No. « UEK4HTMKNT uF AUK1CULTUKE. *?» 



obey the will of the people, they ought to be summarily ejected I row 

 the offices they so dishonorably fill, or else of very shame resign of 

 their own volition. 



When the Commonwealth was young and it became necessary to 

 offer inducements to settlers to take up lands, no fault could be 

 found with the law which fixed the price at twenty-six and two-third 

 cents per acre for vacant land. But after the State was well settled 

 and lands everywhere therein had greatly appreciated in value, it 

 was little less than absurd to dispose of the State holdings at that 

 price. The fact tbat the Forestry Department in buying back these 

 same lands for reservation purposes was compelled to pay many 

 timc-s that amount was of itself sufficient reason for the passage of 

 the act of March 28, 1905, providing that no other vacant lands shall 

 be patented to an individual, unless the same be first submitted to 

 the Forest Reservation Commission for it to determine whether or 

 not said vacant land is suitable for forestry purposes; and if suitable, 

 the Secretary of Internal Affairs is directed to convey to the Forestry 

 Department without cost. If unsuited for this purpose, he shall sell 

 the lands at such rate as may be determined by disinterested appraise- 

 ment, thereby procuring for the State something near their real value. 



In carrying on the forestry work for the best interests of the Com- 

 monwealth, and of course that means so as to produce for the State 

 the best revenue and best results in other directions, it is necessary 

 to have carefully selected and well trained men to whose charge the 

 work may be intrusted. Since forestry is as truly a science as any 

 other science, and needs special preparation to carry it on success- 

 fully, the Forest Academy at Mont Alto was established by the Leg- 

 islature in 1903. At the present time 26 young men are pursuing 

 their studies and looking forward to future employment upon the 

 State reserves, as trained foresters. The course of instruction covers 

 a period of three years and, in order to give you an intelligent idea 

 of the studies therein pursued, the branches covered by the work 

 of the fall term, concluding with the Christmas holidays of 1905, were 

 arithmetic, geometry, dendrology, botany, physics, bookkeeping, sur 

 veying, physical geography, German, chemistry, forestry, forest prac- 

 tice, forest accounts, cavalry and infantry drill. The students are 

 selected by a competitive mental and physical examination. Only 

 those are eligible to appointment who make a general average in this 

 examination of at least 75 per cent., and no more than ten are ap- 

 pointed each year, unless there be vacancies. The number that we 

 can accommodate at the academy is thirty, and the endeavor is 

 to keep the classes filled to the limit. The academy at present is 

 in charge of four instructors, and the first class of young men who 

 are expected to be ready for real forestral work upon the reserva- 

 tions will leave in September, 1906. The academy is but little more 

 than two years old, but it is working satisfactorily and has before 

 it the promise of great future usefulness. 



The forest reservations, held by the State in trust for the people, 

 are the people's property, bought and paid for with their money, 

 and it is proper that they should be accorded reasonable privileges 

 thereon which do not conflict with the real purposes of forest preser- 

 vation. To this end the Department invites the citizens of the Com- 

 monwealth to visit these reserves and camp upon them, to fish in 

 their streams and to hunt over their hills and mountains, to en 



