238 North American Forests and Forestry 



of the States, notably, in addition to New York, 

 Pennsylvania and Minnesota, are somewhat in 

 advance of the rest, while others, whose forest 

 interests are among the greatest, like Michigan 

 and Wisconsin, lag far behind, and still others, 

 like most of the southern States, have done noth- 

 ing at all. A number of States have established 

 forestry commissions, whose duties, however, are 

 merely of an advisory nature, without administra- 

 tive functions. Where forest reservations have 

 been set apart, the idea of a mere park or unused 

 wilderness is everywhere prevalent, and nowhere 

 has silvicultural forestry been begun by public au- 

 thority, except in connection with the new State 

 College of Forestry at Cornell University. Of 

 this we will have more to say anon. In several 

 States, geological surveys and agricultural experi- 

 ment stations have done valuable work in making 

 inquiries into the forest conditions existing in their 

 respective localities. This is especially true of 

 North Carolina and Minnesota. In California, an 

 experiment station has been established which has 

 devoted itself with success to the acclimatization 

 of trees from Australia and Asia. 



More important than the forest inquiries con- 

 ducted by the several States is the similar work 

 carried on under the auspices of the federal gov- 

 ernment by the Forestry Division of the Agricul- 

 tural Department. It dates back to the year 1878, 

 but did not become of very much importance until 

 about eight years later, when Dr. B. E. Fernow, a 



