A NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY. 9 



$1,000,000 for the purchase of land in the Adirondack region, 

 and the State now owns 800,000 acres (out of the 2,500,000 

 acres) of forest land in that section. This year $500,000 will 

 be placed in the hands of the Forest Preserve Board to con- 

 tinue the purchase of forest lands, and part of this sura, it is 

 expected, will be expended in the purchase of 25,000 acres 

 that will be given in trust to the authorities of Cornell Uni- 

 versity for twenty five years, with the aim of having an exper- 

 iment in forest preservation and culture tried.* 



It is thus \\ith well-matured plans, looking far into the 

 future, that the State of New York has made liberal and far- 

 sighted provision for its forest interests, finally calling to the 

 aid of the State the services of the University and giving a 

 quarter of a century in which to conduct an experiment that 

 can hardly fail to be productive of important results. 



The Legislature of Pennsylvania, at different times with- 

 in the past few years, has passed laws establishing and pre- 

 scribing the duties of a Forest Commission to report upon the 

 condition of the slopes and summits of the important water- 

 sheds of the State, the amount of standing timber, the part or 

 parts of the State where each grows naturally, and to suggest 

 measures for maintaining a proper timber supply. Provision 

 is further made for the enforcement of laws designed to pro- 

 tect forests from fire and for the preservation and increase of 

 the timber lands of the State and for securing forest reserva- 

 tions adjacent to waters draining into the Delaware, Susque- 

 hanna and Ohio rivers. 



Most instructive, perhaps, on account of similarity of 

 conditions, is the recent history of forest legislation in Wis- 

 consin. The Legislature of 1897 passed a law authorizing the 

 Governor to appoint a commission consisting of three mem- 

 bers to devise and draw up a plan for the organization of a 

 State forestry department. The plan is to include provisions 

 for the reservation by the State of all lauds which are better 

 fitted for the growing of timber than for agricultural pur- 



*New York Tribune, February 19, 1898. 



