484 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



December, 



State Horticultural Society ; ' ' Govern- 

 ment Forest Planting in the Sandhills 

 of Nebraska," J. C. Blumer, Halsey, 

 Nebr. ; ' ' The Farmer's Woodlot. ' ' E. R. 

 Hodson, Washington, D. C. ; "Civic 

 Improvement for Small Cities," De Ea 

 Sheldon; "Notes on Evergreens," 

 Prof. A. T. Erwin, Ames ; " Beautify- 

 ing and Utilizing Railroad Grounds, ' ' 

 E. E. Little, Ames; "City Parks," 

 J. T. D. Fulmer, Des Moines; "Elms 

 and Other Shade Trees," A. Dueben- 

 dorfer, Ames ; ' ' Street Trees and Park- 

 ing," W. A. Burnap, Clear Eake ; 

 "Trees," Cyrus A. Mosier, Des Moines; 

 "Iowa Oaks," Prof. B. Shimek, Iowa 

 City ; ' ' Some Diseases of Forest Trees 

 in Iowa," G. M. Eummis ; "Progress 

 of Forestry and the Work of the Bureau 

 of Forestry in Iowa," T. W. Mast, 

 Washington, D. C. 



The reports of the various officers 

 and committees showed the Association 

 to be in a flourishing condition. The 

 Committee on Legislation was con- 

 tinued to frame a bill for the protection 

 of forest and fruit trees, as the bill 

 which was presented at the last session 

 of the legislature was not satisfactory 

 to all, and failed to pass at the last 

 moment. Prof. T. H. MacBride, of 

 Iowa Cit}^ was re-elected President of 

 the Association. He presented a report 

 on the "Present Status of Parks in 

 Iowa," illustrated by lantern slides. 

 Wesley Greene, of Des Moines, was 

 elected Vice-President, and Prof. E. H. 

 Pammel and Silas Wilson were re- 

 elected respectively Secretary and 

 Treasurer. The Executive Board con- 

 sists of C. A. Mosier, of Des Moines ; 

 H. C. Price, of Ames, and J. S. Trigg, 

 of Rockford. 



Disposal of In his message to Con- 



Public Lands, gress President Roose- 

 velt said: "So far as 

 they are available for agriculture, and 

 to whatever extent they may be re- 

 claimed under the national irrigation 

 law, the remaining public lands should 

 be held rigidly for the home-builder, the 

 settler who lives on his land, and for no 

 one else. In their actual use the desert 

 land law, the timber and stone law, and 



the commutation clause of the home- 

 stead law have been so perverted from 

 the intention with which they were en- 

 acted as to permit the acquisition of 

 large areas of the public domain for other 

 than actual settlers and the consequent 

 prevention of settlement." 



This reference in the President's mes- 

 sage is but one expression of the grow- 

 ing demand throughout the entire coun- 

 try for greater conservatism in the 

 disposal of the remaining public lands. 

 The report of the Secretary of the Inte- 

 rior for the current year is a record of 

 stupendous land frauds, whereby vast 

 areas of fertile agricultural land have 

 been put beyond the reach of settlers by 

 those desiring to acquire large holdings 

 or land for the grazing of live stock or 

 for speculative purposes. 



All of the laws referred to are appar- 

 ently theoretically correct and their in- 

 tention was apparently good. It seems 

 impossible, however, to administer these 

 laws in such a way as to prevent fraud. 

 It has become the custom to receive 

 these entries without question and to 

 accept affidavits without investigation. 



The demand for some check in these 

 wholesale depredations has been rapidly 

 growing in volume during the past two 

 years, and has now culminated in a rec- 

 ommendation from the President that 

 the matter be looked into as one of. 

 urgent importance. 



Acting immediately upon this sugges- 

 tion. Senator Quarles, of Wisconsin, and 

 Representative S. L. Powers, of Massa- 

 chusetts, have introduced a bill entitled 

 "A bill to repeal the law providing for 

 the sale of timber and stone lands, the 

 desert land law, and the commutation 

 clause of the homestead law." This 

 bill was referred to the Public Lands 

 Committees in Senate and House and 

 consideration will be urged. It is be- 

 lieved that the committee in the Senate 

 will undoubtedly make a favorable re- 

 port upon this measure. Some diffi- 

 culty is anticipated in the House com- 

 mittee, owing to a possible lack of 

 understanding on the part of some of 

 the members of the importance of the 

 question involved and the sympathy of 

 others with the extensive range inter- 

 ests of the sparsely settled states which 



