784 ANNUAL, REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



informal opinions embraced in informal memoranda, copies of which 

 were not sent to the Solicitor, except in a very few cases where the 

 Solicitor was satisfied, from the report of the opinion in the weekly 

 report of the district assistant, that the opinion needed revision. 

 In addition to the rendition of these opinions the district assistants 

 to the Solicitor have each submitted to the Solicitor full comment 

 on the opinions rendered by tlic assistants in all the other districts. 

 Many of those comments embrace extensive considerations of the 

 questions involved in the opinions commented upon and serve as an 

 uid to the Solicitor in rendering liis final decision upon the opinion. 

 Daily oral advice was given by tlio district assistants of this office 

 to the district foresters and the district fiscal agents and their 

 assistants. 



The Solicitor has rendered during the year 116 decisions on opinions 

 Df his district assistants. It is a gratification to re{)ort that when- 

 ever it has been deemed advisable to submit a question embraced in 

 a decision of this office in regard to the administration of the national 

 forests to the Attorney General or the Comptroller of the Treasury, 

 the decision of tliis office has always been sustained. 



CONTRACTS. 



Several contracts with State authorities and individuals for coop- 

 erative work in forest investigations and improvement were drafted 

 or examined during the year. In addition, there were prepared or 

 examined 423 contracts for miscellaneous purposes, and 196 leases 

 of administrative quarters, and 207 bonds were either prepared or 

 examined by the Solicitor and his district assistants. 



Near the close of the year the Solicitor prepared the contract 

 with Andrew and N. W. Gennett for conveyance to the United S;tate3 

 of 32,000 acres of land in northern Georgia, this land lying at the 

 headwaters of several important navigable streams, and its purchase 

 by the Government authorized by the act of March 1, 1911, com- 

 monly known as the Weeks forestry law. Several forms have been 

 drafted for printing by the department in connection with the 

 administration of the National Forests, among them stipulations to 

 be required of railroad cornpanies when applying for rights of way 

 over lands in the National Forests and contracts with the States for 

 cooperation in fire protection on areas lying on the watersheds of 

 navigable streams, under the terms of section 2 of the act of March 1, 

 1911, above referred to. 



CLAIMS. 



This office has handled during the year 2,331 cases involving 

 claims to lands within the National Forests, an explanatory table 

 of which is given on page 133. Not all of these cases came on for 

 hearing during the year, but each one required some attention, 

 varying in degree with the progress of the case in the Interior Depart- 

 ment. Each one of these cases involves, on an average, 120 acres 

 of land, and it is therefore apparent that the entire area involved 

 was very great. In the last annual report of this office a detailed 

 statement was made of the procedure in claims cases. It is suffi- 

 cient to say at this time that this procedure entails upon this office 

 a very large volume of work. The district assistants to the Solicitor 

 are required to cooperate to the fullest extent with the chiefs of 



