V ARK JUS NATIONAL SOCIETIES. 155 



The Afternoon Session. 



At the afternoon session it was moved by Mr. G. J. Carpenter that a com- 

 mittee of six, to be composed of two from the States of Kansas, Nebraska, 

 and Colorado each, be appointed to report by resolutions the best varieties of 

 trees to be planted in the various localities. 



The following gentlemen were appointed by the president: Colorado, C. C. 

 Pardee and Nelson Millet; Nebraska, G. J. Carpenter and J. H.Martin; 

 Kansas, Martin Allen and Theodore Boggs. 



The secretary then read a long and interesting paper on " The State and its 

 Kelation to Forests." He reviewed the whole subject, detailing, with statistics, 

 the clangers of allowing the forests to be destroyed. He stated that, like all 

 other subjects of a simple nature, governmental aid Avas almost a necessity. 

 He said: It may be asked how the government is to obtain control of the 

 land necessary for forest planting. In the case of the federal government, the 

 problem is very simple, as, in the States where there are no public lands, there 

 are large quantities of waste land which can be purchased for a mere song. 

 In the case of the State government, the problem is still simpler. There is, 

 in every State, much land good for nothing except forest growing. 



He showed how the land would pay for itself, and how the general and 

 State governments could best handle the question. 



PROGRESS IN TREE PLANTING. 



Mr. J. H. Masters, of Nebraska, then spoke a few words on the subject of 

 the forestry work in that State. The green ash, he said, and the cottonwoods 

 spread over the upper ground very rapidly. He said that there were about 

 fifty times as many trees as there were thirty years ago. 



Mr. G. J. Carpenter, of Nebraska, said that there were not as many fires as 

 formerly, owing to strict legislation. He advocated forestry government sta- 

 tions throughout the plains country. He advocated the forestry training be- 

 ing introduced into the schools. 



Mr. W. N. Byers said: It is an impossibility to get any State to take hold of 

 this question in any except a limited way. The Government is having great 

 trouble in taking care of the Yellowstone Park alone. 



Mr. Fernow answered : It is not impossible to get the States to take hold of 

 these matters. Look at the State of New York. I don't say that they have 

 done as much as they should, but they have appropriated $35,<>00 to save their 

 7,000 acres of woodland. I think that, in time, the people of Colorado will be 

 willing to spend 150,000 to save 8900,000 worth of timber. 



Mr. Tilton, of Kansas, then spoke as follows: I came to Western Kansas 

 about eight years ago, and have been in journalism. No one can view that vast 

 country without seeing the great crying need of Western Kansas. I have, in 

 my own mind, developed some opinions regarding forest culture. The ques- 

 tion of State interference is attended with much embarrassment. We have an 

 amount of rainfall perfectly adequate for timber culture and agriculture, 

 but the buffalo grass is a repellant of moisture, and where we get sixteen 

 inches of rain, we only get the benefit of five or six inches. 



I would have two experimental stations; one on the Union Pacific road, and 

 the other on the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe. I would have these stations 

 under State management. I would have them open to the public, but under 

 certain conditions. 



