THE FOREST INTERESTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 35 



preservation, that private owners of wood are not allowed to cut 

 upon their own lands without government supervision. 



The State of New York has recently appointed a Forest Com- 

 mission, and made other provision for protecting the Adirondack 

 region as the source of supply for the waters of the Hudson, the 

 Mohawk, the Black, and other rivers, upon which the prosperity of 

 the State so essentially depends. Can we doubt the wisdom of 

 such a protective policy ? 



It is a practical question for Massachusetts to consider how far 

 she can encourage the growth of trees on her western mountain 

 slopes, and on the waste stretches of her eastern coast-range ; and 

 also how far she can cooperate with her sister States in protecting 

 the sources of the Merrimac and the Connecticut. 



Still nearer to us and of very pressing importance is the ques- 

 tion — What is her duty in respect to the Middlesex Fells? Here 

 is a rugged, broken region of four thousand acres, unsuited for 

 cultivation or for building purposes, yet in close proximity to the 

 homes of one-third of the population of the State ; a region ad- 

 apted by nature for a wild forest park, where a large and regular 

 water-supply might be maintained ; where, after a verj' few years, 

 timber might be cut, sufficient in value at least to cover all the 

 cost of maintaining the park ; and where, best of all, a noble ex- 

 ample might be given of fostering care over an important industrj', 

 with proof of the feasibility of forest culture, and of the vast ben- 

 efit of such wild tracts to the neighboring cities. It is a fact so 

 well recognized that I need not now dwell upon the admirable ad- 

 aptation of this tract for the purposes indicated. It is a piece of 

 great good fortune that, though in the immediate vicinity of the 

 large cities of Lynn, Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Maiden, 

 yet, owing to its natural conformation, it remains to this day com- 

 paratively unoccupied. And still, though unsuited for ordinary 

 improvement, it cannot long remain in its present condition. Un- 

 less secured at an early day it will be invaded by scattering settlers 

 and the opportunity to take it will be gone. 



Here then is an enterprise in which the whole State is inter- 

 ested. The State should therefore assume it. But the nearer 

 cities and towns are more largely interested than the more remote 

 portions. The principle of betterment assessments should there- 

 fore apply to these neighboring places. But this should not be 

 made a heavy burden. It should be most distinctly and emphati- 



