Bernhard Fernow (1851-1923)

Background

Bernhard Fernow was born in the Prussian Province of Posen. In Prussia, Fernow spent a year in the Prussian forest service prior to studying at the University of Königsberg and the Royal Prussian Academy of Forestry at Münden(Fernow wiki). He emigrated to the Unites States in 1876 after marrying his wife Olivia Reynolds, who actively helped him in many of his later projects. Fernow worked various jobs up until 1878.During the year of 1878 he got the opportunity to manage 15,000 acres of woods in Pennsylvania which was primarily used to obtain charcoal. In 1886, Fernow was named the third Chief of the USDA's Division of Forestry of the United States until 1898. During his time as Chief his main policy goals were the establishment of a national forest system and introduction of scientific forest management. Fernow produced many scientific reports while working toward the creation of national forests to protect watersheds. During the 1893 Chicago World's Fair Fernow helped produce forestry exhibits that helped generate public support for the establishment of a Prussian inspired national forest ssystem in the United States. As the head if the USDA's Forestry Division Fernow helped create the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 and the Organic Act of 1897. After his time as Chief of the USDA's Division of Forestry, Fernow became the first dean of the New York State College of Forestry at Cornell. This was the first four-year forestry school in the United States however Fernow's time as dean of the school was not particularly fruitful. The program was shut down in 1903 by the New York State government as the program was unpopular due to its clear-cutting and the fires it caused. During this same time many wildfires were happening due to the sparks from locomotive stacks landing on log stashes. Louis Marshall, an American constitution and civil-rights lawyer, branded locomotives as an "instrument of arson". Bernhard Fernow was aware of this, but continued to build a controversial railroad system that was 6 miles long and was used to transport wood. In 1907 Bernhard Fernow became the founding dean of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Forestry, this was Canadas first university school devoted to forest fire. To date, Fernow is known to be called the "father of professional forestry in the United States."

Waste Places

Fernow noticed that the bulk of American papers that recommended methods for planting forests did not account for places with poor growing conditions. Fernow deemed these places "Waste Places" and these locations were typically places with inadequate soil structure or had problems with water. Fernow believed it was important to learn how to properly "forest" these areas because the interests of agriculture will ultimately confine forests to these places.

One of Fernow’s writings, “Planting in Waste Places,” describes the conditions in which land needs to be in, in order to produce the most successful forest. According to Fernow, plots of land that are too arid like prairie’s don't serve much and land that is too wet won’t produce any good crop. He then goes on to describe an instrument that is extremely helpful in planting millions of young pines every year. This tool is made up of two parts: a shoe made of iron with one rounded and one flat side, tapering towards the end, in shape like a half cone, so that two of these shoes placed together, with the flat sides, would represent a perfect cone. The second part is located in the center where there is a threaded hole to receive the handle, which consists of a five-eighths inch rod, three and one- half feet long, with a squarely set wood shaft 155-156</ref>. At first glance the tool resembles a carrot dangling by a rope on a piece of wood. It is used by throwing the iron cone into the ground where the plant is to stand. A hole is made by moving the cone back and forth.

According to Bernhard Fernow, a waste place is an area that will not grow grass or any other crop. (Hough 153).

Fernow describes waste Places are unusable because they are either stony, too wet or too dry. Wet locations do not drain well enough, and dry areas can be too sandy for agricultural use. (Hough 153)

It is Fernow's belief that by encouraging tree growth in these areas, they can, in time, become improved enough and will gain value and be able to grow crops. (Hough 153)

Yield of Wood and When to Cut It

The purpose of this article was to answer questions of how trees grow, ways in which can encourage tree growth, the best time to harvest trees, and information that should be considered in context to forest control. (Fernow, Charcoal Iron Workers, p. 19) According to Fernow, the weight of charcoal, if properly prepared and housed, is practically a constant factor, since most charcoal is not used fresh, but rather used after weeks when it has absorbed almost all amounts of moisture (up to 10 to 15 per cent). Fernow believed that low yield of charcoal were due to how the woodcutters used specific types of wood and the length of the sticks they cut. (Fernow, Charcoal Iron Workers, p. 19)

Fernow characterized wood as "log-wood", "billets" and "brush" wood. (Fernow, Charcoal Iron Workers, p. 20)

Fernow believed that charcoal should be sold by weight, not by the bushel since it had a relatively consistent weight. (Fernow, Charcoal Iron Workers, p. 21)

Fernow addressed the idea of the best age for cutting the wood involved mathematical calculation along with knowledge of the forest. This knowledge of the forest would mean knowing when wood had hit its peak and had just started to decline (Fernow, Charcoal Iron Workers, p. 22) . Fernow noted that For the Prairie States, American papers for planting forests, presuppose that the ground to be planted is arable, or at least workable with the spade

References

Fernow, Bernhard E. 1883. “Planting in Waste Places.” The American Journal of Forestry, January, 153–55. Fernow, Bernhard E. 1882. “The Yield of Wood and When to Cut It.” Journal of the United States Association of Charcoal Iron Workers 3 (1): 19–26.