8 



The railroad superintendents evinced an earnest desire to 

 co-operate with the Commission in its efforts to protect the forests 

 along their respective lines, and one of them sent out a circular 

 which was placed in the hands of each engineer and fireman, 

 notifying these employees that they would be held responsible for 

 the safe condition of the screen and ashpan on their locomotive. 

 A railroad which runs through some of the forest towns in the 

 Catskills was equipped with water barrels at intervals of forty 

 rods, wherever any woods adjoined the right of way, to facilitate 

 the efforts of the section men in extinguishing the flames that 

 start up behind passing trains. 



Nevertheless, in times of prolonged drought, even with a well 

 organized force of patrols on duty, the forests will be in danger, 

 and until some safe motive power is adopted fires from this force 

 may be expected. The recent successful experiment on the New 

 York Central Eailroad, in which an electric engine hauled a 

 heavy train at a high rate of speed, leads to the hope that the 

 railroad companies with lines running through the forest districts 

 may be induced to use electric motors and thus eliminate com- 

 pletely this most prolific source of destruction to woodlands. 



REFORESTING. 



But little work was done this year in reforesting, as the appro- 

 priation for 1904 did not become available until too late for the 

 spring planting. Still, one of the tracts in the St. Lawrence 

 Reservation, at Canoe Point on the lower end of Grindstone 

 Island, was planted this fall with seedlings of broad leaved 

 species. This tract, which contains 70 acres of cleared land, was 

 set out with plants taken from the State nursery at Brown's 

 Station, in the Catskills. The number of seedlings of each species 

 planted at Canoe Point was as follows: 



