622 Forestry Quarterly. 



As a result of carefiil inspection and activity on the part of the 

 forest officers, caiiigin-making has been checked in the Northern 

 Negros Forest, and there is now but Httle loss from this cause. 

 All forest officers are empowered to arrest without warrant for 

 violations of the forest law, and it is now the policy to use this 

 power more freely than in the past. The stopping of this form 

 of forest destruction is one of the best arguments for the more 

 intensive management of other forests throughout the Islands. 



Some trail building has been carried on for patrol purposes, and 

 it is planned to lay out a trail completely around the forest that 

 will separate the agricultural from the forest land, and will make 

 possible greater vigilance in protection work. Attempts are being 

 made to induce the Filipinos who wish to have their caifigins in 

 the woods to take up homesteads in the cogon areas, and to turn 

 non-producing land into farms that will furnish a good living to 

 their owners. This object is somewhat difficult of attainment, 

 however, because of the indolence of the average Filipino of that 

 class, the lack of work animals, and because most of the cogon 

 areas are claimed as private land by the more influential men of 

 the region. Although the claim is usually illegal, the ignorant 

 Filipino has too great a fear of the rich man to contest the 

 matter. Land titles are very indefinite, and the boundaries are 

 hard to determine. 



As an experiment the organization of the Northern Negros 

 Forest has given sufficiently good results to justify its establish- 

 ment and the time and money expended during the two years and 

 more that have elapsed since the project was started. If money 

 can be secured for similar reserves on other islands which contain 

 valuable forests, there is little doubt that the present abuses and 

 the destruction of public property can be successfully combated. 



