STATE WORK 



379 



country and the funds provided by the legis- 

 lature would not do any more, so the plan 

 of cooperation with large owners was adopted. 



The system used will be that which has 

 proved effective in Maine and New York. 

 Mountaintops will be used as lookout sta- 

 tions and telephone lines built, so that a man 

 on the lookout may notify a firewarden or 

 the nearest inhabitant as soon as a fire is 

 discovered. Lookout men will be kept on 

 duty at all times when there is danger of 

 fires, and if enough financial support is se- 

 cured patrols will be started along the most 

 frequented trails and camp sites during times 

 of drought. 



The mountains to be used as lookouts are 

 Mount Pisgah, overlooking the Connecticut 

 lake region and the Magalloway Basin ; Dix- 

 ville Peak, near "The Balsams;" Signal 

 Mountain in Millsfield, Percy Peaks in Strat- 

 ford, Bald Cap in Success, Mount Agassiz 

 in Bethlehem, Mount Bond in Lincoln, Mount 

 Moosilauke, Mount Chocorua, and Mount 

 Carrigan. These, with the lookouts on Mount 

 Rosebrook, near the Mount Pleasant Hotel; 

 Mount Kearsarge, and Mount Washington, 

 will bring the number up to fourteen. 



Lookout men are already at work on sev- 

 eral of these mountains, and construction 

 work is being rapidly pushed on others. It 

 is estimated that six more lookouts would 

 cover the mountain region of the state very 

 thoroughly, and these will be built as soon 

 as contributions are made. 



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NEW YORK 

 Pettis Succeeds Gary 



The resignation is announced of Austin 

 Gary as superintendent of state forests of 

 New York. Clifford R. Pettis, state for- 

 ester, has been appointed to succeed Mr. 

 Cary. The latter was appointed less than a 

 year ago to succeed the late Col. William F. 

 Fox, who had been superintendent since the 

 creation of the office. Mr. Cary resigned 

 because of ill health, which seriously inter- 

 fered with his work. 



The Albany Argus says that there has been 

 some criticism of Mr. Gary's administration, 

 on the ground that he is too much of a 

 theorist. The critics must have been mis- 

 led by the title of professor, acquired by 

 Mr. Cary in the Harvard University forestry 

 department, for the most of his professional 

 career has been spent in the woods in the 

 service of great lumber companies, and he 

 is one of the most experienced practical for- 

 esters in America and a man of good 

 judgment and sound sense. 



Mr. Pettis lives at Clear Lake Junction, 

 in the Adirondacks country, and is an expe- 

 rienced forester. He served eight years un- 

 der Colonel Fox and has been very success- 

 ful in his management of the state nurseries. 



PENNSYLVANIA 

 Another Instance of Private Forestry 



As a practical example in private forestry, 

 Lewis K. Stubbs, who owns a fine farm in 

 southern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 

 the beautiful hill land bordering the Sus- 

 quehanna River, has just finished planting 

 3,000 red oak seedlings, writes W. F. Mc- 

 Sparran, in the Tribune Farmer. 



Mr. Warfield, of the state forestry depart- 

 ment, superintended and directed the plant- 

 ing, which was done on a rather steep and 

 rocky hillside that had been for many years 

 past devoted to pasture and is well set in 

 native wild grasses, more valuable for soil 

 enrichment than animal nutrition. 



The method of planting the seedlings was 

 to dig a small hole with a mattock, and, 

 placing the tree root against the solid side of 

 the hole, draw in the soil and ram tightly 

 against the tree. The holes were dug from 

 six by six to four by five feet, endeavor 

 being made to maintain general straight rows, 

 but no time being lost in alignment, the gen- 

 eral object being to demonstrate that re- 

 forestation can be done cheaply and rapidly. 



Mr. Stubbs had the seedlings shipped from 

 a middle-west nursery. They cost him about 

 $6 a thousand, and he hopes to prove by this 

 initial planting that he can thus materially 

 improve the value of a not very productive 

 hillside. He hopes, also, to stimulate a local 

 interest in tree planting for the private land 

 owner who may have hillsides or other lands 

 that may be more desirable for profitable 

 tree growing than for cultivation in farm 

 crops. 



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Forest Taxation in Wisconsin 



The United States Forest Service is mak- 

 ing a cooperative study, with the Wisconsin 

 State Board of Forestry, of forest taxation 

 in that state. The plan of the study is out- 

 Jined as follows : 



The purpose of this investigation is to ob- 

 tain the information from which conclusions 

 may be drawn as to whether or not the pres- 

 ent method of taxing forests is satisfac- 

 tory or not; and, if not, what the evil 

 features are, and how the taxation of for- 

 ests may be placed on a satisfactory basis. 

 For this purpose information is required 

 upon the following topics : 



I. The actual burden of taxation on for- 

 ests, at the present time, and also in the past 

 so far as possible. Also whether forests are 

 taxed more or less heavily than agricultural 

 and other lands. For this purpose it is nec- 

 essary to ascertain : 



I. The total valuation of all property, real 

 and personal, in each town and county of 

 the state; the assessed valuations and true 

 values, so far as possible, of forests, waste 



