122 



which are now stripped of timber, and which have little or no agricul- 

 tural value. 



THE STATE FORESTRY RESERVATIONS. 



By act of the last Legislature the Governor of the Commonwealth 

 was authorized to appoint a commission' which should locate three 

 State Forestry Reservations of not less than 40,000 acres each, one of 

 which was to be upon the headwaters of each of the three principal 

 streams of the Commonwealth. 



For good reasons this Commission has not yet been completed and 

 the work commenced. It is thought, however, that the importance of 

 these reservations is now so evident, and the demand for them among 

 our more thoughtful citizens so general, and the probable loss to the 

 State by delay so certain, that the work should be commenced at once. 

 It is very clear that the longer this is postponed the more it will cost 

 to obtain the land and the poorer it will be when purchased. 



From whatever standpoint we consider the relation of these reserva- 

 tions to the future policy of the State it will appear that they are 

 needed. No investment that the Commonwealth may make will more 

 surely be approved by the future. We need them on sanitary grounds, 

 and for the purpose of regulating the water flow from our highlands. 

 And to aid in conserving the very moisture in our air, as well as to 

 maintain a valuable crop of timber on lands which have no other pro- 

 ductive capacity. 



If it were a new experience in government we might hesitate about* 

 making the start, but our neighboring State of New York is already 

 well satisfied with the wisdom of setting apart, for public purposes, 

 large areas in the Adirondacks. The General Government too is al- 

 ready pledged to the policy. England, in India, is already reaping a 

 golden harvest for the forestry policy she inaugurated. If the Ger- 

 man government were to be deprived of the revenue it receives from 

 the State forests it would dwindle to a second-class power. 



COST OF SUPPRESSING FOREST FIRES. 



Up to date of the delivery of this manuscript (January 19th, 1899), 

 there have been received at this office reports from 39 counties. Of 

 these 30 have been approved and forwarded to the Auditor General for 

 payment. The cost to the Commonwealth so far as heard from has 

 been $2,143.59. We append here a tabulated statement: 



