NEWS AND NOTES 



125 



aries for the sake of grazing." With refer- 

 ence to this report and the impression it has 

 produced, the secretary says : "To satisfy 

 myself on the ground as to the facts, I 

 made personal investigation of these matters 

 during the past summer in the states of 

 Idaho and Wyoming. Presumably the time 

 will come when some portions of the present 

 forests can with benefit to the community 

 be converted into farms. Through dry 

 farming, plant breeding, and the introduc- 

 tion of new forms of useful and drought- 

 enduring vegetation, agriculture is steadily 

 gaining upon the desert, and may be ex- 

 pected to gain on the forest in semi-arid 

 regions. Growth in population also will 

 bring an increasing demand for farm land. 

 But it will also bring an increasing demand 

 for timber and water conservation. The 

 present is not the time to decide where the 

 line should finally be drawn. 



"I found no evidence that the National 

 Forests are withholding from settlement 

 land now demanded for agriculture. As to 

 grazing land, it is sufficient to say that 

 proper administrative control of National 

 Forest grazing has necessitated the fixing of 

 the boundaries where they now are, that 

 public sentiment in the states visited is 

 strongly in favor of the maintenance of the 

 existing boundaries, and that representations 

 that great areas of land are held for other 

 than forest purposes are in my judgment 

 wide of the facts." 



When tracts of land suitable for agricul • 

 ture are found scattered in the National 

 Forests, they are always, contrary to the 

 belief of many, opened to settlement under 

 the act of June 11, igo6, and the secretary 

 says in his report that nearly 1,500 home- 

 steads, with a total area of 140,000 acres, 

 were hsted during the last fiscal year. That 

 ought to dispose of the yarn of National 

 Forest encroachments but probably it will 

 not, as those interested in circulating the 

 report are aware that "a lie well stuck to 

 is sometimes as serviceable as the truth." 

 — Bridgeport (Ct.) Standard. 



M.' ^ &' 



Water Right Guarantees 



The settler in any of the arid or semi- 

 arid sections of the west, where irrigation 

 is required in the growing of crops of what 

 ever kind, should in the purchase of land 

 be most particular in regard to the water 

 rights which go with it. He should see to 

 it first of all that the parties back of the 

 irrigation system arc absolutely reliable and 

 above even the suspicion of crookedness 

 and dishonesty. A government irrigation 

 project is relial le in the matter of its water 

 guarantees, for no more land is* sold than the 

 engineers are positive can be adequately 

 supplied with water when moisture is needed. 

 There are some private irrigation com- 

 panies whose guarantee is just as good, 

 but there are many other projects where 



land is being sold at long prices in which 

 water could not be furnished in sufficient 

 quantities at the critical time if one were 

 to wait till he became gray headed. Water 

 in the ditch between November and May, 

 when it is not needed or used, is a different 

 thing than little or no water from May to 

 October, when it is needed ; hence when 

 irrigated land is bought the guarantee of 

 the water privileges must be in the most 

 direct and plain terms, so that no loophole 

 will be left through which the guarantors 

 may evade furnishing a service for which 

 they are duly paid. It may be a nuisance 

 to have to look after this matter, but at- 

 tending to it at the proper time will mean 

 a lot less grief later on. — Salem (Mass.) 

 Observer. 



'M i^ i^ 



On a Great Scale 



The great state of New York manages 

 its forestry department on a scale commen- 

 surate with its size and resources, a scale 

 at which New Hampshire can only gaze 

 with envious eye. 



A comparative statement between the 

 years 1904 and 1909 indicates the present 

 increased efficiency of the department. 

 Total receipts have increased $204,000, 

 while the increase in expenditures has been 

 $111,000, of which $60,000 is due to the 

 cost of a new fire system and the game 

 bird farm. The increase in the number of 

 fish reared and distributed is 418,000,000. 

 Three nurseries have been enlarged from 

 one and one-half acres in 1904, when Com- 

 missioner Whipple entered the department, 

 to twenty-eight and one-half acres. The 

 number of trees grown has increased 

 over two millions ; the number of trees sold 

 to private land-owners last year was one 

 million ; in 1904 there were none. During 

 this time the state has purchased 201,000 

 acres of land and contracted for 47,000 

 acres more. 



However, Commissioner Whipple says 

 that five times as much wood is being taken 

 from the forests of the state each year as 

 is growing up, and that if present conditions 

 are permitted to continue there will be both 

 a wood and water famine. He believes that 

 the people should plant for many years, 

 beginning now, at least 50,000,000 trees a 

 year, and that the state should immediately 

 acquire 1,000,000 acres of land in the Adiron- 

 dacks and 400,000 acres in the Catskills in 

 order to stop the destructive work of lumber- 

 men. — Concord (N. H.) Monitor. 



&' ♦« VL- 



Conservation in New York 



A rill of the conservation movement has 

 flowed into the public affairs of New York. 

 The state engineer reports that there are 

 eighteen hundred miles of rivers and 

 streams within its jurisdiction usable as 



