1905 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



26e 



a model state forest law has been 

 drawn. The co-operative study of the 

 White Mountain region of New 

 Hampshire has been completed. 

 . Without attempting to recite what 

 is being done in all the states, the 

 achievements of the state of Pennsyl- 

 vania, which was among the earliest 

 to appreciate the importance of the 

 forest problem, are noteworthy. Dur- 

 ing the past six months that state has 

 purchased over 100,000 acres of land 

 for forest purposes, making such state 

 holdings now aggregate about 600,000 

 acres ; and it is the purpose of the state 

 to procure a million acres at the earli- 

 est possible moment. The State For- 

 est Academy, which has been in exist- 

 ence only two years, has at this time 

 twenty students preparing for practi- 

 cal forest work of the state. Upon the 

 philanthropic side the state has in this 

 connection established a Camp Sana- 

 torium with gratifying results. 



Wisconsin and Massachusetts are 

 following a definite forest policy 

 through the employment of state for- 

 esters under forest acts passed at the 

 last sessions of their legislatures. 

 Maine, with the aid of the Bureau of 

 Forestry, under her Forestry Commis- 

 sioner, is solving her urgent forest 

 problems. 



In Michigan, under the previously 

 established Forest Commission, fores- 

 try has made" great advances during 

 the past year. Forest reserves on 

 lands derived from tax sales have been 

 created, amounting to 35,000 acres, 

 where a regular system of fire protec- 

 tion, with rangers and foresters, has 

 been inaugurated under the warden of 

 the reserves, who is the professor of 

 forestry at the State University. 

 Planting, road construction, fire lines, 

 the regulation of grazing, are also in 

 successful operation on these reserved 

 lands. The interest of the people of 

 the state is now sufficiently aroused to 

 promise the passage of needed regula- 

 iont 



The most important step taken in 

 New York state is the passage of a law 

 conferring authority to employ fire 

 patrols to any number needed in antici- 

 pation of fires at dangerous periods in 



the state reserves. Planting is also 

 being done on the state lands and will 

 be extensively continued this year. 



PHILIPPINES. 



The forest work done in the Philip- 

 pines is a good example of what we 

 might have done with the timber lands 

 of the Public Domain. The Forestry 

 Department there, established only 

 four years ago, last year obtained a 

 revenue from the sales of timber of 

 $300,000, or four times as much as the 

 greatest amount obtained while under 

 Spanish rule. The department now 

 has sixty permanent stations scattered 

 throughout the islands, and employs 

 230 men. 



CANADIAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY. 



The great area of timbered land in 

 Canada, estimated at 300,000,000 acres 

 of merchantable timber, demands our 

 attention. The value of the exports of 

 wood and manufactures thereof for 

 the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, 

 was, in round numbers, $40,000,000, 

 and of this about $19,000,000 worth 

 came to the United States, or $100,000 

 more than what was exported to Great 

 Britain. Within recent years forest 

 reserves have, at different times, been 

 set aside by the Dominion government, 

 and also by some of the provinces. At 

 present the aggregate area of Domin- 

 ion reserves is about 18,700,000 acres. 

 A system of patrol for protecting the 

 forests against fire, both within and 

 outside the reserves, is now in opera- 

 tion both on federal and provincial 

 land and has proved of great value in 

 lessening the annual loss from forest 

 fires. 



FOREST TREE PLANTING ON THE PRAI- 

 RIES. 



In the Spring of 1901 a commence- 

 ment was made in forest tree planting 

 on the plains in Manitoba and the 

 Northwest Territories under a system 

 of co-operation between the federal 

 government and the settlers, and is be- 

 ing attended by excellent results. 

 Over 3,000,000 trees have been plant- 

 ed, and of this number 1,800,000 were 

 planted in 1904. 





