MODERN FORESTRY 



Garfield, of the Michigan Forestry Commission, 

 puts it, very Httle headway was made until the 

 bulk of the forests was practically gone. It 

 was only when the farm wood-lots were reduced 

 to a minimum, when industries dependent 

 upon the forests for raw material began to 

 leave the state, and when the rivers of the state 

 began to wane, that interest in forestry could 

 be aroused. Though once one of the leading 

 forest states, it was not until 1899 that a for- 

 estry commission was appointed, having little 

 authority and very little funds. Later, forty 

 thousand acres of state lands were set aside 

 for the work of the forestry commission, a 

 forest nursery was established, and a million 

 trees, in 1906, were ready for planting. A de- 

 partment of forestry in the state university 

 and in the state agricultural college has been 

 provided, and courses of lectures on forestry 

 are projected for the state normal schools. 

 About one-third of the area of the state is 

 stripped of timber and burned over, every acre 

 of which, according to the forestry commission, 

 might be reforested. More than six million 

 acres of this region have become state tax title- 

 lands. A most earnest effort is now being 



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