,183, or 30.3 per cent. (In 1913, total population, 2,500,000.) The population of the provinces of Cuba based on the 1907 census was as follows: Habana, 538,010; Santa Clara, 457,431; Oriente, 455,086; Pinar del Rio, 240,372; Matanzas, 239,812; Camaguey, 118,269. Over half the population lived in the rural districts, the 134 towns and cities containing 899,667 inhabitants, or 43.9 per cent. of the total. The popu lation of the six large cities was as follows: Habana, 297,159; Santiago de Cuba, 45,470; Matanzas, 36,009: Cienfuegos, 30,100; Camaguey, 29,616; Cardenas, 24,280. The density of population in 1907 was 46.4 per square mile. Males were more numerous than females, the numbers being 1,074,882 and 974,098, respectively. Of the total population, 1,369,176, or 66.8 per cent., were single or divorced; 423,537, or 20.7 per cent., were married; 176,509, or 8.6 per cent., were consensually married; and 79,458, or 3.9 per cent.. were widowed. The average number of persons to a family was 4.8. In 1907 over two-thirds, 1,428.176, or 69.7 per cent., of the inhabitants were white. The colored population was composed of 274,272 negroes, 334,695 mixed, and 11,837 Chinese. Of the whites, 1,224,539 were native and 203,637 foreign born. Of the latter class, Spain contributed 185,393 and the United States 6,713. Of the total population, 1.780,628, or 86.9 per cent., were of Cuban and 228,138, or 11.1 per cent., of Spanish citizenship. Of the 551,639 males of voting age, 430.514 were Cuban citizens, and of these, 212.930, or less than one-half, were literate, while 217,531 were illiterate; among those of other citizenship the proportion of literates was much greater, 89,217 being literate and 31,908 Illiterate. Among the white males of voting age the literates were in the majority, the numbers being 161,742 literates and 130,944 Iterates for Cuban citizens, and 84.937 Ilterates and 23,056 illiterates for all the others. Almost one-third, 171,017, or 31.6 per cent., of the children attended school; the corresponding percentage for 1899 was only 15.7. In the six large cities 55,336, or 49.9 per cent, of those of school age, attended school. Of the population at least ten years of age, 837,958, or 56.6 per cent., could read. For the large cities the percentage was 82.6; for the rest of Cuba It was 47.9. In 1907, 772.502 persons were engaged in gainful occupations. The 698,982 male breadwinners formed 65 per cent. of all the males, while the 73,520 females gainfully employed formed 7.5 per cent. of all the females. Of the wage-earners, 374,969, or 48.5 per cent., were engaged in agriculture, fishing and mining; 136,419, or 17.6 per cent., In trade and transportation; 126,021, or 16.3 per cent., in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits: 122,288. or 16 per cent., in domestic and personal service; and 12,805, or 1.6 per cent., In professional service. The principal trade is with the United States, which takes practically all the exports of sugar, fruit. and minerals, and more than nine-tenths of the raw tobacco. Trade with Spain has fallen off greatly. The total trade of Cuba for the calendar year 1913: Imports, $140,064,460; exports, $164,309,059. Imports Into the United States from Cuba, $131,269.619; exports from the United States to Cuba, $75,316,399. President of the Senate-Dr. Eugenio Sánchez | President (Speaker) of the House of Representatives— Agramonte. Dr. Ibrahim Urqulaga. The Isle of Pines, which under the generally accepted survey is supposed to have an area of 614.34 square marine miles, or about 521,381 acres, is situated off the south coast of Western Cuba, its nearest point to the larger island being about 34 1-2 statute miles distant, while the island Itself and its adjacent keys form the southern barrier of the Gulf of Batabano, & bight which extends northward to an extent sufficient to make Habana Province, to which the Isle of Pines is officially attached, the narrowest part of Cuba, The Isle of Pines is practically the only land southward of Cuba to Panama, from which it is distant about 850 miles: It is 230 miles almost due east of Cape Cartuche, Yucatan, and 370 miles northwest of the island of Jamaica. NATIONAL PARKS IN THE UNITED STATES. THE National parks and reservations mentioned below are under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior. General Information, the annual administrative reports, copies of the rules and regulations, and compilations of the laws relating to the parks may be obtained from the Secretary of the Interior or from the superintendents of the parks. The park can be reached YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK is in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, and has an area of 2,142,720 acres. The superintendent's address is Yellowstone Park, Wyoming. Northern Pacific Railroad to Gardiner, the northern entrance, vla by the following railroads, Livingston, Mont.; Oregon Short Line Railroad to Yellowstone, Mont., the western entrance; Chicago, 100 61 bul Burlington and Quincy Railroad to Cody, Wyo., from which the eastern entrance to the park is accessible. Stage and private transportation connections for the reservation are made at all these points. The tourist season extends from June 1 to September 15. YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA, including the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Big Tree The superintendent's address is Yosemite, Cal. The Grove, embraces an area of 719,622 acres. park can be reached from Merced on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé and the Southern Pacine The tourist rallroads by way of Yosemite Valley Railroad, which runs to the western boundary, and by connections of the same roads to Raymond, on the southwest; stage lines run from the terminus of the Yosemite Valley Railroad and from Raymond to Yosemite Valley within the park. season extends from May 1 to November 1, but the park is accessible and hotel accommodations are furnished the entire year. HOT SPRINGS RESERVATION, ARKANSAS (the permanent reservation), has an area of 911.63 Eleven bathhouses on the reservation and twelve in the city of Hot Springs, as well as several hotels operated in connection with bathhouses, receive hot water from the springs, under lease with The address of the superintendent is Hot Springs, Ark. the Secretary of the Interior. PRESERVATION OF AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES-Under the act of Congress approved June 8, 1906, Interdepartmental regulations governing the excavation, appropriation, etc., of prehistorie ruins or objects of antiquity have been promulgated by the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and War. Applications for permits to make excavations on the public lands, Indian reservations, or the national monuments named below should be addressed to the Secretary of the Interior. The followIng have been preserved from entry and set aside as national monuments: Devils Tower, Wyoming: Montezuma Castle, Arizona; Petrified Forest, Arizona; El Morro, New Mexico; Chaco Canyon, New Mexico; Muir Woods, California; Natural Bridges, Utah; Lewis and Clark Cavern, Montana: Tumacacorl, Arizona; Navajo, Arizona; Mukuntuweap, Utah: Shoshone Cavern, Wyoming; Gran Quivira, New Mexico; Sitka National Monument, Alaska; Rainbow Bridge, Utah; Pinnacles, Callfornia; Colorado, Colorado." Ten other national monuments within national forests have also been set aside under this act and placed under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture, to whom Inquiries in regard thereto Two other national monuments (Big Hole Battlefield, in Montana, and should be addressed. Cabrillo, in California) are under jurisdiction of the Secretary of War. Forests and Forestry. Forests OUR forests now cover 550,000,000 acres, or about one-fourth of the United States. publicly owned contain one-fifth of all timber standing. Forests privately owned contain at least four-fifths of the standing timber. The timber privately owned is not only four times that publicly owned, but it is generally more valuable. The original forests of the United States contained timber in quantity and variety far beyond that upon any other area of similar size in the world. They covered 850,000,000 acres, with a stand of not less than 5,200,000,000,000 feet of merchantable timber, according to present standards of use. There were five great forest regions-the northern, the southern, the central, the Rocky Mountain and the Pacific. The present rate of cutting is three times the annual growth of the forests of the United States. The great pineries of the lake States are nearing exhaustion and heavy inroads have been made upon the supply of valuable timber throughout all parts of the country. The heavy demands for timber have been rapidly pushing the great centres of lumber industry toward the South and West. In consequence, the State of Washington has led for several years in lumber production, now followed in order by Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon, and Texas. Among the soft woods in 1913 the production of yellow pine lumber amounted to about fifteen billion feet; the Douglas fir of the Northwest held second place, with nearly five and one-half billion feet; while white pine with two and one-half billion feet ranked third, though less was produced than in the preceding year; oak came first among the hardwoods with three and one-fifth billion feet, and was followed in order by maple, red gum, tulip poplar, chestnut, beech, and birch. We take from our forests yearly, including waste in logging and in manufacture, more than 30,000,000.000 cubic feet of wood, valued at about $1,875,000.000. We use in a single year 90,000,000 cords of firewood, nearly 40,000,000,000 board feet of lumber, 135,000,000 tles, nearly 1.700.000,000 staves, 440.000.000 board feet for veneer, over 130,000,000 sets of heading, over 350,000,000 barrel hoops, over 3,300,000 cords of native pulp wood, 165,000.000 cubic feet of round mine timbers, nearly 1,500,000 cords of wood for distillation, over 140,000 cords for excelsior, and nearly 3,500,000 telegraph and telephone poles. About 4,330,000 cords of wood are used in the manufacture of paper, of which about 1,000,000 cords are Imported mainly from Canada. The demand for wood pulp is making a severe drain on the spruce forests, which furnish the principal supply, though a number of other woods, such as poplar, hemlock, pine, and balsam, are now being used in considerable quantities. The Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture is conducting investigations to determine what other woods, such as Western white and red fr, lodge pole pine, Western hemlock, tupelo and the like, can be successfully used. A larger drain upon our forest resources is made by the demand for railroad ties. White oak, hitherto the chief source of supply, and in many parts of the country the supplies of chestnut, cedar, and cypress are dwindling. In place of these highly durable woods cheaper and more plentiful ones, such as Southern pine, Douglas fir, tamarack, and hemlock, are coming into use, largely in consequence of the introduction of treatment by preservatives which retard decay. A great saving has been effected in the naval stores industry, also largely through the work of the Forest Service, by the Introduction of the so-called "cup" systems of turpentining in place of the old destructive system of "boxing." The new systems Insure a larger product of better quality and prolong the life of the longleaf pine forests upon which the industry depends. UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE. The Forest Service is one of the bureaus of the Department of Agriculture. It has charge of the administration and protection of the National forests and also promotes the practice of forestry generally through investigations and the diffusion of information. The work of the Government in forestry was initiated by the appointment of Dr. Franklin B. Hough in 1876 as special agent in the Department of Agriculture. In 1881 a diviston of forestry was created in that department. In 1901 this division became the Bureau of Forestry, and in 1905, when the care of the National forests was given to this bureau, Its name became the Forest Service. Previously the care of the National forests had been in the hands of the Department of the In terior. A law authorizing the President to set apart forest reserves was passed in 1891, but no provision for their administration and use was made until 1897. Previous to 1905 the Bureau of Forestry merely gave expert advice, on request, to the Department of the Interior concerning the application of forestry to the forest reserves. The change of name from "forest reserves" to "National forests" was made in 1906 to correct the Impression that the forests were, as "reserves," withdrawn from use. Since the Forest Service took charge of them the fundamental aim has been to open them to the widest use consistent with their proper protection. The National forests were set aside as follows: By President Harrison, 13,416,710 acres; by President Cleveland, 25,686,320 acres: by President McKinley, 7,050,089 acres; by President Roosevelt, 148,346,924 acres. Since early in 1909 a careful readjustment of the boundaries has been going on. In consequence President Taft added to the National forests 4,333,847 acres and eliminated from them 11,680,578 acres, while down to July 1, 1914, President Wilson has added 418.745 acres and eliminated 1,973,839 acres. Acts of Congress prohibit any additions by the President to the National forest area in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. The present gross area of the National forests, including Alaska and Porto Rico, is 185,321,202 acres, with an additional 190,755 acres acquired by purchase in the White Mountains and Southern Appalachian regions for National forest purposes. The following tables show the National forest expenditures and receipts for the fiscal years 1914 and 1913; EXPENDITURES FOR ADMINISTRATION AND PROTECTION, AND PERMANENT IMPROVEMENTS DURING FISCAL YEAR 1914, COMPARED WITH 1913. COMPARISON OF RECEIPTS FROM THE SEVERAL SOURCES FOR THE FISCAL YEARS 1914 AND 1913. GRAZING. Total. SPECIAL USES, ETC. ALL SOURCES. Per Acre.) Total. Per Acre. Total Per Acre. $0.0054 $131,309.06 $0.0007 $2,437.710.21 $0.0132 0.0053 116,995.21) 0.0006 2,391,920.85 0.0128 FORESTS AND FORESTRY-Continued. Under the law 25 per cent. of the receipts are paid to the States in which the National forests are located, to be expended for roads and schools. The amount to be paid to the States in this way from the receipts in 1914 is about $599,272.17. By the acts of Congress organizing them as States, Arizona and New Mexico also receive for their school fund an additional share of the receipts based on the proportion that their school lands within the National forests bear to the total National forest area in the States. The approximate amounts due on account of the receipts for 1914 are $30,730.58 to Arizona and $9,890.94 to New Mexico. Congress has also provided that 10 per cent. of the receipts shall be set aside as an appropriation to be used under the direction of the Secretary of Agriculture for road and trail building in National forests in co-operation with State authorities or otherwise. The amount thus appropriated on account of fiscal year 1914 receipts is $239,708.86. This, added to the amount carried over from the 1913 receipts fund, $112,220.77, and the amount appropriated for improvements, in the regular agricultural bill, $400,000, makes the total available for the construction of roads, trails, cabins, bridges, telephone lines, etc., on the National forests for the fiscal year 1915, $751,929.63. The total regular appropriation for salaries, general expenses, and improvements for the fiscal year 1913 is $5,548,256.00, as against $5,399,679.00 for 1914, with a further provision of $100,000 available for fire-fighting in cases of extraordinary emergency. The grazing receipts for 1914 were paid by the holders of 23,757 permits to graze 1,620,261 cattle, horses and hogs, and of 5,188 permits to graze 7,618,802 sheep and goats. The receipts from timber sales were paid by approximately 8,300 purchasers, who cut the equivalent of 626,406,000 board feet of timber. The receipts from special uses were paid by the holders of approximately 5.000 permits. In other words, these receipts represent profitable use of the forests by some 40,000 individuals or concerns. To the use for which payment was made must be added the heavy free use of the forests by the public. Figures for free use of timber are as follows: FREE USE OF TIMBER ON NATIONAL FORESTS. In Issuing permits for reservoirs, condults, power-houses and transmission lines for commercial power development the Forest Service has steadfastly insisted on conditions designed to prevent speculative or perpetual holdings and to secure the full development of available power and the payment of reasonable charges for the use of land. The total stand of timber on the National forests is estimated at nearly six hundred billions board feet. The following table shows the local cut of timber from the National forests in the fiscal year 1914: TIMBER CUT FROM NATIONAL FORESTS. The value of the public property administered by the Forest Service is estimated at over two billion dollars. The great areas contained in the National forests have now been brought to a condition where they are beginning to serve the purposes of the West. The conservation of timber and forage through wise use, and the protection of stream flow, are the means of sustaining many industries which have contributed materially to the prosperity of the country. ORGANIZATION OF THE FOREST SERVICE. At the head of the Forest Service are the Forester, Henry S. Graves, and the Associate Forester, A. F. Potter. The work is organized under the following branches: Operation, and also Lands, James B. Adams in charge; Silviculture, and also Products, W. B. Greeley in charge; Grazing, A. F. Potter in charge, and Products Laboratory, Howard F. Welss in charge; Acquisition of Lands Under the Weeks law, William L. Hall in charge. The 163 National forests are grouped in seven districts, with a District Forester in charge of each, and headquarters as follows: District 1 (Montana, Northeastern Washington, Northern Idaho, Northwestern South Dakota, and Southwestern North Dakota), Missoula, Mont., F. A. Silcox, District Forester; District 2 (Colorado, Wyoming, the remainder of South Dakota, Nebraska, and Western Kansas, Northern Michigan, and Northern Minnesota), Denver, Col., Smith Riley, District Forester: District 3 (most of Arizona and New Mexico), Albuquerque, N. Mex., A. C. Ringland, District Forester: District 4 (Utah, Southern Idaho, Western Wyoming, Eastern and Central Nevada, and a small portion of Northwestern Arizona), Ogden, Utah, E. A. Sherman, District Forester: District 5 (California and Southwestern Nevada), San Francisco, Cal., Coert Du Bols, District Forester; District 6 (Washington, Oregon, and Alaska), Portland, Ore., Geo. H. Cecil, District Forester: District 7 (Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, New Hampshire), Washington, D. C., Wil lam L. Hall, District Forester. On July 1, 1914, the force employed by the Forest Service numbered 3,953. Of these 3,352 were employed upon the National forests and 601 were engaged in administrative, scientific and clerical work at the Washington and district headquarters. Of the employés on the National forests the force engaged principally in protective work numbered 2,397 men, as follows: Forest Rangers, 397; Forests and Forestry. FORESTS AND FORESTRY-Continued. The protective force Assistant Forest Rangers, 856; Forest Guards, 1,143; Game Wardens, 1. was therefore about one man for every 80,000 acres, or 125 square miles. (Prussia has one man for every 1,700 acres, and Baden one for every 750.). T The branch of silviculture directs the management of the National forests as regards both the cutting of mature timber and the work of forest planting; co-operates with States in developing forest policies adapted to their requirements; co-operates with private forest owners who desire to practise forestry on their lands, and carries on investigations of the important species and silvicultural problems of the United States. The chief problems encountered in the management of the National forests, after fire protection, are to secure the removal of mature timber without cutting more than the forest is actually producIng, and to replace this timber as it is sold and cut, by young growth of valuable species. Detailed plans are prepared for each forest on the basis of careful estimates of the present stand and Its rate of growth, which specify the amount of timber that can be cut safely each year without Impairing This timber is then advertised for sale at prices which secure to the Governthe permanent supply. ment Its full market value and at the same time allow a fair profit to the operator. The replacement of old stands by new growth is accomplished mainly by regulating the cutting through the insertion of special provisions in timber sales contracts in such a way as to insure natural reproduction. On completely denuded areas, however, artificial reforestation by planting or sowing is generally necessary for the establishment of a new growth of trees. The object of such work is usually to produce commercial timber, although in a number of cases the reforesting of denuded watersheds is undertaken primarily to control and regulate the flow of streams directly supplying cities and towns. During the year ending June 30, 1914, 20,477.51 acres in National forests were planted or sown to trees, chiefly Douglas fir, Western yellow pine, Western white pine, white pine, and lodgepole pine. There are 29 Government nurseries which supply the National forests. These have a present stock of about 31,000,000 plants and are capable of supplying 15,000,000 a year. Detalled Investigations of important problems are conducted at eight thoroughly equipped forest experiment stations in order to determine the best methods of forest management to use in the handling of the National forests. At the request of the States the Forest Service makes examinations of their forest conditions and conducts other studies needed to frame forest legislation and formulate a forest State polley adapted to the special requirements of each State. The cost of such work is shared by the State and the service. The service co-operates with private owners, especially small owners, in States which have no State Forester, by furnishing advice, with or without field examinations, concerning the best methods for managing and protecting their holdings. The cost of such examination is borne by the owner. BRANCH OF GRAZING. The branch of grazing supervises the grazing of live stock upon the National forests, the principal lines of work being the allotment of grazing privileges; the Issuance of grazing permits; the division of the ranges between different classes of stock or their owners, and the regulation of the stock grazed under permit upon the ranges; and the development of the forage-producing capacity of the National forests by the restoration of depleted areas through systematic control of the stock grazed upon them or by artificial means, through the eradication of noxious range-destroying rodents and through the Institution of new methods of range control. By co-operation with Federal and State authorities in the enforcement of quarantine regulations the National forests have been practically freed from Infection or contagious diseases fatal to live stock, and by an active campaign against predaceous animals, destructive to live stock, the annual loss from this source within the National forests has been reduced by several hundred thousand dollars. The annual productive value of About 15 per cent. of all the sheep in the United States are grazed in the National forests. The branch of products carries on studies, tests and demonstrations to further the more complete The act of March 1, 1911, commonly known as the Weeks law, provides for the acquisition Its purpose is to promote and protect the of forest lands on the watersheds of navigable streams. navigability of the streams by preserving the forest on the upland portions of their watersheds. Through this act means are afforded of extending the National forest system to regions where the Government has hitherto owned no forest lands and taken no direct part in forest preservation. The original appropriation was $2,000,000 per year for five and one-half years, beginning with the last half of the fiscal year 1911. The Agricultural Appropriation bill for the fiscal year 1913 made the appropriation for 1912 and subsequent years available until expended. In order to concentrate the purchases where they will be of the greatest benefit from the standThe United States point of watershed protection, certain areas in the Appalachian region have been designated, aggregating 6,966,304 acres, to which purchases will be for the present confined. Geological Survey has examined the greater part of this land, as required by law, in order to determine whether or not the forest cover exercises a beneficial influence in regulating the flow of navigable Streams. Up to July 1, 1914, 6,013,103 acres were reported upon favorably by the Geological Survey. The Forest Service has been designated as the bureau to receive proposals of land and to examine The National Forest Reservation Commission considers the recomand value lands for purchase. mendations of the Forest Service and approves the lands to be purchased and fixes the price to be paid,to wo From April 1, 1911, to June 30, 1914, proposals were received covering 3,668,120 acres, of which |
