536 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The requirement that in addition lo Slate appropriations and a 

 State fire system individual timborland owners cooperate with the 

 Federal Government and the State has resulted in much closer rela- 

 tions liotwccn tlio States and pi'lvnte owners, and f2;reatly increased ex- 

 penditures for fire protection, botii lor the services of patrolmen and 

 lookouts and for the construction of permanent improvements, such 

 as lookout stations, telephones, trails, and similar advantages. 



The cooperation with the State of New Hampshire furnishes a 

 good example of the relative expenditures developed under the act. 

 Over the entire State the Federal Government expended $0,219.50, 

 the New Hampshire Timberland Owners' Association $8,800, and 

 the State $13,480.01. In the northern district of New Hampshire, 

 with an area of approximately 1,000,000 acres, a total of $14,000 

 was expended, an average rate of something less than 1.5 cents an 

 acre. 



Tlie appropriation has resulted in great benefits in conservation 

 of forest resources. On the average every dollar expended by the 

 Federal Government has resulted in an expenditure of at least $2 or 

 more by the State and private owner, and the ratio will increase as 

 the benefits of protection are more clearly realized. It is of great im- 

 portance that the appropriation for cooperation with the States in fire 

 protection be continued. The present appropriation will be ex- 

 hausted by January 1, 1914. An additional appropriation of 

 $200,000 to be available until spent, so that the work may be con- 

 tinued without break, is urgently needed. 



A study of forest conditions in Porto Ilico was made at the request 

 of the insular Government. This was coordinated with the work 

 initiated on the Luquillo National Forest. The Luquillo National 

 Forest was created primarily because of its importance to the sur- 

 rounding territory as a water protective area, to insure the pro- 

 duction of a perpetual supply of wood, and to encourage private 

 owners and the local government by example to take up work in for- 

 estry. The population of the area surrounding the forest is very 

 dense and the demand for wood, which at the present time is supplied 

 largely by imports, is correspondingly great. As a result of the 

 study it is proposed first that a survey shall be made of the forest in 

 order to settle finally the title to a considerable part of the land 

 about the ownership of which there is now much doubt. It is be- 

 lieved that this survey will show that the Federal Government owns 

 an area of at least 20,000 acres ; and the insular Government has ex- 

 pressed its willingness to convey to the Federal Government as an 

 addition to the forest the adjacent areas which it owns. If these 

 surveys show, as they undoubtedlj'^ will, that an area exceeding 

 20,000 acres can be held, a forest administration Avill be established 

 and permanent improvements begun in order to make available for 

 use the timber which at the present time is largely or altogether 

 inaccessible. 



Immediately following a field study of the entire island a con- 

 cise preliminary report concerning the forest problems, with sug- 

 gestions as to methods of handling them, was jDrepared for the 

 immediate use of the board of commissioners of agriculture in their 

 recommendations to the Legislative Assembly. Extensive forest 

 planting must form a large part of any operations of the insular 



