36o 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



September, 



which he has made on his own farm. 

 The next paper was on ' ' The Shifting 

 Sand Question," and was presented b^^ 

 Dr. John C. Gifford, of the New York 

 State College of Forestry. Dr. Gifford 

 called attention to the importance of this 

 problem in an interesting manner. He 

 cited numerous instances of the reclama- 

 tion of waste sand lands by means of 

 forestation. The discussion of his paper 

 was led by Prof. Charles A. Davis. 



The final session was held Thursday 

 afternoon in the senate chamber. The 

 session opened with a paper by Mr. H. B. 

 Ayres, of Carlton, Minn., on the " Fire 

 Problem and How to Solve It," and 

 also a paper on " Minnesota's System 

 of Preventing Forest Fires, ' ' by General 

 C. C. Andrews, Chief Fire Warden of 

 Minnesota. Prof. W. J. Beal led the 

 interesting discussion that followed the 

 reading of these two papers. Owing to 

 the absence of Mr. Gifford Pinchot, 

 Forester of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, his topic on " The Duty 

 of the State in Forest Matters ' ' was as- 

 signed to Mr. Arthur Hill, of the Mich- 

 igan Forestry Commission, who dis- 

 cussed the subject in an able and prac- 

 tical manner. Mr. Hill was followed 

 by Governor Bliss and others. 



A resolution heartily endorsing the 

 action of the State of Michigan in estab- 

 lishing a forest preserve was unani- 

 mously adopted. A vote of thanks was 

 tendered the members of the Forestry 

 Commission and the Michigan Agricult- 

 ural College for the many courtesies 

 extended. The thanks of the conven- 

 tion were also extended to the state au- 

 thorities for the use of the rooms at the 

 state capitol, and to the Governor and 

 other state officers who participated in 

 the meeting. 



The meeting was then adjourned. 

 The excursion tendered the visiting 

 members by the Michigan Forestry 

 Commission, began the same afternoon. 

 The party proceeded by special train to 

 Bay City, Mich., and thence to Ros- 

 <:ommon. From this point the party 

 were taken by carriage through a por- 

 tion of the Michigan Forest Preserve to 

 Higgin's I,ake, where the entire part}- 

 were delightfully entertained. From 

 Roscommon the party proceeded by rail 

 to Mackinac Island. After a visit to the 



principal points of interest there, the 

 members of the party departed for home. 



Among those present who evinced 

 great interest in the proceedings and 

 took part in the discussions, was Mr. 

 William G. Mather, president of the 

 Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co. Mr. Mather's 

 corporation owns nearl}^ 400,000 acres of 

 hardwood lands in the upper peninsula 

 of Michigan, and, with its railway sys- 

 tem, ore mines, and iron furnaces, is 

 pla3'ing a prominent part in the devel- 

 opment of that section of the country. 

 Mr. Mather is making a close study of 

 practical forest methods with a view to 

 handling his timber lands to the best 

 advantage. Mr. James Russell, mayor 

 of Marquette, Mich., and one of the 

 best-known newspapermen in the state, 

 addressed the meeting. 



Others present who took an active 

 part in the sessions were: Mr. J. J. 

 Hubbell, Manistee, Mich.; Mr. Henry 

 I. Armstrong, Mr. F. J. Merriam, and 

 Mr. John H. Bissell, of Detroit ; Prof, 

 and Mrs. S. C. Mason, of Berea College, 

 Kentucky ; Mr. Samuel Redfern, super- 

 intendent of the land department of the 

 Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co., Negaunee, 

 Mich. ; Mr. Geo. W. Howe and Mr. L. B. 

 Rice, Port Huron, Mich.; Mr. Frank 

 Leverett, U. S. Geological Survey; Mr. 

 H. h. Sabsovich, Woodbine, N. J.; Pro- 

 fessor Wheeler, U. S. Department of Ag- 

 riculture; Mr. Orlando F. Barnes, Mr. 

 Chas. C. Hopkins, Lansing, Mich. ; Mr. 

 C. I. ColHns, Corunna, Mich.; Mr. C. D. 

 McLouth, Muskegon, Mich. 



The visitors to this meeting from 

 other states must have been deeply im- 

 pressed with the importance of a system 

 of forest protection in Michigan. They 

 must also have noted what an uphill 

 fight will have to be made in order to 

 arouse the people of the state to action. 

 However, an excellent start has been 

 made in the selection of the Forest Com- 

 mission. Mr. Garfield, Mr. Hill, and 

 Mr. Wildey are men of wide experience, 

 they enjoy the confidence of the people, 

 and in the short time since the creation 

 of the commission have made headway 

 in the movement for forest protection, 

 in the face of a most discouraging out- 

 look. It is hoped that this meeting will 

 result in advancing the cause for which 

 they are laboring so unselfishly. 



