402 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



several areas mthin which to invite oilers of land. A circuhir de- 

 scribing those areas, announcing the procedure to be followed, and 

 inviting proposals for the sale of lands to the Government was issued 

 on March 27. 



From April 1 to June 30 proposals were received covering 1,250,641 

 acres, of which 832,464 acres were within the general areas which had 

 been selcctcil for purchase. The examinations of the Forest Service 

 prior to June 30, 1911, covered 140,787 acres. 



At the beginning of the year 1912 the Service has a force of 35 

 examiners working, and will undoubtedly be able to complete reports 

 and recommend purchase of lands to the full amount of the $2,000,000 

 available. 



STATE AND PRIVATE COOPERATION. 



The work of the past year in cooperation with States and private 

 timberland owners consisted of (1) cooperative field investigations 

 wntli State organizations; (2) cooperation with States in the protec- 

 tion of watersheds of navigable streams from forest fires, under the 

 Weeks law; and (3) a limited number of examinations of individual 

 timber tracts for the purpose of advising their owners as to better 

 methods of management. 



The cooperative field investigations were for the most part in 

 Southern States and in continuance of projects started in 1909 and 

 1910. They included studies of the forest resources of South Carolina, 

 ^lississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, 

 and Ilhnois. These investigations w^ere made primarily in order to 

 provide a basis for the development of a practicable and enlightened 

 forest policy by each State. 



In October, 1910,' at the request of the flood commission of Pitts- 

 burg, the Service undertook, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania 

 department of forestry, a detailed examination of the forest con- 

 ditions on the Allegheny and Monongahela watersheds. The area 

 covered approximates 18,000 square miles. The object of the study 

 was to ascertain how far erosion and floods are due to forest condi- 

 tions on these watersheds, and what measures for their improvement 

 would be practicable. The report and map will be published by the 

 flood commission. 



In cooperation with the State forester of Connecticut, a study of 

 second-growth hardwood stands, wliich comprise the major portion 

 of the W'Oodland of that State, was made during the summer of 1910. 

 The objects of this study were to obtain reliable information on the 

 yield of stands of this character in difi"erent periods, to determine 

 prevailing market conditions in the State which govern the value 

 of such timbers, to ascertain the efi'ect of thinnings upon the rate of 

 growth, and to recommend practicable measures in the management 

 of second-growth woodlands to increase their productive capacity 

 and the value of the product. 



The most important work of the year was in pursuance of section 

 2 of the Weeks law, which appropriated S200,000 for cooperation 

 wath the States in protecting the forested watersheds of navigable 

 streams from fire. Such cooperation is extended only to States 

 which have provided by law for forest-fire protection and have 

 appropriated funds for that purpose. The amount expended by 

 each State must at least equal that spent by the Federal Govern- 



