REPORT OF SPECIAL FORESTRY COMMITTEE 41 



Pennsylvania, Wisconsin's . famous violinist, Ole 

 Bull, conceived the idea of establishing a colony 

 of Norwegian immigrants. He attempted to pur- 

 chase several thousand acres, went so far as to build 

 himself a castle, and many of the families moved 

 upon the land with the intention of carving out 

 farmhomes. True, on account of a defect in title he 

 became discouraged and gave up the idea. But 

 now, after fifty-two years, these lands are still 

 unoccupied and vacant with no prospect whatever 

 of their ever being used for farming. The soil in 

 the valleys is a rich red and yellow shale; the cli- 

 mate much the same as in the Northern part of 

 Wisconsin, and still, in thickly settled Pennsyl- 

 vania this land is really of less value and can be 

 purchased at a lower price than some of the poorest 

 cut-over lands in our State. 



During the last half dozen years the State of 

 Pennsylvania has started a forest reserve in this 

 county, bought up these lands at prices under $5 

 per acre and is now replanting them. While this 

 is a mountainous region, there is much of the land 

 in the broad valleys which could be profitably used 

 for farming if there was a demand for it. It has 

 stood for many years since the removal of the tim- 

 ber, blackened and barren. Now, by artificial 

 planting and the protection of the natural growth 

 Pennsylvania expects to make it bear timber with 

 profit to the commonwealth. 



The soil in this county is heavier than anything 

 in our proposed forest reserve, and by reason of 

 that they cannot expect as good results from the 

 natural second growth of pine. On account of the 

 heavy nature of the soil the pine seed has no op- 

 portunity to germinate and the hardwoods get such 

 a start that only in a few places is there any show- 

 ing of pine whatsoever. 



This condition does not apply in Warren county, 

 New York. In the territory adjacent to Chester- 

 town where the soil is of a light sandy character, 

 which soil largely predominates in all parts of the 



