42 FOEEST LANDS FOE THE PEOTECTION OF WATEESHEDS. 



The CHAIRMAN. I believe you said a moment ago that you did not 

 believe the situation could be taken care of with an effective fire 

 control ; that even without fire going over these upper slopes the mere 

 lumbering would result in washing away the soil ? 



Mr. CURRIER. It is very apt to. Everything the lumbermen leave 

 is blown down. The bare, rocky soil is only a few inches thick, and 

 it turns up, disclosing bare granite rock. 



Mr. WEEKS. Do you not think the State of New Hampshire ought 

 to organize an effective fire control? 



Mr. CURRIER. I want to say that the State of New Hampshire will 

 give you any aid. Beyond all question, in my mind, if the Govern- 

 ment should take the first step, the State would make purchases direct 

 from the treasury. On the matter of tax, these mountain towns are 

 largely supported by appropriations from the state treasury to-day. 

 The taking of this property away from taxation would simply put a 

 little more burden on the treasury, because we largely support their 

 schools in these wood towns. 



The CHAIRMAN. Do you tax the land uniformly in your white-pine 

 country, or do you tax the lumber as it is cut? 



Mr. CURRIER. No; we tax the land. We are supposed to tax it at 

 its full value, but timber lands are not taxed at the full value, and 

 particularly the great tracts in the north of the State. 



Mr. WEEKS. Do you think it would be inadvisable, if a bill is re- 

 ported from this committee to purchase lands in any State, that it 

 should be made conditional that a fire control should be established 

 in the State before it is purchased ? 



Mr. CURRIER. Not at all. Our 1 State would be entirely willing to 

 do that. 



Mr. STANLEY. This soil, as I understand you, being very thin, is 

 not the result of any disintegration of the rock, but is just an accu- 

 mulation of partially decayed debris from the vegetable growth itself ? 



Mr. CURRIER. If it is let alone it gradually becomes that. 



Mr. BEALL. What is the general ownership of the land ; is it owned 

 by private individuals or by corporations? 



Mr. CURRIER. Private individuals. I suppose the largest timber 

 concern is the Berlin mills, which, by the way, is the largest lumber 

 concern east of Michigan, I believe. They operate under an expert 

 forester, and where the lands will permit, they take out nothing but 

 matured trees, their purpose being to have an inexhaustible supply of 

 lumber, but on the high scopes they can not cut that way. 



The CHAIRMAN. Have you heard of any syndicates being formed 

 in the White Mountains which have taken options upon lands with a 

 view to their sale to the Government? 



Mr. CURRIER. None except some rumors here; nothing there. The 

 International is a very large timber company, and one or two other 

 paper companies, the Berlin mills, and I do not know what others. 



The CHAIRMAN. You do not express an opinion as to the price at 

 which this land could be gotten? 



Mr. CURRIER. No. 



Mr. BEALL. What is the state of feeling of the individual owners 

 on this question ? Do they seem disposed to favor it ? 



Mr. CURRIER. I do not suppose there is a man, woman, or child in 

 all New England who is not intensely interested in this matter. [Ap- 

 plause.] 



