64 



AMimiCAN FORESTRY 



of farms in the State, and he knows of no 

 better purpose to which it could be put. 



"What I want to do is to work out some 

 plan to make it an object to the farmer to 

 plant land with trees," says Senator Arget- 

 singer. "I believe that if the tax on land 

 planted to trees was made nominal and not 

 the same as the rate on the rest of the farm 

 property, the growing of trees would be 

 greatly encouraged. My plan is to have the 

 farmer report to the State Consen'ation 

 Commission that he has a certain number of 

 acres of land devoted to raising trees, the 

 kind of trees he is growing and their con- 

 dition. On the recommendation of the com- 

 mission this land might be exempted by the 

 assessors from the regular rate of taxation 

 and a nominal rate charged. It is my sug- 

 gestion that this exemption be made for a 

 period of 30 years." 



Watershed Protection 



Secretary Wilson has decided that the in- 

 terests of cities and towns which obtain 

 their water from streams having their water- 

 sheds within National Forests call for special 

 measures of protection, and he has therefore 

 developed a plan of cooperation for the De- 

 partment of Agriculture with those com- 

 munities which are alive to the importance 

 of keeping their water supply pure. 



One of the recognized objects of forestry 

 is to insure the permanence and protect the 

 purity of municipal water supplies. As the 

 Forests are maintained for the benefit of 

 the public. Secretary Wilson considers it the 

 duty of his Department to do all that it can 

 both to prevent the pollution of such supplies 

 and to create or maintain conditions most 

 favorable to a constant flow of clear water. 

 By protecting and improving the forest cover 

 and by enforcing special regulations to mini- 

 mize erosion and to provide for the main- 

 tenance of sanitary conditions, the Govern- 

 ment will try to safeguard the interests of 

 the public. 



A form of agreement has been drawn up, 

 providing that, when cooperation is entered 

 into between the Secretary of Agriculture 

 and any city desiring conservation and pro- 

 tection of its water supply, the Secretary 

 will not permit the use of the land involved 

 without approval by the town or city, except 

 for the protection and care of the Forests, 

 marking, cutting, and disposing of timber 

 which the Forest officers find may be re- 

 moved without injury to the water supply 

 of the city, or for the building of roads, 

 trails, telephone lines, etc., not inconsistent 

 with the objects of the agreement, or for 

 rights of way acquired under acts of Con- 

 gress. The Secretary also agrees to require 

 all persons employed on or occupj-ing any 

 of the land both to comply with the regula- 

 tions governing National Forests and to 

 observe all sanitary regulations which the 

 city may propose and the Secretary approve. 



The agreement provides for the extension 

 and improvement of the Forests on the part 



of the Government by seeding and planting 

 and the best methods of silviculture and 

 forest management, so far as the funds avail- 

 able will permit. The city on its side is ex- 

 pected to assist in the work by paying the 

 salaries of the additional guards necessary 

 to carry out the agreement, and in case ex- 

 tensive forest operations are immediately 

 desired by the city, it would bear the major 

 part of the cost entailed by this work. 



Secured 20,000 Acres 



Pennsylvania a few days ago took title to 

 20,000 acres of forest land in the Cumberland 

 Valley for addition to its forest reserves, 

 the purchase having been consummated by 

 Commissioner of Forestry Robert S. Conklin 

 after a long negotiation with the South 

 Mountain Mining and Iron Company. The 

 tract, which is known as Pine Grove furnace, 

 is one of the old time iron manufacturing 

 properties, the land having supplied the wood 

 for the charcoal furnaces which made the 

 iron in Pennsylvania seventy-five years ago. 



The purchase, which is the largest single 

 acquisition made by the department for 

 several years, increases the area of the State 

 forest reserves in the Cumberland Valley to 

 100,000 acres and makes the total extent of 

 the reserves in the State 985,000 acres. 



The land lies in Cumberland and Adams 

 counties and adjoins the Caledonia furnace 

 tract, formerly owned by Thaddeus Stevens 

 and the Mont Alto furnace tract, which are 

 now State property. It is covered with oak, 

 chestnut, pine, poplar and hemlock and in 

 addition to having a fine growth of timber 

 contains iron ore, clay and sand baks and 

 water and ice leases from all of which the 

 State will derive an income. 



City Owns Tree Farm 



It is not generally known that the city of 

 Columbus, Ohio owns and operates a tree 

 farm, says the Columbia Dispatch. Such is 

 the case, however, and it was planted and 

 is managed by James Underwood, superin- 

 tendent of Franklin Park and head of the 

 city forestry department. 



Several acres of ground surrounding the 

 water purification plant and owned by the 

 city, were planted with trees some time ago 

 as an experiment, and many of them will be 

 ready for replanting next fall. On the tract 

 there are 1,000 elms, 1,000 Norway maples 

 and about 6,000 different varieties of shrubs. 

 The trees and shrubs will be used for re- 

 planting in the city parks, and later, as the 

 supply of trees increases, they will be used 

 in street planting. 



The success the department has had so 

 far in the growing of tree plants has en- 

 couraged it to plant for more extensive 

 operations along this line. It is possible that 

 part of the city land on either side of the 

 Scioto River, north of the dam, will be 

 utilized in this manner in the future, and that 

 a systematic planting of trees along side- 

 walks will be taken up. 



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