246 ANNUAL REPORT UF THE Off. Doc. 



Forestry is for I wo purposes: First, for protection to the many 

 interests dependent upon timber <;'rowtli, and, second, for revenue. 

 -The first of j;hese lias been so often dwelt upon that it requires no 

 further elucidation here. The second, for revenue, demands a fuller 

 statement now. New York State possesses considerably over a 

 million of acres in her reservation system. Recognizing an impend- 

 ing danger to the water flow of the state if the woodlands of the 

 Adirondack and Catskill regions were further denuded of timber. 

 New York took prompt measures to obtain possession of the ground. 

 This was done, in the first instance, mainly by purchase of lands sold 

 for taxes. The land acquired was often purchased, it seems, with- 

 out the extreme care as to title which our purchases have received. 

 The consequence is that New York has had endless litigation to hold 

 its lands. This Pennsylvania will, in great part, avoid. Timber 

 speculators have endeavored to obtain possession of New York's 

 timber, until driven almost to desperation, the legislation, and the 

 people, by constitutional enactment, have absolutely prohibited all 

 cutting of timber for lumbering purposes on the State reservations. 

 Even the cutting which was necessary for demonstration purposes 

 on the land placed under control of the State Forestry School 

 aroused the most positive denunciation. Now, as a matter of fact, 

 all scientific forestry begins with the axe. Trees which are ma- 

 ture and marketable should be removed. Trees which never can 

 have any value should be cut out. Nothing should be allowed to 

 grow, and use the strength of, or occupy the soil, unless it is the 

 best possible product. It would not be good business methods to 

 tolerate their presence. Besides, except in the case of white pine 

 and hemlock, where these covered the ground densely to the ex- 

 clusion of everything else, our natural forests have never been the 

 most productive which the soil was capable of sustaining. 



Fortunately, Pennsylvania is hamjjered by no such unwise re- 

 strictions as New York. The Forestry Commission not only can, 

 but is expected, to produce revenue from its woodlands as soon as 

 possible, where this can be done without public injury. Taking all 

 of our receipts of this year we have already turned into the State 

 Treasury, directly or indirectly, |19,000. There is no reason why, 

 within a year, we should not be able to show a revenue several times 

 as great, if we are able to go systematically to work to reap the 

 timber harvest which can be removed without injury to the State 

 forests. Such harvesting will be a positive benefit to the remain- 

 ing timber. For example, there are places where the virgin white 

 pine trees were cut thirty years ago. At that time only the butt 

 cut, or perhaps two logs, were takeji. and the remainder of the 

 tree was allowed to lie on the ground. Tn s])ite of the years elaps- 

 ing, the heart of those logs is still sound. Hundreds of thousands 



