476 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



It is foreign to the purpose of this report to dwell much upon 

 the increasing scarcity of timber. This is a fact heretofore so fre- 

 quently reported and so well driven hgnie that it may pass as having 

 been accepted by all persons who are at all familiar with the sub- 

 ject. The ideas intended to be conveyed relate to forest protection 

 and forest restoration, with some added incidents, it being well 

 understood that the reasons therefor are not dictated by sentiment 

 alone but by that sound business policy already mentioned. 



Since the rendering of the last report to your body, the purchase 

 of wild lands for forestry purposes has been going on steadily. Not 

 much is heard about it in the public prints, but the accretions to the 

 forest reserves have grown so that the State will have within its 

 control in a little while an aggregate area of about three-quarters 

 of a million acres. These are to be set apart and devoted to the 

 purposes for which the science of forestry stands in this Common- 

 wealth. 



The lands at present owned lie in twenty-three different counties. 

 The larger bodies include about 56,000 acres in Pike and Monroe 

 counties; 43,000 acres in Franklin and Adams counties; 250,000 in 

 the central counties of the State, the remainder being scattered 

 throughout the remaining counties. By far the larger part of the 

 present holdings lies within the watershed of the Susquehanna River. 

 Those in the northeastern corner drain into the Delaware, while only 

 a small portion of those in the southern part of the State drain into 

 the valley of the Potomac. 



The same problem which confronted the administration of the 

 forest reserves one year ago is still before it. This is the proper 

 protection of the lands. It is gratifying to note, however, that the 

 losses from fire are decreasing, and the report for the year 1905 is 

 much better than for the preceding years. In the South Mountain 

 reservation no fire occurred worthy of mention. Throughout the 

 central reserves there were a number of small fires mostly set by the 

 railroads. By far the most destructive occurred in Pike and Monroe 

 counties. The evidence at hand seems to point to the fact that these 

 were either willful or malicious fires. 



There is a class of citizens in this State living near the wild 

 unseated lands which has been trained to believe, from long im- 

 munity, that it is privileged to help itself to whatsoever may be found 

 on such land. This is nothing less than larceny; but long habit and 

 freedom from molestation have taught them to feel that this is a 

 right of which they ought not to be deprived. The Commonwealth, 

 of course, prohibits and tries to prevent all such acts, and while 

 some timber stealing is going on, it is lessening in amount. Prose- 

 cutions followed by convictions with suitable penalties imposed 

 and collected, have been the means of teaching a long needed salu- 

 tary lesson. 



By law the State is limited to the price of $5.00 per acre in the 

 purchase of lands for reservation purposes. It is probable that the 

 average price paid has not been much in excess of $2.00 per acre. 

 The State has therefore nearly a million and a half dollars invested 

 in forest reserves, which in due season will return an annual revenue 

 greater than any rate of interest ordinarily paid in business circles 

 for money invested. The difference between the business of forestry 

 and any other business requiring capital is one of time only. From 



