II 4 



THE FORESTER. 



May, 



Recent Legislation. 



New York. 



The New York State Senate, by a vote 

 of 33 to 4, passed Senator Ellsworth's 

 bill appropriating $300,000 for the con- 

 tinuation of the Adirondack land pur- 

 chases by the Forest Preservation Board. 

 The Special Committee which consid- 

 ered the bill advised the immediate pur- 

 chase of additional lands, both for the 

 protection of the water shed of the Hud- 

 -son, and for the establishment and 

 maintenance of a large tract upon which 

 forest culture may be successfully insti- 

 tuted. 



The number of acres of land pur- 

 chased by the State is the subject of a 

 statement by Superintendent Verplanck 

 Colvin of the State Adirondack Survey. 

 The total acreage of land included within 

 the Forest Preserve to which the State 

 has title is 1,058,444.53. In addition 

 to this, 20,169.75 acres have been con- 

 tracted for and will be added thereto as 

 soon as it is found that the present own- 

 ers can give clear title to the land. 



Missouri. 



In a recent message to the Missouri 

 Legislature, Governor Stephens says 

 there are about half a million acres of 

 Government land in the State not yet 

 taken up, and that there are 5,000,000 

 acres of vacant land susceptible of culti- 

 vation. The timber supply, of the 

 finest quality of hard woods, will be 

 inexhaustible, it is said, if judiciously 

 handled. 



Wisconsin. 



The Wisconsin Legislature has under 

 consideration a bill to exempt from all 

 taxation cut-over lands which have been 

 replanted with Pine according to cer- 

 tain provisions. 



Minnesota. 



The Legislature has passed the bill 

 entitled, "An act to encourage the grow- 

 ing and preservation of forests and to 

 create forest boards and forest reserves," 

 a review of which was published in the 

 April Forester. The bill was approved 

 and became a law April 13. 



The Minnesota Senate Committee on 

 Logs and Lumber, after three meetings 

 with the lumbermen and the Surveyor- 

 General of Minnesota, has decided that 

 the fee for surveying logs shall not be 

 reduced from five cents to four cents a 

 thousand, on the ground that it would 

 impair the efficiency of the service. 



In the Minnesota House of Represen- 

 tatives, the San Jose scale bill, shorn of 

 its bond and license features, was re- 

 ported by the forestry committee provid- 

 ing for State inspection to eradicate the 

 insect wherever found, and fixing fines 

 for violations of the law. The bill was 

 killed. 



Arkansas. 



An important act of the Senate of the 

 Arkansas Legislature was the passage of 

 the Buckner game bill. The act de- 

 clares all fish and game, except fish in 

 private ponds, to be the property of the 

 State of Arkansas, and the catching and 

 hunting of the same to be a privilege. 

 It is unlawful for any person to export 

 game or fish from the State unless he 

 personally accompanies it. The fine for 

 violation is from $25 to $100. It is un- 

 lawful for any agent of freight, express 

 or steamboat companies to receive fish 

 or game consigned to points outside the 

 State. An important provision of the 

 bill is a section which would subject to 

 a $25 fine a woman wearing a stuffed 

 bird on her hat. 



Canada. 



Canadian lumbermen from Georgian 

 Bay, Rat Portage and British Columbia 

 who petitioned the Dominion government 

 to impose a duty of $2 a thousand on Amer- 

 ican lumber, 25 cents on shingles, and 

 30 cents on laths, all of which are now 

 on the free list, got merely a hearing at 

 Ottawa. They said that a Canadian 

 duty equal to the Dingley duty would be 

 preferable to reciprocity with the United 

 States. Manitoba, which is a free trade 



