S(, 



THE FORESTER. 



April, 



desire to see the sawmills shut down or 

 the post and wood haulers deprived of 

 their business through the establishment 

 of a forest reserve, and would not advo- 

 cate the establishment of such a reserve 

 if they thought it would have that result. 

 They, as well as the timbermen, are 

 satisfied that the establishment of a forest 

 reserve will not interfere in the least with 

 these industries, and therefore they ad- 

 vocate it. Fort Collins {Colo ) Express. 



The Sheep Industry in Tulare County, 

 California. 



A writer in the Pacific Rural Press for 

 March 4, 1899, states that in Tulare 

 County, California, the value of taxable 

 real estate and personal property is $41,- 

 775> J 33 5 f sheep and lambs, $299,712. 

 The sheep owners therefore pay only 

 about seven-tenths of 1 per cent of the 

 county taxes. The writer of the article 

 then says : 



If it is true, as it appears upon the records, 

 that this great sheep industry pays less than 1 



per cent of our taxes ; if it is true that our Gov- 

 ernment has placed it upon the protective tariff 

 list; if it is true that our Government is to con- 

 tinue to furnish them pasturage free in future 

 as it has in the past; if it is true that they are 

 very largely responsible for the destruction of 

 our forests, which means the destruction of our 

 water supply; then I would suggest in all can- 

 dor, and with due respect to the 99 per cent 

 industry, that, as a financial proposition and as 

 a proposition looking to the welfare of ourselves 

 and our children, to the saving of our farms, 

 our orchards, our vineyards, in short, all that 

 we hold dear, that if we expect to continue to 

 live here, we would better purchase this 1 per 

 cent industry and ship it to another country, 

 and thereby save our homes. 



In a private letter, from which The 



Forester is permitted to make an extract, 



President James Reid, of the Montana 



College of Agriculture, says : 



I am glad that the President has seen fit to 

 set apart the Gallatin Reserves, and sincerely 

 hope that a much larger tract may be added, 

 including all the headwaters of that river. 

 There are many fertile valleys in the State of 

 Montana and throughout the Rocky Mountain 

 region, whose fertility can be made permanent 

 only by making reserves at the headwaters of 

 the streams that supply them. 



Forest Management. 



In a letter to the Evanston Wyoming 

 Press Mr. W. F. Hill writes as follows 

 of the wasteful way in which the timber 

 is being stripped from the mountains in 

 the vicinity of the town of Wells : 



The Rock Springs Lumber Company now 

 has a large force of men at work cutting tim- 

 ber on Townships 38 and 39 North, Ranges 109, 

 no West, which land is not yet open to settle- 

 ment. It is claimed that they have bought this 

 land with soldier scrip, and it is claimed as ag 

 ricultural land, and that removing the timber 

 is necessary to put it in condition for settle- 

 ment. Now every one in this country knows 

 that such land is not, and never will be, of any 

 account for agricultural purposes, the soil being 

 shallow and situated on sidehills too steep to 



admit of cultivation. The settlers of this sec- 

 tion have asked repeatedly to have an investi- 

 gation ordered from headquarters, but so far 

 very little attention has been paid to our de- 

 mands. However, there are too many people 

 interested in the matter for it to be put aside 

 for long. The amount of timber in this coun- 

 try is comparatively small and the future in- 

 terests of a large and prosperous community 

 demand that it be protected. This outfit pays 

 no attention to either the rules of common sense 

 or of the Interior Department in regard to the 

 prevention of fires, and it is certain that if left 

 alone they will cause great damage to what 

 timber they do not cut, by fires which will un- 

 avoidably start among the refuse left by them. 

 There is no law b/ which they can take this 

 land without swearing that it is agricultural land 

 and such a statement would be utterly false. 



