STATE OWNERSHIP OF P^ORESTS 193 



lumbeiTuan. On some such tracts it will be advisable to give short courses in 

 forestry dealing only with such lines of work as would be of use to the farmer. 

 J can speak from personal experience of the efficiency of one such forest of 300 

 acres in Connecticut. In 1905 I purchased this tract in a portion of the state 

 where forestry was scoffed at by everyone, and in 1906 started planting. In 

 less than two years three thousand aci-es of private forests in the same town- 

 ship were under forest management and a nursery with a capacity of 100,000 

 trees was kept busy catering to the local demand. The sentiment of the whole 

 county has been changed by this small beginning. We have at present two 

 such state forests in Vermont, one of 450 acres in Plainfield near the center 

 of the state, purchased at an average price of |4 an acre, and one of 350 acres 

 given by Mr. Charles Downer, who has long been interested in forestry. 



Not the smallest mission of these demonstration forests above described, 

 is to educate the legislators so that they will forward laws in favor of forestry. 



TIMBER RAISING AND REVENUE PRODUCING FORESTS 



The kind of state forests advocated above are chiefly valuable indirectly 

 for the influence that they have upon the people who will be led to practice 

 forestry and pass favorable legislation. They will not be on a sufficiently 

 large scale to bring in a revenue of any material value to the state except for 

 supporting the forestry branch of the state government. European states have 

 proved that forests can be maintained more profitably under state and com- 

 munal ownership and the In I'ge areas thus owned pay a considerable share of 

 the current expenses of the various governments. 



Thus Saxony, which has very extensive state forests, derives an annual 

 net income of ^5.25 per acre from them. The Saxon forests are largely of 

 spruce and pine and are chiefly managed under the method of clearing and 

 planting, as distinct from the natural reproduction methods in use in Baden 

 and the coniferous forests of France. 



Prussia, as the largest German state, is interesting, especially from the 

 fact that it is still purchasing waste lands for reforestation. The net income 

 from its 7,300,000 acres increased from $1.53 to $2 per acre between 1900 

 and 1908 ; i. e., net income of |14,600,000. 



Wurtemberg and Baden are the two German states which produce the 

 highest net results from their state forests. In Baden eighteen per cent of the 

 state's wooded area or about 235,000 acres belongs to the state, and much of the 

 remaining forest is under state supervision. The annual cut in the timber 

 forest is now equivalent to about 500 board feet per acre. The revenues from 

 these state forests come not only from the sale of wood but from hunting 

 licenses, the sale of grass, berries and other products, while the expenses are 

 for planting, road building, salaries, etc. In 1902 the net income from these 

 forests was |5.08 an acre. 



In Austria the state owns seven per cent of the total forested area and 

 between 1874 and 1903 the net income from this 1,800,000 aci-es ro.se from 

 1525,000 to $890,000. During this period over 85,000 acres were reforested. 



Of the 6,464,000 acres in Bavaria the state owns about one-third. The 

 total gross income from the 2,315,000 acres was $10,387,000, the expenditures, 

 $4,593,000, leaving a net revenue of $5,894,000 or $2.54 per acre. Although 

 there were 79 forest fires in 1905 not more than 240 acres were burned. 



Similar figures might be given for the various other states of Europe 

 showing that state ownership of forests not only pays, but that the revenue 

 from these forests is steadily increasing, due to the ever improved condition 

 of the forest. For the most part these forests have been crown or common 

 lands since earliest history, but during the past century the areas have been 

 considerably augmented by purchase. 



