368 JOURXAL OF FORESTRY 



is only a guess. As for the portion of this area which is waste land 

 and should receive attention first no one knows its extent. It can be 

 determined only through a classification. But even if it is as low as 

 5 or ID per cent, it will be seen that the outlay required, at $5 an acre, 

 will be from 38 to 75 million dollars. Of course no such appropria- 

 tion for this purpose is going to be seriously considered at present by 

 Congress and the southern legislatures. The Federal Government, 

 itself the largest purchaser, has expended in eight years in acquiring 

 less than one and three-quarter million acres only $11,000,000. There- 

 fore, it is clear that no considerable progress in forest land acquisition 

 can be expected for some time to come. 



Along with the acquisition of lands, and co-ordinating with it, 

 should go the co-operative work with private owners directed so as 

 to offer substantial encouragement to the practice of forestry. The 

 policy in co-operation should be distinctly to make the effort mutual. 



The first co-operative activity would, of course, be protection from 

 fire. The method of organization will vary with conditions in the 

 several States. Thus in the mountains of West Virginia and, to a 

 limited extent in North Carolina, the private owners are organized 

 into protective associations supported by a levy on the lands repre- 

 sented. The State and the Federal Government co-operate with 

 these associations and expend funds for the various protective needs. 

 Virginia, in co-operation with the Government, directs its protective 

 efforts primarily to the counties, and has met with really remarkable 

 success in securing their active participation and financial aid. Ken- 

 tucky, Texas, and Louisiana have, on account of very limited appro- 

 priations, adopted an extensive plan which is almost exclusively edu- 

 cational ; patrolmen, some paid by the State and some by the Govern- 

 ment, are given large districts of from 500,000 to 1,000,000 acres 

 each, and they endeavor through propaganda to impress upon the 

 public the need for keeping fire out of the woods. In Louisiana re- 

 cently a unique protective organization was formed of timber owners, 

 farmers, and stockmen, having in view not only the protection of the 

 forest, but especially of crops and forage. If Florida, at the coming 

 legislative session, authorizes a protective system it will probably be 

 based on local option ; the counties will be authorized to vote on 

 whether or not they want protection from forest fires. These ex- 

 amples will give some idea of how the work may be done, in fact in 

 a number of cases is being done though in a very limited and inade- 

 quate way. 



After protection will come reforestation. This should consider 



