State Forester Has Commented on TWO of the Measures. 



The annual report of the state forester, just issued, devotes 

 some attention to several of the subjects mentioned above. 

 Relative to municipal forests and to tree bounties, he says: 



"Many cities of southern Minnesota are so situated that it 

 would be perfectly feasible to maintain municipal forests, 

 under municipal control, so that residents could be assured 

 of a permanent supply of firewood, posts and other products 

 at the actual cost of production. Moreover, their water sup- 

 ply will be protected by a forest cover. When steps are taken 

 in this direction, and it is probable that some towns will do 

 so in the not far distant future, it will be found that the ad- 

 vantages to a community will be very great, if only in the 

 reduced cost of fuel. 



State Has Spent $600,000.00 Since 1888 in Tree Bounties. 



"A number of years ago, in 1888, the state legislature 

 passed a law appropriating the sum of $20,000.00 annually to 

 be devoted to the payment of bounties at the rate of $2.50 

 an acre per year for six years, to those who planted trees on 

 the prairie. The total amount so expended by the state is 

 $600,000.00. It is interesting to note that this amount greatly 

 exceeds the total sum that has been spent in efforts to pre- 

 serve the enormously valuable existing natural forests of the 

 state. As mentioned previously in this chapter, the benefit 

 derived from the bounty fund will be looked into in the sum- 

 mer of 1912, with a view to determining the results of this 

 method of encouraging afforestation. 



"Aside from what tree planting has been done on the prairie 

 with the encouragement of the bounty, a great deal more has 

 been done without that incentive. The benefit of a good sized 

 woodlot on a prairie farm cannot be calculated in dollars. If 

 so situated as to break the force of the wind from the farm 

 buildings, stock may be turned into the barnyard on days 

 when storms, if unbroken by a grove, would not permit. Snow 

 melts more slowly under timber than on the open ground, 

 and the slow drainage from a woodlot will often be of advan- 

 tage to adjoining fields in dry springs. When the planted 







