1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



99 



Chestnut or other trees whose wood may 

 be used for fencing or building purposes. 

 A yearly appropriation of $30,000 is pro- 

 vided for the purchase of lands, $5,000 

 for bounties, and $6,000 for salaries and 

 expenses of the board. 



J' 



Extent of The irrigated area is ap- 



Present proximately 7,500,000 



Irrigation. acres, the greater por- 



tion of this being in 

 the states of California and Colorado. 

 During the last ten years the irrigated 

 area has been extended, the increa.se 

 being due mainh' to a more complete 

 use of uater from ditches already built 

 and not to new construction. 



In recent 3'ears comparatively few 

 large works have been built, but those 

 constructed from about 1S85 to 1895 

 have been gradually enlarged and more 

 land brought into irrigation. Mcst, if 

 not all, of the large speculative enter- 

 prises for reclamation are in the hands 

 of receivers, the stockholders have lost 

 everything, and the bondholders are 

 being called upon to maintain the works. 

 There exists the anomalous condition 

 that, although the enterprises are bank- 

 rupt, large values have been created. 

 For example, in the case of the Bear 

 Valley Corapan}^ the investment of 

 about $1,000,000 is estimated to have 

 created values of very nearly $5,000,- 

 000. The enormous apparent profits 

 have not gone to the investors, but to 

 the public in general. 



Tree Planting The officials of the Illi- 

 by Illinois nois Central Railroad 



Central. recently decided to be- 



gin tree planting along 

 their lines from Chicago to New Orleans. 

 The distance from Chicago to New Or- 

 leans is about 900 miles, and it is the 

 company's intention to plant over 200,- 

 000 catalpa trees. 



At first it was thought to set aside 

 one or two tracts on wdiich to plant the 

 trees, but it has now been decided to 

 string the forest over the entire system. 

 They will not be set out after any pat- 

 tern or design, but will be planted in 

 the ground around stations, along the 



right of way in the country, around 

 warehouses, and every place where 

 they may grow and at the same time 

 add to the surroundings with their 

 shade. 



The contract for this planting has 

 been let to a private firm. Agents of 

 this firm are now in the field locating 

 places where the larger numbers of 

 trees are to be planted. 



Scarcit}- of timber for ties is the cause 

 of the planting of these trees by the 

 railroad. During the last two or three 

 years much difficulty has been experi- 

 enced by railroad officers in obtaining 

 the proper timber for ties, and the 

 great amount used for this purpose has 

 drawn heavily on the lumber markets 

 of the country for the right kinds of 

 wood. 



Irrigation in Intensive farming by 

 Connecticut. means of the artificial 

 application of water has 

 been successfully practiced as far north 

 as Connecticut. The Census Office has 

 recently published figures showing that 

 in 1889 there were under irrigation 56 

 farms, with a total area under ditch of 

 471 acres, or an average of 8 acres on 

 each farm. The cost of the pipes, 

 ditches, pumps, and reser\'oirs used in 

 this connection was $16, 1 13, an average 

 cost of $34.25 per acre irrigated. 



J- 



To Cot Assemblyman Davis has 



Timber in the introduced a concurrent 

 Adirondacks. resolution in the New 

 York Legislature carry- 

 ing out the recommendation of Governor 

 Odell permitting forest timber to be cut 

 in the Adirondacks, under rules adopted 

 by the Forest Pre.serve Board ; also 

 allowing the laying out of roads along 

 such routes as may be approved by the 

 Board ; but no steam railroads shall be 

 constructed or operated upon state lands 

 in the forest preserve. 



The legislature is also permitted by 

 the provisions of the resolution to au- 

 thorize the sale of .state lands outside of 

 the Adirondack Park, and the proceeds 

 are to be applied to the purchase of 

 lands within the Adirondack Park. 



