608 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
$30,000,000, the state paying one-half. In addition, about 200,000 
acres of sand dunes have been brought under forest cover, and 375 
miles of torrential streams have been secured. | 
It is estimated that $34,000,000 more will have to be expended be- 
fore all the lands devastated by forest destruction will be recuperated. 
The total appropriation for the forestry department of France for 
the year 1887 was $5,000,000, of which nearly $700,000 was ‘‘ for the 
conservation and restoration of mountain districts by reforesting 
and resodding.” 
The forest areas which are still in the hands of our General Gov- 
ernment are mostly situated under similar conditions as these areas 
of our sister republic, France; by their position they assume similar 
significance and ought to receive the same consideration from the 
community as those properties which, like air, water, roads, etc., are 
administered with a view to the common welfare. 
The present condition of this forest area on the Rocky Mountain 
ranges has been carefully ascertained and is described in a special re- 
port, prepared in the Forestry Division and now in the hands of 
the printer. . 
By reference to the accompanying map, which exhibits the forest 
areas and main irrigation ditches in the Rocky Mountain States and 
Territories (excepting Utah), it will be found that the areas noted as 
covered with timber, compared with the timberless areas, are ex- 
tremely small and confined mostly to the higher mountain ranges. 
This report will also show that much of the area is but thinly covered 
with trees and much of it culled of its best timber and by wasteful 
practices and fire deteriorated in materiai value. : 
The irrigation systems which, as stated, are dependent upon the 
mountain streams are only in their infancy, if compared with the 
large areas which, with the aid of irrigation, are capable of being 
utilized for agriculture. Almost thesame conditions exist in southern 
California, except that the forest is of less account and what remains 
in worse condition, while on the northern Pacific coast most valuable 
tracts of heavy timber are rapidly passing from Government into 
the hands of lumbermen, but more often of speculators and large 
syndicates with foreign capital. Altogether, the timber in the region 
west of the prairie States can not be said to occupy lands needed or 
even fit for agricultural purposes, but covers, as already noted, the 
broken ridges, hills, and mountains, these forests in the main bein 
more valuable on account of their position than of their materia 
value, except on the northwestern coast. 
It should also be stated that the forest growth in this region con- 
sists almost entirely of coniferous trees, which are propagated by 
seed alone, and that the climate is in many parts not favorable to 
the germination of seeds nor to the life of seedlings, except under 
proper protection. 
What disposition is being made of this valuable property of the 
nation, and what means are employed to guard and protect it against 
deterioration and waste? 
There are five ways in which a citizen may acquire either the land 
or the timber on it: 
(1) In California, and on the Pacific slope generally, any bona-fide 
settler can secure as much as 160 acres at $2.50 per acre, a price from 
ten to thirty times less than the true value. The condition of the 
law to be fulfilled is that he shall hold this property ‘‘for his own 
use.” But it is well known that most if not all the purchases have 
