1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



83 



Wild flowers in the summer months 

 are plentiful, and the odors from the 

 pines fill the air with health-giving 

 breezes. The wonderful tints of the 

 trees and the colors of the flowers ap- 

 peal to eye and inner sense and give 

 added joy to the lover of nature. The 

 lakes and woods are the dwelling 

 places of numerous wild birds, ducks, 

 partridges, and other species. Game 

 is abundant. Deer, moose, and bear 

 are plentiful. The reserve is certainly 



a great and manifold blessing to man- 

 kind, and will be eagerly sought by 

 tourists, naturalists, sportsmen, and 

 lovers of God's out-of-doors. 



Let not man, by his greed, spoil that 

 which God made so beautiful, so pure, 

 and so lovely. The future will show 

 the great wisdom of the choice of this 

 reserve and, should it be maintained, 

 people in years to come will rise up 

 and call the Minnesota National For- 

 est Reserve blessed. 



FORESTED WATERSHEDS 



A New Phase of New England Thrift 



BY 



ALFRED AKERMAN 



State Forester of Massachusetts. 



YY7 ITHIN a few years several New 

 ** England communities have be- 

 come aware that they have been al- 

 lowing one of their resources to go un- 

 developed. Among these are Hart- 

 ford, Middletown, New Haven, and 

 Ansonia, Connecticut, and the Metro- 

 politan District in Massachusetts. 



HARTFORD. 



About fifty years ago Hartford be- 

 gan to acquire land contiguous to its 

 water reservoir. This land was ac- 

 quired to protect the water supply 

 from pollution. From time to time, as 

 the needs of the city giew, other ponds 

 with surrounding lands were pur- 

 chased. In 1902 the total area of wa- 

 tershed owned by the city amounted to 

 2,500 acres, of which some 1,300 acres 

 were not covered by water. With the 

 exception of a few cords of firewood, 

 this land produced nothing. It was 

 not in a condition to be of service as 

 a park. And it must be held to protect 

 the city's water supply. The question, 

 then, which came before the Water 

 Board was, Is it possible, consistent 

 with its protection functions, to devel- 

 op the tract as a public park and also 



to make it produce revenue? 



A forest engineer was engaged to 

 examine and report on the tract. His 

 report, or working plan, showed how 

 the tract, if treated in a scientific and 

 systematic way, might in time be made 

 to produce considerable revenue and 

 how at the same time it might be 

 turned into a beautiful, though unpre- 

 tentious park. 



The working plan showed that 1,300 

 acres were available for forest grow- 

 ing. Of this area 800 acres were 

 already covered with a sprout growth 

 of chestnut, oak, hickory, maple, and 

 other broadleaf trees. The rest con- 

 sisted of abandoned fields and pas- 

 tures which were coming up to infe- 

 rior growths, such as red juniper and 

 poplar leaf birch. 



Improvement thinning was advised 

 for most of the forest stands, and 

 planting to timber producing kinds of 

 tree for the old fields and pastures. 

 The thinning was advised for two 

 principal reasons. In many places the 

 stand was so dense that its growth was 

 being retarded. In others, many trees 

 had been damaged by an ice storm 

 which swept over tins section of the 



