Tennessee, to form the Tennessee river. 



Mrs. Vanderbilt Makes Offer 



Mrs. Vanderbilt offered the tract at a much lower 

 figure than that at which it was held by her husband, and he:t 

 letter to the secretary of agriculture, one of the members ol 

 the commission, gives her reasons for making the tender of 

 the Pisgah Forest to the government. Mrs. Vanderbilt f s lette 

 follows: 



May 1, 1914. . 



The Honorable, the Secretary of Agriculture, 



Washington, D. C* 

 S ir : - 



I now confront the question of what disposal I sha'. 

 make of Pisgah Forest, which, under the terms of my late 

 husband's will, has passed to me without qualification or 

 condition. This letter constitutes my formal offer for the 

 sale of Pisgah Forest to the Government for National Forest 

 purposes. Should the Government fail to acquire it, I must 

 dispose of Pisgah Forest in some other way- I hope earnestly 

 that, in view of the terms of my offer, no such contingency 

 may arise. 



Mr. Vanderbilt was the first of the large forest 

 owners in America to adopt the practice of forestry. He 

 has conserved Pisgah Forest from the time he bought it up 



