FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 59 



This problem is deservedly most prominent in the minds of all who 

 are interested in the early success of the State Forestry. It is the sine 

 qua non. 



Etfort has most wisely been directed toward an educational campaign 

 intended to popularize forest work and create a popular demand for 

 favorable legislation. Entirely in line with this policy is the attempt to 

 interest men, within and without the State, whose experience renders 

 them desirable advisors. 



The bill introduced before the last legislature provided for the acquisi- 

 tion by the forest commission of most of the delinquent tax land of the 

 State, the poor land more suited for forests than for agriculture. This 

 bill was remarkably careful and excellent, and was approved by some of 

 the best authorities of the country. None the less, it stirred up great 

 opposition. This opposition was misinformed, but powerful, and the bill 

 failed to pass. The commission came off with an absurdly inadequate 

 appropriation and G(),OUO acres of State forest reserve. There are some 

 who think that this verdict was final, and that the forest interests should 

 avoid encountering similar opposition again, but should be content with 

 endeavoring to secure a fair appropriation and first make a showing on 

 the present reserve. I am against trying to make a showing first. Under 

 conditions such as yours it takes a long time to show results. Now is the 

 time to acquire land when there is so much of it from which compact for- 

 est reserves may be formed. 



2. There are no statistics of the forest resources of the State. There 

 is no organization for or means of collecting the data. In a general way 

 it is understood that the present production of lumber (chiefly hardwood) 

 in the lower peninsula has perhaps twenty more years to run. The 

 resources of the upper peninsula are less understood. 



There are no data regarding the economic condition of the lumbered 

 lands of the State. On the contrary^ there is much misunderstanding 

 and misapprehension of their true condition and value, leading to 

 unnecessary mistakes and great hardships. Abundant evidence of the 

 practical results of lack of knowledge with regard to these economic con- 

 ditions may be seen in the great number of abandoned farms, the shift- 

 ing population of the jack pine plains and in the abuses of the homestead 

 law. 



Much private information of great value exists in the possession of 

 lumber companies, land lookers, supervisors' records, etc., which a sys- 

 tematic canvass would make available. Examples of cooperation by the 

 bureau of forestry with several states for the collection of such data are 

 Maryland, Vermont and New York. 



3. The cooperation and assistance of the bureau has been oftenest 

 sought by private owners who have been desirous of lumbering conserva- 

 tively. While the rapid disappearance of the pineries has limited the 

 need for examples of the conservative lumbering of pine, at least in the 

 lower peninsula, the rise of pine values and the margin of profit to be 

 obtained from lumbering pine have made conservative lumbering of pine 

 more profitable and attractive. The need and opportunity for examples 

 of the conservative lumbering of hardwood is much more general, the 

 results to be obtained scarcely less attractive financially. 



In this connection it needs to be understood that forestry does not 



