FORESTRY. 391 



trees shall give security to the state, the forest coiiiniissioners supervising, so 

 that tiie premiums advanced in defined installments shall be reimbursed with or 

 without interest by the state selling matured or surplus timber enough thereon 

 to cover such expenditure. 



" Practical forestrj' introduced into our educational curriculum. 



"For the successful projection of these enterprises under this or some better sys- 

 tem of work, the Forestry Association, that for nearly twenty years has toiled so 

 hard to accomplish, respectfully and earnestly pleads for co operation of lumber- 

 men especially, in unity of force, to the end that human life and property in our 

 woods or on our prairies may no longer be sacrificed or menaced by fires, and that 

 practical forestr3\ with its sequential humidity and climatic healthfulness may 

 be made a most prominent feature of our legislative policy in our then most en- 

 riched and more beautiful Minnesota." 



THE RESERVOIRS. 



Maj. W. A. Jones said: — 



"The great reservoirs of the Mississippi are successfully accomplishing the 

 work for \\-hich they were designed. In this, the dryest year on record, they are 

 delivering into the river, during a period of ninety days, about 2,2(X) cubic feet per 

 second in excess of what would otherwise be running. This is equivalent to about 

 1,425,000,000 gallons per day. They are insuring a good navigable river from St. 

 Paul to Lake Pepin, and are creating the anomalj^ of a good river in its upper 

 reaches which cannot be reached by the ordinary steamboats on the river below^ 

 because of a lack of water there. 



"The benefits of these reservoirs do not stop with navigation. They are far- 

 reaching, and extend to the point of being a potent factor in forest preservation. 

 No time should be lost in extending the system to the Minnesota and Red River 

 of the North. The forests furnish a crop standing ready for the harvest; the 

 product is a necessity to civilized man; there is nothing in sight to replace it. 

 It is a straight business proposition to so regulate the harvest that only what is 

 fully ripe should be reaped, and a new crop cultivated in its place. It is a per- 

 fectly feasible matter to perpetuate it. It is still more of a business proposition to 

 prevent, as much as possible, the destruction and waste of the product. 



" The climate of Minnesota is more than ordinarily dry, and her forests are thus 

 very much exposed to damage by fire. It is not reasonable to expect that this 

 danger can be wiiolly averted. But it can be minimized, and that to such a point 

 as to abolish the great danger to human life. But we cannot readily get some- 

 thing for nothing here below, and it will be best to figure on paying out some 

 money for the preservation of our forests and the lives of ovir people. The matter 

 can only be handled through legislation. The law must provide an organization, 

 together with sure and reasonable penalties. During the danger season the for- 

 ests must be patroled and watched. It might perhaps be wise to combine fire 

 wardens and game wardens in single individuals. There should be a sharp pen- 

 alty inflicted on each and every party who is responsible for starting a fire in the 

 forest. The lawshoixld provide an organization of persons, and, above all things, 

 the money for apprehending and punishing offenders."' 



TALKS AND RESOLUTIONS. 



Prof. Conway McMillan, state botanist, contributed valviable sta- 

 tistics, respecting the causes of forest fires and the ratios of popu- 

 lation per square mile in different nationalities and states, showing- 

 in northern Minnesota there is but one male adult in every ten 

 square miles of territory; hence, he agreed that the sparseness of 

 population in Minnesota forests makes their protection much more 

 difficult. Forest fires are not entirely preventable. In Germany, 

 where the best management is in force, fires still occur. They can, 

 however, to some extext, be guarded against and controlled. How 

 to do this must be determined, not upon continental models, but by 

 the development of American tnethods suited to American condi- 

 tions. It is probable that no forest reserve, forest police or forest 

 warden system yet proposed would be effective. The prevention of 

 fires was a business matter and must have the support of business 

 men. There must be a general arousing of interest or nothing would 

 be accomplished. Talking would do no good and there must be a 

 simple, practical plan proposed. 



John Cooper, of St. Cloud, thought the prevention of forest fires 

 was entirely practicable with the co-operation of the people of tfie 

 forest districts. 



