48 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and decided that IMichigan contaiued men who had made a study of 

 forestry conditions in England, Scotland and France, and that the 

 thing to do was to use the knowledge these men had to better forestry 

 conditions in this State. 



I do not know the reason for the repealing of the act of the legisla- 

 ture of 1887 making the State Board of Agriculture an independent 

 forestry commission with power to institute inquiries into the extent 

 to which the forests of Michigan were being destroyed by tires or waste- 

 ful cutting and the effect such cutting was having on the ponds, rivers 

 and waters, together with authority to investigate the extent and dam- 

 ages by forest fires to the Avooded areas of the State. The fact remains, 

 however, that in 1891 the legislature did abolish this independent for- 

 estry commission and left matters in practically the same condition 

 they were at the time of your meeting in Jackson, in 1878. 



So far as forestry in Michigan is concerned, I think much history 

 along that line was made at your Jackson meeting, when the questions 

 of "Forestry for Michigan," "Shall we begin to grow plantations of 

 trees," and "How shall we make the first efforts," were discussed. Many 

 of the members of your Society took part in this discussion and all 

 seemed to agree that something should be done to encourage and ad- 

 vance the work of forestry in the State. I think it was the embers 

 you left burning after you adjourned your meeting at Jackson, in 1878, 

 which later on sprang into flame and lighted the way for the Michigan 

 Forestry Association and made possible the creation of the first forestry 

 commission by the State legislature. 



I am not going to dwell at any length upon the work accomplished 

 by the Michigan Forestry Association, other than to say that the edu- 

 cational work which it has done, is doing and must do in the future 

 is one of the great factors in placing Michigan in the position ij: oc- 

 cupies in the forestry movement at the present time. 



The creation of the Michigan Forestry Commission in 1899 and the 

 good work it accomplished is well known to every student of forestry. 

 It is true that results were not obtained as rapidly as desired by those 

 interested, but it was pioneer work and pioneering is always hard and 

 sometimes discouraging. The acts of the legislature setting aside State 

 lands to be used for forestry purposes, the establishment of the nursery 

 at Higgins Lake, and the starting of the plantations which are now a 

 credit to the Commission, Avhere some of the early activities of the 

 forestry commission, and among the men who did this pioneer work the 

 name of Charles W. Garfield is again found. 



In 1909 the legislature created the Public Domain Commission, turn- 

 ing over to that body all the power and authority originally vested in 

 the Michigan Forestry Commission, and giving the Public Domain Com- 

 mission jurisdiction over the State Land Office, the Auditor General's 

 department and the State Game, Fish and Forestry's department, so 

 far as its duties pertained to fires and public lands. This Commission 

 was to consist of three State officials: The Secretary of State, Auditor 

 General and Commissioner of the State Land Office, and three other 

 members: one to be nominated by the Board of Regents of the Uni- 

 versity of Michigan from among their number; one to be nominated by 



